The Witcher’s Henry Cavill Reveals Biggest Challenge Fighting as Geralt

Tomorrow, The Witcher will finally release on Netflix. Fans have been waiting for quite some time to see if the show lives up to Andrzej Sapkowski’s popular series of books, and the video games inspired by them. The biggest question on the minds of fans, however, is whether or not Henry Cavill’s take on Geralt of Rivia can live up to the hype. Cavill clearly seems passionate about the role, foregoing a stunt double to bring more authenticity to Geralt. Of course, that did lead to some difficulties when it came to training. At an APAC press conference at the Conrad Hotel, Cavill talked about the difficulty of fighting in the series.

“It was very different because of the athleticism of Geralt’s fighting style,” said Cavill at the press conference. “[Geralt] has a lot of pirouettes and explosive movements and a lot of uneven ground. You’re not fighting in a gym, but on a slope with cobbles, or it’s raining. So you need to make sure everything is protected and that you build up the right muscle group: hips, knees, elbows, shoulders.”

The Witcher was filmed in locations around Eastern Europe, including Hungary and Poland. The terrain in these areas likely contributed to the difficulty of Cavill’s training. According to Cavill, that wasn’t the only challenge, however: wielding Geralt’s sword without doing real damage to his fellow actors proved equally difficult!

“The trickiest thing about fighting on set with a heavy weighted sword is that you’re not actually swinging it to kill someone,” said Cavill at the APAC press conference.

“So it’s really stopping the sword is the trickiest bit,” he said. “In an ideal world, you’re not making contact with anyone’s hands when it comes to stunt fights but if you’re doing a very technical fight it is pretty much par for the course that you’re going to make contact.”

In Sapkowski’s short stories, Geralt does a lot of fighting. As a Witcher, Geralt is a genetically modified monster slayer. After the invasion of the Kingdom of Cintra, the princess Ciri comes under the care of Geralt, and the two find themselves accompanied by the sorceress Yennefer of Vengerberg, Geralt’s former lover. Traveling across the continent, the trio find themselves battling both monstrous opponents and human ones.

The Witcher will premiere on Netflix on December 20th. Are you excited for the series? What do you hope to see adapted in the show? Let us know in the comments or share your thoughts directly on Twitter at @Marcdachamp to talk all things gaming!