Henry Cavill uses his appreciation of the armed forces to help channel his character, Geralt, and his relationships on the hit Netflix series, The Witcher. The opportunity for Cavill to play the role of Geralt, a Witcher, is an important one for several reasons. One of the biggest joys of his performance is that it ties into another dream he had as a child.
In an interview with Polygon, he shared that he wanted to join the armed forces before the “acting bug” bit him. Cavill says, to this day, that if he hadn’t started acting first, he would have joined the service.
“This warrior brotherhood, which lives in the mountains and is misunderstood, both deliberately and accidentally, has gone through things that people don’t recognize or understand. I have the very good fortune of knowing people who have done extraordinary things in the armed forces. And the warrior brotherhood that I see represented in those people, you realize how soulful these individuals are, and the bond that they have with one another.”
The brotherhood in the armed forces is something admirable, and it’s a nod to Cavill’s dedication to respecting those who joined the troops and his character to bring those ideas together to further enhance the experience for those on set and for audiences.
Lauren Schmidt Hissrich, The Witcher showrunner, discussed working with Cavill and his passion for the project.
“The conversations that Henry and I had were were really great. He was so passionate about showing male friendship in a new light. We talked a lot about the fact that it’s not that male friendship isn’t demonstrated a lot in pop culture. Certainly not this sort of ‘I’ll die for you’ brotherhood that I think he would compare a lot to his family brothers or the military. I didn’t have as much experience with that, so I really relied on his experiences. But we knew we wanted there to be a warmth there. And even though these these men were sort of warriors, and they’re super physical, they actually were quite bonded through their experiences and making sure that warmth comes across onscreen.”
In addition to his respect for the armed forces, Cavill has become more vocal about his role and the character after becoming so acquainted with Andrzej Sapkowski’s books. Cavill actually asked Hissrich to look over the script to find new ways to make Geralt’s feelings more visible.
For audiences enjoying season two of The Witcher, credit has to go to Cavill and the rest of the cast and crew for honoring his wishes for the character and acknowledging how the openness of the brotherhood and Geralt’s feelings would better the storyline.
You can see Cavill as Geralt in The Witcher on Netflix now.