The Witcher author Andrzej Sapkowski considers Henry Cavill’s voice iconic as Geralt in the same way that Viggo Mortensen perfectly embodies Aragorn in The Lord of the Rings trilogy.
Henry Cavill’s Geralt in The Witcher was well-received by fans of the novel and video game series alike. The actor’s co-stars also complimented his dedication to the role, faithfully portraying the character according to the novels and the original Polish folklore. However, reports of mounting tension behind the scenes between the actor and the showrunners were all but confirmed when Cavill announced he was leaving the series. The news came as a shock to fans, including The Witcher author Andrzej Sapkowski, who said he considered Cavill’s take on the character superior to others in an interview with Beyond Pixels.
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Sapkowski remarked that he has seen both better and worse adaptations of The Witcher, which could be interpreted as the Netflix show offering a middling interpretation of the characters and lore. “I don’t know. Personally, I really like the Netflix series, but yes, I’m not a specialist. This is only my opinion.” He did single out Henry Cavill as one of the best parts of the series, saying, “I was more than happy with Henry Cavill’s appearance as The Witcher. He’s a real professional. Just as Viggo Mortensen gave his face to Aragorn [in The Lord of the Rings], so Henry gave his to Geralt — and it shall be forever so.”
Sapkowski even gave the actor the highest compliment by saying he can easily hear Cavill as Geralt’s voice in the novels. “I repeat, there are only letters [in my books]. But then I also saw the series from Netflix and I would say the voice of Cavill, that’s right for me,” he explained. “So my own idea of Geralt’s voice, that would be Cavill.” Aside from Cavill, Geralt of Rivia has been portrayed by Michał Żebrowski in the 2001 Polish fantasy film The Hexer and Doug Cockle’s voice in CD Projekt Red’s The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt.
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The author also revealed that his next Witcher novel will focus on Geralt, teasing, “The book is directly about Geralt, but I won’t say more. […] It is outside the pentalogy.” Sapkowski’s The Witcher series includes the core five novels of The Witcher Saga, a standalone novel and 15 short story collections. His upcoming book, which launches next winter, will be the latest installment in the Witcher canon since 2013’s Season of Storms. Sapkowski said he barely had any input in the creative direction of the Netflix series even though he collaborated as a creative consultant on two episodes of Season 1.
The first three seasons of The Witcher are available to stream on Netflix, with a fourth season confirmed but pending a release date.
Source: Beyond Pixels via Redanian Intelligence
