The Witcher Showrunner Reveals That Ciri Was Originally Going To Be Much Younger In The Show

Fans got a chance to meet part of the cast of Netflix's The Witcher at San Diego Comic-Con, including Freya Allan, Anya Chalotra, and Henry Cavill, along with showrunner Lauren S. Hissrich. Fans also got to see some footage from the much-anticapted series, including one piece that focused on Allan's character of Ciri. The character will be an important part of the story just like in the books, and as Hissrich explained in an interview during Comic-Con, at one point Ciri was going to be much younger than Allan's portrayal.

"Ciri was a really tough casting process, and we actually started by looking at someone much much younger," Hissrich told ET. "Ciri in the books is around 11 and we started there, and very quickly we sort of aged up the process."

Now Ciri is older than she is in the early books but a bit younger than she is in Witcher 3: The Wild Hunt, giving Hissrich and the team some room to explore the character in unique ways. Hissrich also revealed that Allan was actually cast as someone else before landing the role of Ciri.

"What's great about Freya is that she was cast as another role at first," Hissrich said. "A much much smaller role in the first episode, and when we hadn't found our Ciri yet, we had seen over 200 girls and we hadn't found our Ciri, and Sophie Holland our casting director said 'I want you to think about Freya for this.' And I remember saying 'how are we going to call Freya's agent and say we know we cast you, it's not that we don't want you for that role but we may want you for something slightly bigger, and I flew into London and we met and cast Freya that day."

"So each of these processes were totally different but look at what we got," Hissrich said.

You can find the official description for Netflix's The Witcher below.

"Based on the best-selling fantasy series of books, 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," Netflix said. "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."

Henry Cavill (Geralt of Rivia), Anya Chalotra (Yennefer), Freya Allan (Ciri), Jodhi May (Calanthe), Björn Hlynur Haraldsson (Eist), Adam Levy (Mousesack), MyAnna Buring (Tissaia), Mimi Ndiweni (Fringilla), Therica Wilson-Read (Sabrina), Emma Appleton (Renfri), Eamon Farren (Cahir), Joey Batey (Jaskier), Lars Mikkelsen (Stregobor), Royce Pierreson (Istredd), Maciej Musiał (Sir Lazlo), Wilson Radjou-Pujalte (Dara), and Anna Shaffer as Triss.

The Witcher currently has no release date, and you can check out more from our Witcher coverage right here. You can also hit me up on Twitter @MattAguilarCB for all things Witcher!