The Witcher Showrunner Lauren Hissrich Revealed The Struggles Of Working With Henry Cavill

The showrunner of ‘The Witcher’ says that Henry Cavil was “annoying” to work with while filming the show.

Henry Cavill has been acting since the early 2000s, but his career has grown exponentially in more recent years. Many people give credit to Cavill’s recent success to his former manager, Dany Garcia. After all, the actor began landing bigger roles, such as Superman in the DC Extended Universe, shortly after he began working with this agent.

One of the biggest roles in Cavill’s career is the role of Geralt of Rivia in Netflix’s adaptation of The Witcher, which he played from 2019 to 2023. Now that Henry’s time as the witcher has come to an end, fans are understandably upset. Recently, a resurfaced interview in which The Witcher’s showrunner calls Cavill “really annoying” has gone viral. Some fans speculate that this could have been the reason behind the actor’s departure from the show.

Henry Cavill Pestered His Agent To Get Him An Audition For The Witcher

In 2017, Netflix announced that they would be working with Lauren Schmidt Hissrich, the showrunner of Daredevil, to write and produce a series based on the popular The Witcher book series by Andrzej Sapkowski. Once he heard the news, Henry Cavill knew he wanted to play the main character, Geralt of Rivia. So, he made everything he could to make it happen.

He started by asking his agent to get him a meeting with Schmidt Hissrich to lobby for the part. The only problem was that the showrunner had yet to begin writing a script, so she saw no point in meeting with the actor to discuss the role. But Cavill remained persistent and ultimately wore her down. “He was really annoying,” the writer-producer told Vulture in 2019. “I finally said, ‘I will meet with you. The show is not green-lit. There is nothing.’ I said, ‘Thank you. Now I have to go write the show.’”

Despite their unsuccessful first meeting, Henry Cavill got to audition for the role of Geralt of Rivia. Although he had to compete against more than 200 other actors, the Superman actor quickly stood out from the rest.

“It was something I wasn’t going to let pass me by without giving it my best shot,” Cavill explained. “I annoyed my agents all the time. They said, ‘They’re not ready.’” Ultimately, his hard work paid off and he was given the leading role in Netflix’s The Witcher series.

Henry Cavill Is A Huge Fan Of The Witcher Game And Books, But The Showrunner Found This Annoying

As most fans have come to learn over the years, Henry Cavill is an avid fan of video games. In fact, in order to prepare for his role in The Witcher, the actor admitted that he played its video game adaptation for hours on end.

Cavill also worked hard to play the best version of Geralt for the fans. The actor not only got super jacked for The Witcher but also spent a lot of time sword training so he could perform his own fight scenes without using a stunt double.

“I spent all the free time when I wasn’t on set with a sword in my hand, getting used to the weight,” Cavill told Vulture. “I had three swords where I lived, four at work. It was practice, practice, practice.”

During his time on the show, Cavill tried to ensure that his character and the plot stayed consistent with the game. And, on more than one occasion, he made fans aware of his disagreements with the show’s storyline. Many believe that this caused a riff between him and showrunner Lauren Schmidt Hissrich.

“I wanted to get as close to the lore as possible. To me, this is a way to show my love for my character in the show. As a fan, I want to protect him,” the actor once revealed.

“It would be painful to me to hear there’s a show that I wasn’t part of and someone had a unique, perhaps even a brilliant interpretation of Geralt.” Seeing how passionate he was about this role, fans are heartbroken over his departure from The Witcher.

Saying Goodbye to The Witcher Was Hard for Henry Cavill

After playing Geralt of Rivia for four years, parting from The Witcher hasn’t been easy for Henry Cavill. In fact, the cast of The Witcher admits that Cavill “powered his way” through his final scenes as Geralt.

“I was there on Henry’s last day and watched him power his way through a fight scene.” Joey Batey, who plays Jaskier on the show, explained.

“I think he had a cold at the time actually; I think he was quite unwell, and yet just threw himself into his final days and hours as the day got longer and longer and longer, and [there was] not a single drop in his energy and his commitment.” He also added, “It’s all you can ask for from someone of his caliber. It was special, it felt very Geralt-like. He was determined to do his best in those final days, and that’s a lasting memory for me.”

Despite how hard it’s been to part away from this role, Cavill has been gracious about Liam Hemsworth taking his place as Geralt. In a statement posted to social media, Cavill addressed Hemsworth directly, writing: “Liam, good sir, this character has such a wonderful depth to him, enjoy diving in and seeing what you can find.”