Season 3 of Netflix’s live-action adaptation of “The Witcher” was tragically less than kind to Tissaia de Vries (MyAnna Buring). The rectoress of Aretuza underwent what can only be described as a brutal and complete beating of the mind and body. And yet, despite losing her fiancé, despite losing her position, and despite losing her life, there was another moment that Buring, Tissaia’s onscreen talent, found to be more devastating than all the rest. According to a July 2023 interview with Insider, Buring knew well in advance that her time with the series was limited. She knew that the sorceress would one day fall, but she still wasn’t ready when it came time to say goodbye to her character’s pupil, Yennefer of Vengerberg (Anya Chalotra).
“[From] Season 1, I was very clear what would happen in Season 3, so I think when I first read the scene, I was quite pragmatic about it,” said Buring to Insider. “I was like, ‘Okay, that’s the scene. That’s how they’ve chosen to do it. …’ It was the scene beforehand that I found really emotional. I had to read the letter that I write to Yennefer, and I sort of read it over and over again. And so, in my mind, that was playing over and over again while we were shooting the scene. And, suddenly, that’s when I went, ‘Oh God, that stings.'”
Buring admitted that, after filming that scene with Chalotra, and after the weight of it hit her, she sobbed.
MyAnna Buring and Anya Chalotra share a bond similar to their characters’
It seems as though the bond between Tissaia de Vries and Yennefer of Vengerberg is, in some ways, shared by MyAnna Buring and Anya Chalotra, albeit presumably with less eel-related threats. The latter, during a July 2023 interview with Vulture, said, “MyAnna means so much to me. She was there [on] day one. She looked after me in Season 1, and has through the seasons — not only me, but everyone on set. She gives so much. That loss is huge for the show and huge for Yennefer.” Chalotra also mentioned that she would spend time with Buring’s family during the filming process, which indicates a closer bond than one between cordial coworkers.
There’s a happy ending here, of sorts, to be shared. During her 2023 with Insider, after Buring confessed to tears, she added a heartfelt button. She spoke of a precious time spent with her fellow castmates, whom she affectionately referred to with a pet name: “[After I bawled], all the Aretuza gang were in the makeup room, so I think we celebrated with bubbly and joy and laughter and dancing as we always did.”
The picture Buring paints is blessedly disparate from the tone of “The Witcher” Season 3. And it’s difficult not to imagine Buring speaking to Chalotra in the same way that Tissaia writes to Yennefer in her final note. “Teaching you has been the biggest bright spot of my life,” writes Tissaia. “And I would love to see you through the next leg of your journey. I know you will do great things, my daughter.” And maybe she will — maybe Buring will happily await “The Witcher”‘s delayed Season 4 so she can support her friend, just in a new way.
