The Butcher of Blaviken. The White Wolf. For fans of Andrzej Sapkowski's books and video games and live-action projects they inspired, those aliases sound familiar. Those are some of the names by which Geralt of Rivia, a witcher from the School of the Wolf, goes by. The character, for the first three seasons of the Netflix adaptation, was played by Henry Cavill. However, when Netflix’s hit series The Witcher returns for its fourth season, Liam Hemsworth will be gearing up to take on the iconic role. But prior to either man assuming the role, Doug Cockle had done it. The voice actor portrayed Geralt in the critically acclaimed The Witcher video game series and will reprise the role in the upcoming Netflix animated series Sirens of the Deep.
Given that Cockle has voiced Geralt for nearly twenty years, it is fair to assume that the actor knows a thing or two about bringing the famous character to life. As Hemsworth assumes the role, Cockle, in an interview with GamesRadar, revealed the most important quality there is to playing Geralt. "I think what Henry and I brought to the role was that slight dour[ness] – I call him a reluctant hero," Cockle tells the outlet. "It's that quality I think is most important to bring to the character of Geralt, because that's what he does. He's not a bad guy; he's not necessarily a good guy. He always wants to remain neutral, but he keeps finding himself in these situations where he has to make a decision when faced with a moral dilemma." The actor goes on to add:
"Sometimes these decisions turn out okay, sometimes they don't. So I think that reluctant heroism is the most important quality to bring to the character of Geralt. But that can take many different shapes. Henry's version of that was different from mine, but very similar."
Geralt of Rivia Is in Safe Hands
As previously mentioned, Cavill had departed the series after its third season, citing the Netflix drama's alleged departure from author Sapkowski’s books. With two seasons left of the hit series, Hemsworth will assume the role during that time. The actor enjoys the confidence of those within the show's creative hub, including that of The Witcher producers Steve Gaub and Tomek Baginski. Cockle is equally confident that Hemsworth will do well, saying, "He's great in all those action films that he's done, isn't he? He is wonderful. So I think he'll bring all that to it. We'll see what he brings to the table. He's a good actor, so I'm really excited to see what he brings."
Whilst Geralt might change for Season 4, the rest of the main cast remains the same. Anya Chalotra will reprise her role as Yennefer, with Joey Batey also returning to the role of Jaskier, the bard. Freya Allan will also return to reprise the role of Ciri. There might be some who worry about just how much Hemsworth knows about the character, and how this might affect his performance. Luckily, the answer is quite positive. “I was told the situation and was told that they were gonna move ahead with this show [following Cavill’s exit] and the rest of the cast wanted to move ahead with it,” the actor told Collider. “And they asked me to do it. As a fan of the video game, I’d played the video game 10 years ago or something and was a massive fan.”
The Witcher is streaming on Netflix in the U.S. The Witcher: Sirens of the Deep premieres on February 11. Stay tuned to Collider for more updates.
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