The actress who portrays Ciri admitted she briefly considered leaving the series, but chose to stay and continue the work Henry Cavill began.
Freya Allan revealed she thought about quitting The Witcher after Henry Cavill departed the show. She spoke about this in an interview with NME, saying she “seriously considered it for a long time” before ultimately deciding to remain with the series.
“The third season was tough for everyone. I cried because I wanted to finish the show with the actor who played my adoptive father. For the first time I wondered what life outside The Witcher would be like — and then the lead actor left…”
Replacing the series’ lead proved challenging for the production. Allan admitted it felt “very strange” at first to see Liam Hemsworth on set in place of Cavill.
“Fans love to take shots at things, but we welcomed him wholeheartedly. Still, I’ll confess — when Ciri thought of Geralt, I often saw Henry’s face, because that’s the Geralt I grew up with.”
Following Cavill’s exit, Allan felt a responsibility to uphold the more book-faithful moments from Andrzej Sapkowski’s novels.
“I really wanted to deliver what fans expect. I watched Henry — so devoted to the books — fight to include certain lines, and when he left I felt compelled to carry on that effort.”
For that reason, Allan was surprised when the fourth season drew criticism for scenes that were lifted directly from the novels. She even considered creating an anonymous Reddit account to respond to critics, but ultimately decided against it.
“What surprised me most about season four was the volume of criticism aimed at moments taken straight from the books.”
Looking ahead to the fifth season, which is expected to arrive in 2026, Freya said the season exhausted her creatively, but left her with an immense sense of fulfillment.
Production on Netflix’s fifth season of The Witcher has already wrapped, although an exact release date has not yet been announced.
Source: iXBT.games