Director Marc Jobst said Cavill ‘brought the show into being’ and insisted on doing his own stunts
Witcher director Marc Jobst praised Geralt actor Henry Cavill for his hard work and dedication to bringing the fantasy character to life for three seasons, despite how demanding the show was.
In a recent interview with Screen Rant, Jobst, who directed two episodes in the first season of The Witcher and is working on Netflix’s live-action One Piece series, recounted how draining working on the series was for Cavill and the rest of the crew, who had to film in four different countries and learn fight choreography with heavy swords.
“Well, look, Henry has done three series, these are demanding shows to make, you know, they are huge. Henry does every single beat of his stunts, he won’t even allow a hand, if you’re doing a close-up of a hand grabbing a sword, it has to be his hand. So, normally, what you do is you bring in a double, Henry will go off and shoot some other scene in which he’s in somewhere else, and you get somebody else into the hand, so that you don’t have to bother your number one,” Jobst told Screen Rant. “Henry won’t do that, and as a result of that, the results are extraordinary. You’re working with an incredible athlete, first and foremost, who works out hours before, and hours after, you’ve been shooting for 12 hours, and who cares deeply about the work that he does.”
Despite the Witcher’s production being draining on Cavill, Jobst said his work ethic “brought the show into being” and motivated the rest of the crew to go beyond making the series a serviceable adaptation and instead aim to make it “fantastic.”
Witcher cast dismisses Cavill exit rumors, vouches for Hemsworth
Cavill announced his departure from The Witcher as well as the news that he’d be replaced by Hunger Games actor Liam Hemsworth late last year. While fans have theorized that Cavill’s exit might have something to do with his frustration with Witcher showrunners’ deviation from the books, the real reason for his departure is still unknown.
In a recent interview with The Telegraph, Yennefer actor Anya Chalotra dismissed the rumor, saying “When we are all on set, we’re dedicated to playing these characters and bringing them to life in the best way. And that is exactly what I felt every day from Henry.”
Speaking with Games Radar, Jaskier actor Joey Batey said Hemsworth is putting in the work to pick up where Cavill left off with the Butcher of Blaviken ahead of The Witcher season 4.
“We’ve been emailing, we’ve been exchanging our favorite quotes from the books and things like that. I don’t think any of us are in the position to advise on playing Geralt but he’s throwing himself into it,” Batey said. “His training regime is insane and he’s been devouring the books.”
