Why ‘The Witcher’ Actor Henry Cavill Was Originally Turned Down As Geralt

Henry Cavill has aced playing the role of Geralt of Rivia in the hit Netflix series The Witcher, so much so that it is tough

By Kunal Sharma
April 14,2021
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Henry Cavill has aced playing the role of Geralt of Rivia in the hit Netflix series The Witcher, so much so that it is tough imagining any other actor playing the part. His monotonous deep voice and portrayal of the character’s vulnerability amid being a dangerous monster slayer are tough to compare.

It is tough to imagine he was turned down for the part. Yes, you heard it right. Justice League star was reportedly turned down for the biggest Netflix series of 2019, The Witcher, based on Polish author Andrzej Sapkowski’s book series.

Henry Cavill As Witcher
Henry Cavill As Witcher

The Witcher has three core characters and showcases each character’s story set in different timelines which eventually intersect. Henry Cavill plays the yellow-eyed monster hunter Witcher; the powerful sorceress is portrayed by Anya Chalotra, and princess Ciri by Freya Allan. Popularly The Witcher was enjoyed by fandom, making it one of Netflix’s biggest shows of all time.

The Witcher Cast: 5 Unknown Facts About This Stellar Cast
The Witcher Cast: 5 Unknown Facts About This Stellar Cast

More than 200 actors auditioned for the role of Geralt of Rivia, but Henry fought for it the hardest. His desire to play the role got him turned down initially.

Henry Cavill Was Turned Down For The Role For Being Too Persistent

It is commonly known that Henry is a big fan of the video games adaption of the same franchise that first begins in 2007. Naturally, when he heard that Netflix was making a live-action version of the same, he pushed his agents to schedule a meetup with Netflix for him as he wanted the part of Geralt.

Netflix eventually agreed to meet with him for the show, but the showrunner Lauren Schmidt Hissrich at that time didn’t have a proper vision or a script ready for the show. She also did not understand the point of meeting so early in the development of the series as nothing was concrete, and she found his insistence to be “annoying,” and hence Cavill was turned down.

Henry Cavill As Witcher
Henry Cavill As Witcher

A couple of months later, the script was in the works, and she couldn’t get off her mind while writing Geralt’s voice off of Henry. Though many actors auditioned for the role of Geralt once they started auditioning actively, the part eventually landed up with Henry after giving an audition. His persistence got him turned down in the first place, but it was the very same reason he bagged the role and became the iconic Geralt of Rivia in Netflix’s arguably one of the biggest series of all time.

Check Out: 8 Important Things We Know About The Witcher Season 2