Henry Cavill’s portrayal of Geralt in Netflix’s The Witcher was nothing short of spectacular, but how did the actor prepare for such a huge undertaking?
After all, we’re talking about a fantasy saga that centers around a titular character. In a sense, if Lauren S. Hissrich and her team had failed to do Geralt justice, the whole series would have tumbled and fallen on its own weight. And who better to portray the stoic White Wolf other than Henry Cavill, who has always been a fan of both the books and video games? While the producers had auditioned more than 200 actors, the Justice League star stole the spotlight almost immediately after saying that he’d be up to play Geralt. And while we had our doubts during the production phase, when the first season debuted on Netflix, Cavill more than exceeded our expectations due to his devotion to the part.
But how did he manage to immerse himself in the world of the Continent, and more importantly, Geralt of Rivia? Well, we know that actors all have their own unique way to prepare for a role, but this one may surprise you. Cavill recently spoke with Vanity Fair and revealed the strange thing he did to prepare for the monster-hunter, saying:
“For me, it’s vital to go about and read—I’m on all the Reddit forums. I’m reading all the reviews,” He said. “I’m literally trying to get everyone’s information. Some of it is not useful, and other criticisms are incredibly useful. I take it all in, and I look forward to bringing it even closer and closer to Sapkowski’s writing.”
While it’s true that understanding the role will beat anything at the end of the day, that’s not everything Cavill did to prepare. In order to get ready for the grim world of the Continent, the Man of Steel actor thought it’d be wise to get dirty, explaining:
“I’d go stand out in the rain. Sometimes I’d roll around in puddles,” He continued. “I would just try and get as much of the world on me, so this character looked like he had lived within it.”
That must have been hell to go through for the makeup artists and costume designers, but it certainly makes Cavill stand out among his fellow “method actors,” not to mention it makes us certain that we couldn’t possibly hope for anyone better to play Geralt in Netflix’s The Witcher.
