Liam Hemsworth has already been judged by many fans of The Witcher before he has even made his debut as Henry Cavill’s replacement in the fourth season of the Netflix fantasy series. However, the actor is still looking forward to taking the lead as Geralt, and recently spoke about how he reacted to the idea of joining the show when he was approached by the streamer when Cavill’s departure was confirmed.
Appearing on Live with Kelly & Mark, Hemsworth explained that he is incredibly excited to be taking on the role of Geralt, particularly after being a fan of the video game franchise for a long time. While he was not as well versed in the novels as his predecessor, reading the books and watching the TV show became homework for Hemsworth. He said:
“I hadn’t seen the TV show. And I hadn’t read the books. But I played the video game like ten years ago or something. And it’s still to this day one of the best video games of all time. And Netflix came to me almost two years ago now and said that they wanted me to just step in and take over. I was really excited by taking on that character because I was a fan of the video game. But I said, you know, let me watch the TV show and have a look at the books and really get stuck into it.”
He added a little insight into the long filming process, which he explained has taken up much of his year. He continued:
“I’ve been shooting a show called The Witcher for the past nine months. We were [in Wales] for two weeks. And the first week was beautiful sunshine, blue skies. And then the second week was kind of like tornado season.”
The Witcher Seems to Be in Good Hands – If Audiences Give It a Chance
The Witcher has already been given the cold shoulder following the announcement that Cavill was departing the series after Season 3. This included fans review bombing Cavill’s final season, as well as the spinoff series Blood Origin. Both received numerous reviews that specifically cited the actor being “forced” to quit the series over creative differences in how the show was handling some of its storylines as the reason they were giving one-star reviews.
Similarly, Hemsworth’s social media posts have been targeted by online trolls leaving comments such as “Not my Witcher” and “Will never replace Henry” repetitively at every opportunity. However, the actor doesn’t seem to have been put off by the discourse, and he also has support from his co-stars, including Freya Allen, who plays Ciri in the series. Earlier in the year, the actress shared her thoughts on how Hemsworth was being treated by the fandom. She said:
“I feel sorry for him, honestly, because, number one, that fan base can be very attack-y, and it’s not an ideal situation to be in taking up someone else’s role. But I’m really excited to see what he does. And he’s such a lovely guy. I just hope that people give him the time of day, you know?”
Season 4 of
The Witcher
does not have an official release date, but is expected to arrive sometime in 2025. Meanwhile, the previous seasons of the show, and its several spinoffs, can all be streamed on Netflix.