Behind the scenes of The Witcher’s sets and characters Part I

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It’s been more than a week since The Witcher has been out on Netflix and the floodgates are finally open. The cast and crew were all too happy to finally share their experiences, including behind the scenes images of the life-like monsters and spectacular action scenes. Of course, the steady stream of social media posts didn’t stop with these…

Whether you enjoyed watching the show or not, you have to give it to casting director Sophie Holland and to The Witcher’s excellent actors, actresses and extras who worked tirelessly to bring the first season to life. Many of them couldn’t wait to show us their characters and the gorgeous sets of The Witcher. This first part has everything, from superstar Henry Cavill‘s Geralt of Rivia to new fan favorites such as Jeremy Crawford‘s foul-mouthed dwarf Yarpen Zigrin and smaller parts like the many extras that filled Queen Calanthe’s court at Cintra with life.

What better way to kick this off than with Joey Batey, who isn’t only iconic as the darling bard Jaskier but in real life too!

Other actors who took to Instagram to post about The Witcher include Natasha Culzac’s implacable elven bandit Toruviel…

John Cummins, whom you may remember as the inhospitable inkeep of Blaviken…

Andrey Kurganov, who featured in episode three as the head of the Temerian miners who are plagued by a vicious striga…

Bogdan Iancu who plays Tsoka’s son Mikal, a young boy and the striga’s most recent victim…

Alexandra Szucs who appeared in Episode One as a Cintran courtier named Isadora…

Young Geralt actor Tristan Ruggeri who posed together with Yennefer star Anya Chalotra

And then of course, there’s the adult version of the witcher: Henry Cavill himself. The images below were posted by a double stunting for Henry during the fight with the Kikimora in Episode One. It remains unclear how exactly the double fit in, since it has previously been stated that Cavill did all of his own stunts.

Henry Cavill and his stunt double

The Bounds of Reason

The Witcher‘s sixth episode is a bit of a panorama in itself. At least insofar as it’s all about a grand adventure that mostly (though not entirely) avoids spanning bridges to the main seasonal story arc. The light spirit makes it a surprisingly fun break from the usually focused flow of the story. Add to that a memorable supporting cast, such as Ron Cook‘s Borch-Three-Jackdaws and his Zerrikanian bodyguards and you get a very unique kind of episode.

Borch-Three-Jackdaws flanked by his Zerrikanian companions

It’s largely thanks to Adele Oni who plays Borch’s companion Véa, that we have so many impressions from the filming of Bounds.

Adele and Anya Chalotra
Adele and Jeremy Crafword

Of course, Borch’s small company wouldn’t be complete without Colette Dalal-Tchantcho who plays Téa, the other half of the deadly duo.

Adele and Colette

Looks like the three of them had a blast, especially filming the action scenes.

Here come the Reavers…

Ron Cook and Steve Wall who plays Boholt, the leader of the Reavers
Adele and Steve
Geralt and Yen sharing a passionate kiss in the heat of battle
The intense final stand-off was filmed in and around Szelim Cave in Hungary
Sword-master Vladimir Furdik posing with the cast
Fortunately relations look were much more amiable on set than in the final version

Crawford’s Yarpen Zigrin and his crew of dwarven adventurers also made a lasting impression and the best news we may not have seen the last of them. If the show is to follow the events of Blood of Elves, Yarpen and his boys could be back for Season Two.

Jeremy Crawford, Kain Francis (Yannick Brass) and Simeon Dyer (Lucas Corto). Missing is Michael Keane (Xavier Moran)
In all liklihood, this cast member won’t be back in Season Two

Why you should hate portals

Also on the Canary Islands, the crew filmed an parts of episode four’s chase that has Anya Chalotras Yennefer and Isobel Laidler‘s Queen Kalis fleeing through multiple portals while being pursued by a Ronin Mage played by Marcin Czarnik.

Anya at Roque Nublo where the finald stand-off between Yennefer and Czarnik’s mage was filmed
Czarnik (right) and his stunt double
Isobel Laidler
Isobel and Anya in front of their tents

Cintra’s [not so] eternal splendor

Cintra’s throneroom is probably one of the most elaborate sets used in Season One, featuring magnificent costumes, ornaments, banners, dishes, food and an assortment of supporting cast members and extras that made Queen Calanthe’s court come to life.

Actor Blair Kincaid who plays the young sea-boar Crach an Craite shared a couple of pictures of himself and fellow cast members on his Instagram account.

And finally, here’s the man who brought an end to all the feasts and revelries. Say what you will about Cahir, but Eamon Farren managed to convey a sinister presence throughout the first season.

Nilfgaardian extras at Fort Monostor

Still hungry for more behind the scenes goodness? Watch out for Part Two, which will be coming next! As a bonus, here’s a picture of Ciri star Freya Allan and her stunt double, seemingly shot after one of many days of hard work…

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