Henry Cavill Wanted The Witcher to be "True to the Lore," Something He Pushed for In the Series

Henry Cavill wanted the lore to be as prevalent in The Witcher as possible.

'The Witcher,' according to reports, was the third most interest generating series in 2019, with 'Stranger Things' and 'The Mandalorian' taking the top two spots. The show took December by storm, and despite the mixed response from the critics, the show was a massive success with the fans giving the show top marks on IMDb.

After months of negative response and skepticism by fans over the casting of the characters in the series, it was a welcome surprise when fans appreciated what they saw in the Netflix series. The casts of series were also appreciated considering how well they portrayed the characters, but the one thing which got the most praise was how true to the books and the games lore the series was.

Henry Cavill plays the character of Geralt in the show The Witcher.
Source: Cinema Blend

From the sword fighting to the sound design, everything was appreciated by fans and especially the spell casting, and the use of magic was well received. The show stayed true to the elements of the books and the games, and it was a big plus point with fans.

An assured way to turn fans against you is to try to tone down the fantastical elements of a fantasy show in fear the fans will have a hard time to follow. Something which was clearly evident with the Game of Thrones series in the final season as the creator decided to appeal to mothers and football players.

Watch: Henry Cavill explain the show The Witcher in a featurette

'The Witcher,' on the other hand, learned from the mistakes of 'Game of Thrones' and embraced the fantastical elements of the books and the game of 'Witcher.' It was also the doing of Henry Cavill, who tried to incorporate as much lore as he possibly could into the series. Henry plays 'Geralt' in the series, and he was the biggest proponent of the inclusion of spells in the show.

Henry was speaking to GQ, where the actor said, “I want to do it as true to the lore as possible.” The actor was doing whatever he could to best serve the character of 'Geralt' without compromising the realism of the story and the elements of the source material on which the series is based on in the first place.

The fantastical elements of Geralt was present in the Netflix series.
Source: TVLine

The actor also spoke about his affection for the character and how he was trying to bring the best possible version of 'Geralt' on screen. The actor said, “For me, it was about bringing my love for the character to the show, as a fan – I want to protect it. It would've hurt my heart to hear there was a show that I didn't jump on, [especially] if someone else had a unique and perhaps even brilliant interpretation of Geralt, but one not who I, as a fan, sees.”

For fans to fall in love with the character, Henry knew his magical elements needed to be included in the series. The actor explained how much he wanted to get it all in there for the show; Henry said, “I really wanted to push that in there because for me, the audience must know he can do these things. It mattered to me because it’s all part of being a Witcher.”

Watch: Geralt uses magic to fight in the market

But Henry was not the only actor from the show who was committed to bringing the realism of the character to the forefront and staying true to the source material. 'Yennefer' actress 'Anya Chalotra' said the prosthetic used to portray young 'Yennefer' made her feel inferior, but she still used it to add to the realism of the show.

The actress was also on set doing almost all the nude scenes, despite having a body double on the set. Commitment and dedication were at 100 when it comes to the cast of 'The Witcher,' and they were willing to do anything if it added to the story of the show as a whole.

Watch: The final trailer for the first season of The Witcher

There were some complaints with the series about the story, and how it was difficult to follow, the creator of the show came out and said the story in the second season would be more streamlined. So, the cast is perfect, and the story is being worked on as we speak, there seems to be nothing stopping 'The Witcher' from filling the massive hole left by 'Game of Thrones' in the yearly TV calendar.

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