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Netflix's The Witcher Casts Ciri & Yennefer, Rounds Out Full Cast
Henry Cavill's cast mates for The Witcher have been announced, including for key characters Ciri and Yennefer. After all of their success with original content, Netflix is hoping to find more by bringing the high-fantasy video game series based on the books by the same name from author Andrzej Sapkowski to life. CD Projekt Red turned the novels into a huge video game franchise and now Netflix is looking to properly adapt it in a live-action setting. In order to do this, Lauren Schmidt Hissrich (Daredevil, The Defenders) will be The Witcher TV series' showrunner.
After months of development, The Witcher received incredible news when it was announced that Henry Cavill was set to star as Geralt of Rivia. He's been the only cast member attached to this point but Hissrich promised that more casting news was not too far away. She stayed true to her word as The Witcher's entire cast is now set.
Netflix revealed the full cast for The Witcher today, which confirms who will play the series' female leads Ciri and Yennefer, among others. Freya Allan has been cast as the young princess of Cintra named Ciri, while Anya Chalotra will play the sorceress named Yennefer, who is also Geralt's main love interest and a motherly figure to Ciri. Both Allan and Chalotra are relatively new to the scene, as Allan had a guest role on Into the Badlands and Chalotra appeared in four episodes of the BBC drama Wanderlust.
Although the casting of The Witcher's Ciri and Yennefer will be the headline additions for fans of the lore, Netflix didn't stop there in the casting announcement. The rest of the cast includes Jodhi May (Genius) as Queen Calanthe, Björn Hlynur Haraldsson (Fortitude) as her husband and the knight Eist, Adam Levy (Knightfall) as the druid Mousesack, MyAnna Buring (The Witcher 3) as Tissaia - the head of the magical academy at Aretuza, Mimi Ndiweni (The Legend of Tarzan) and Therica Wilson-Read (Profile) as novice sorcerers, and Millie Brady (King Arthur: Legend of the Sword) as the outcast Princess Renfri.
While the early casting of Cavill as Geralt led many to believe The Witcher would have a cast full of big names, the series went the opposite way. This was not by design according to Hissrich, who told THR in both casting someone of Cavill's stature or those who are lesser-known, "It comes down to the best actor for the role." If these newcomers and rising stars deliver, then Netflix will once again have a cast they can turn into stars, just as they did with Stranger Things. Now that the cast is set, Hissrich confirmed that production begins soon, so it may not be too long before we get our first looks at Cavill's Geralt, Allan's Ciri, or Chalotra's Yennefer.
The Witcher TV show is expected to premiere on Netflix sometime in 2020.
