Home Page
Amanda VanHiel is an actor, video game journalist, Twitch streamer, and cosplayer — or as she likes to call herself, a professional nerd –from the Atlanta, Georgia area. She began acting in community theatre at the age of 12, and fell in love with the art. Graduating from Kennesaw State University in 2009, she earned a B.S. in Communication Media Studies. Shortly after college, she got into cosplay, portraying her favorite sci-fi, anime, and video game characters. She joined the Zelda Universe team in 2013 where she is assistant news editor, Twitch streamer, and anchor for Zelda News, ZU’s weekly segment on the ZeldaUniverseTV YouTube channel.
Aside from her weekly news videos, Amanda’s other work includes the serial podcasts The Blood Crow Stories and The Eye, and hosting a radio segment: The Game Grid on B.K. On the Air where she talks about — you guessed it — video games. One of her favorite things to do is perform with Princesses With a Purpose as popular fairy tale princesses at children’s hospitals and charity events.
When Amanda isn’t writing about video games, talking about video games, or dressing up as video game characters, she’s playing them. Her favorite is The Legend of Zelda series, and she’s also a huge fan of the Pokemon, Persona, Uncharted, Final Fantasy, and Kingdom Hearts series. In 2011, Amanda married her husband Dan VanHiel and together they have three beautiful cats: Bentley, Shadow and Max.