The Witcher’s Henry Cavill Reveals How He Got the Role

When Henry Cavill, best known for his role as DC’s Superman in Man of Steel and its various connected films, was first announced as having been cast as Geralt of Rivia in Netflix’s adaptation of The Witcher, folks were pretty excited. Even so, it has since come out that Cavill wasn’t the immediate pick, as Netflix looked at over 200 different actors for Geralt before settling on him. Cavill and the rest of the cast made an appearance at San Diego Comic-Con 2019 earlier this month, and he opened up about the whole process of landing the role while there.

“When I heard they were making The Witcher, I obviously was incredibly excited, and I annoyed the living daylights out of my agents,” Cavill told Entertainment Tonight while at SDCC 2019. “I called them every day and said, ‘Guys, now? Meeting now? How ’bout now?’ And they eventually said, ‘Look, they’ve brought on a showrunner, and we’ve called them, and they said, ‘Look, we’re not even close to that process yet,” and I kept on pushing, pushing, pushing, and eventually I think Netflix just got tired[.]”

“I sat down with Lauren [S. Hissrich, Netflix’s The Witcher ‘s showrunner], we had a great conversation about the show, where it was going, and my passion for it as well, and then she was very frank with me at the time,” he continued. “Said, ‘Look, we haven’t even started the process of casting yet; it was great to meet you, but we’ve got a long way to go. I’ve got to start writing as well.’”

“And so, it was then — I think it was a four-month break or something after that?” Cavill added. “And I was just hoping that when they came round all the other casting and everything — and it’s important that the right casting process is done; you can’t just hire the first person who walks into the room. I was fortunate enough to land the role after my audition, which was fun. It was nerve-racking obviously, because I really, really, really wanted it. But got there in the end, and here I am now.”

What do you think of the casting process described above? Are you excited to see how the world of The Witcher is adapted into a television series? Let us know in the comments, or hit me up directly on Twitter @rollinbishop to talk all things gaming!

Here’s how Netflix describes the upcoming series on its press site:

“Based on the best-selling fantasy series, The Witcher is an epic tale of fate and family. Geralt of Rivia, a solitary monster hunter, struggles to find his place in a world where people often prove more wicked than beasts. But when destiny hurtles him toward a powerful sorceress, and a young princess with a dangerous secret, the three must learn to navigate the increasingly volatile Continent together.”

Netflix’s The Witcher is scheduled to release its eight-episode first season on the streaming service at some point later this year. Lauren S. Hissrich serves as showrunner. It stars Henry Cavill as Geralt of Rivia, Anya Chalotra as Yennefer, and Freya Allan as Ciri. You can check out all of our previous coverage of the upcoming adaptation right here.