Gearing up for The Witcher season 4, Liam Hemsworth is getting the best advice for playing the titular character.
The Witcher book and video game series fans were taken aback when Henry Cavill announced he would hang up his swords. Bringing on the new actor was a logical decision for The Witcher production. Hemsworth had auditioned for Geralt when the series was first holding auditions. He was reportedly the second choice to play The Witcher, ultimately losing out to Cavill. The younger actor does not seem to be wasting his second chance. His predecessor was an admitted Witcher expert, and Hemsworth is taking a page from his book.
According to cast members, Hemsworth is acquiring all his Witcher advice from one place. In an exclusive interview with GamesRadar+, Joey Batey shared that he and his castmates are taking a step back from advising Hemsworth on the material. "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. His training regime is insane and he’s been devouring the books."
While Cavill has publicly stated what a huge gamer he is, creatives behind The Witcher have always maintained that they are not taking lore from CD Projekt Red's The Witcher games. Showrunner Lauren Schmidt Hissrich has stated that they are taking all the inspiration from the series of fantasy novels penned by Andrzej Sapkowski. Producers have also confirmed that The Witcher season 3 will stay true to the book's events.
The news is promising, no matter how fans feel about Hemsworth replacing Cavill. Though The Witcher season 2 did things better than season 1, it still contained out-of-character moments and plotlines that didn’t stay true to the series' intent. Hemsworth may not be the Geralt fans have known for three seasons, but there is no doubt that he is taking the role seriously. That is more than some can say about The Witcher's writing staff. Schmidt has not endeared herself to fans, being generally defensive about the creative choices the show has made. But as luck would have it, it seems Hemsworth will be just as knowledgeable about the material as Cavill and maybe even a decent Witcher.
The Witcher season 3, vol. 1 is currently airing on Netflix.
Source: GamesRadar+