The Witcher casting update: new actors and more roles revealed

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This has been a big week for The Witcher with no less than seven new cast members announced, all set to appear alongside leads Henry Cavill, Anya Chalotra, and Freya Allan in such iconic roles as Philippa Eilhart, Sigismund Dijkstra, and Mother Nenneke. Of course with a show as big as Netflix’s fantasy epic, there are still quite a few new actors, that haven’t been announced yet. So just to follow up on the big news, here’s a roundup of some of The Witchers other additions for the second season.


New cast members

Several actors have joined the show in currently unknown roles and we’ll break each of them down below. But first, let’s take a step back to October 2020, when The Witcher was filming at Chobham Commons in Surrey. At the time, we we’re lucky enough to get a first look at Freya Allan’s Ciri in season two and you may recall, that she was joined there by a number of elven looking characters and a certain red haired woman.

While it took some time and a bit of detective work, we think we can now identify the actress behind the mysterious figure. We’re quite confident that we’re looking at British actress Kara Lily Hayworth (The Huntsman and the Ice Queen) but you can take a look at it in the comparison below and judge for yourself.

Kara Lilly Hayworth and the red-haired woman at Chobham Commons

It’s still unclear what the scene filmed at Chobham Commons is all about and how it will figure into Ciri’s arc in season two. As seen in the photos, the actors were gathered around what looked liked a huge split tree and the eerie setup suggests it may be part of a dream sequence. So what are the elves (if they are in fact elves) and the red haired woman doing there? We previously speculated that she might be Queen Cerro of Redania, an important figure of the past that helped to set quite a few important developments into motion concerning Ciri’s lineage. As of now, this remains but a guess and we’d love to hear your theories.

Joseph Payne and James Baxter

Moving on from this more speculative bit of news, here are the actors that you can definitely mark down as new members of The Witcher family. First, we have a duo confirmed by their agency in a tweet reacting to Netflix’s casting news: Joseph Payne (The Third Day) and James Baxter (Emmerdale, Red Dwarf) have both joined the show in currently unknown roles. While we’re waiting for further clues, we can say that we’ve been eyeing Baxter for some time, and he seems to have been busy filming scenes with Louise Hooper, the director of episodes six and seven of the new season.

Dermot Daly, Tracey Chatterley and Pablo Raybould

Next are three of our own finds: Dermot Daly (Emmerdale, Coronation Street), Tracey Chatterley (Fallen Angels), and Pablo Raybould (Doctors, Berlin Station). While their roles remain unknown for the time being, Daly has done a lot of voice over work in the past. As such we could easily see him portraying and voicing a CGI character, though that’s just one of multiple possibilities. As for Chatterley and Raybould, they have both been on set at Arborfield Studios some weeks ago at roughly the same time. Keep in mind that this does not necessarily mean, they shared scenes with one another, as the show is likely filming multiple sequences simultaneously.


Role revelations

Casting additions are always good to know but as is the case with today’s news, they sometimes come with a bit of uncertainty, as far as the roles are concerned. Luckily, time tends to sort out the issue and we now know a bit more about some of the new actors and parts we’ve shared in previous reports.

Richard Cunningham and Michele Moran

In one of our last casting roundups, we reported that five new actors have been added to the cast of The Witcher’s second season. We’ve learned a bit more since then and can now confirm the roles of two of the newcomers. Richard Cunningham (His Dark Materials, Rogue One) will play a part credited as ‘Crazy Man‘. Michele Moran (Into the Badlands) will portray a still unnamed elven character, Given her experience, we’re betting on a prominent elf, at the very least a speaking role. Both, Cunningham and Moran are set to appear in one or two episodes directed by Stephen Surjik (Episodes 1 and 2).


We’re hoping to follow up on today’s news with more casting updates soon. Stay tuned and feel free to speculate in the comments or on twitter!

7 comments on “The Witcher casting update: new actors and more roles revealed”

  1. I guess the redhead is Milva the huntress. Although her appearance would be a bit early in the narrative. She also has dealings with Elves.

    1. As far as I remember, Milva is described as having red hair. A master archer, she would rival Legolas to good measure. She actually has more lines in the books than Triss, I think. The character doesn’t appear in the games. The show does not always stick to the timeline of the books, so there is some possibility that she already shows up in Season 2.

  2. If that is really Milva – and I am quite sure that they include the character – it would be nice if they include the scene where she purchases her new, superior composite bow. That scene is described in the books in considerable detail, introducing and emphasizing Milva’s outstanding skills with bow and arrows.

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