Actors Henry Cavill and Anya Chalotra decided to change the relationship between Geralt and Yennefer in Netflix’s The Witcher adaptation.
Henry Cavill and Anya Chalotra play two of the most important characters in The Witcher, as Geralt and Yennefer, but their on-screen relationship was affected strongly by the actors’ personal choices. The two characters spend plenty of time together across The Witcher’s first two seasons, and while their on-screen romance is clearly a major theme throughout the show, there were initial hesitations from Cavill and Chalotra about how to bring this relationship to life in a meaningful way.
Cavill has always spoken extensively about his love for The Witcher, both as a show and a series of novels, and the artistic integrity of the project has always been extremely important to him. In fact, it was creative differences with the show’s writers that ultimately contributed strongly to his departure from the show (via CBN). Geralt’s relationship with Yennefer in The Witcher was among the several aspects of the existing story that Cavill had initially taken issue with, leading to some major changes in the way it was portrayed.
Anya Chalotra & Henry Cavill Didn’t Want Their Characters’ Relationship To Be Too Sexual
Geralt and Yennefer’s relationship is a core feature of The Witcher’s story, but when it came to filming an intimate sex scene between the two characters, actors Henry Cavill and Anya Chalotra quickly took issue with the idea. Keeping the source material in mind, both actors believed that their characters’ relationship was much more emotional and psychological than it was sexual, and including scenes like that would’ve diminished the importance of their bond. Ultimately, The Witcher’s showrunner agreed with their decision, claiming that “the story is much more about the evolution of a family. And so we didn’t need to have a lot of sex” (via Digital Spy).
In the original Witcher novels, although the relationship between Geralt and Yennefer is definitely romantic, it’s built on an emotional connection rather than just a physical attraction. This definitely justifies the actors’ decision to remove this scene from the adaptation, as it could’ve ruined this aspect of their relationship.
Anya Chalotra Had A Great Working Relationship With Henry Cavill
The pair’s united decision to protect the integrity of these characters is just one example of their great working relationship that was developed over the course of two seasons of filming The Witcher. Anya Chalotra has frequently spoken about Henry Cavill’s very helpful and professional presence on-set, claiming that “it’s been such a learning curve for me to work alongside Henry… [he’s] incredibly professional, polite, brilliant […] very experienced being a leader of a team with such grace” (via Elle).
Chalotra has also commented on Cavill’s unwavering dedication to keeping The Witcher as accurate to the source material as possible, claiming, “He cares about the show.” It’s this care and attention to detail that made decisions like this so natural and understandable, which will definitely be missed following his departure from The Witcher after season 3.
