I’ve never starred in a Netflix show, nor am I likely to, but I can imagine you’d want to put your very best work forward if you were to, say, play the lead character in a hugely successful series.
One person who can relate to this is Henry Cavill, who is currently playing Geralt of Rivia in Netflix‘s new show, The Witcher, and who wanted to make a good impression while doing so.
So much so, he pushed for Geralt’s magic to be used as much as possible in the series, despite the expense attributed to the CGI. Which is a pretty ballsy move, you’ve got to admit.
Geralt, a ‘Witcher’ or mutated monster hunter with superhuman strength, can employ a variety of ‘signs’ – simple magic spells used by Witchers with ease, either through concentration or a simple hand gesture.
And although viewers have already witnessed some signs so far, including the Aard sign (a telekinetic shove of sorts), the number of signs Cavill’s Geralt uses hasn’t been as varied as in some of the written works.
Based upon a series of stories by Polish writer Andrzej Sapkowski that follow monster slayer Geralt on his adventures, the TV show is just one adaptation of the novels, with gamers having long been enthralled by the land of The Continent.
Cavill, an avid gamer, said he pushed for more of his character’s signs to be used as much as possible in the show, telling GQ: ‘I really wanted to push that in there, because for me the audience must know he can do these things. It mattered to me, because it’s all part of being a Witcher.’
The Superman actor also said staying true to the ‘lore’ was extremely important to him, not just as an actor but as a fan.
He explained:
I want to do it as true to the lore as possible. For me it was about bringing my love for the character to the show, as a fan – I want to protect it.
It would’ve hurt my heart to hear there was a show that I didn’t jump on, [especially] if someone else had a unique and perhaps even brilliant interpretation of Geralt, but one not who I, as a fan, sees.
There have been reports The Witcher‘s premiere season had a budget of around $15 million or more per episode; according to Screen Rant, the creators were pretty much given free rein to show what they wanted despite CGI costs.
Which is certainly good news for us lot… Merry Christmas, ya filthy animals!
The Witcher is now streaming worldwide on Netflix.
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A Broadcast Journalism Masters graduate who went on to achieve an NCTJ level 3 Diploma in Journalism, Lucy has done stints at ITV, BBC Inside Out and Key 103. While working as a journalist for UNILAD, Lucy has reported on breaking news stories while also writing features about mental health, cervical screening awareness, and Little Mix (who she is unapologetically obsessed with).