The third season of Netflix’s high-fantasy drama “The Witcher” came to a close last month, and with it came the end of Henry Cavill’s stint as the show’s lead character Geralt of Rivia.
Cavill has been the face of the franchise since its inception, the show’s marketing built around him taking on the role and he had an obvious love of the source material.
Thus, even with reports of behind-the-scenes disagreements, the news in October last year of his abrupt exit came as a major surprise. In the months since, speculation has been rampant about why he left the role.
Speaking with Screen Rant, one of the show’s directors Marc Jobst offered his take on why he think Cavill exited, and it all has to do with how demanding the role is:
“Well, look, Henry has done three series, these are demanding shows to make, you know, they are huge. Henry does every single beat of his stunts, he won’t even allow a hand, if you’re doing a close-up of a hand grabbing a sword, it has to be his hand.
….You’re working with an incredible athlete, first and foremost, who works out hours before, and hours after, you’ve been shooting for 12 hours, and who cares deeply about the work that he does.
…That’s draining on your number one, so after three series, I feel, ‘Okay, he’s brought the show into being, and if he feels like he’s done what he can, I trust him.’ That focus that he has, that desire to get it right, is a gift to work with, because it elevates everybody to say, ‘Good enough isn’t good enough. It’s got to be fantastic.’ We all want to work like that, we all don’t wanna make something that’s good, we want to make something incredible.”
Liam Hemsworth will take over the role for the show’s fourth season, which has yet to begin filming. The third season ended in a way that suggests the recasting will be done as is, with no explanation for the physical difference of the character.
