The Witcher will end its run on Netflix with seasons four and five. That will also be how long Liam Hemsworth serves as the Continent’s White Wolf. He’s replacing Henry Cavill as Geralt of Rivia. Cavill’s departure remains a stunner for a lot of reasons, including that he’s a huge fan of the franchise. How does Hemsworth’s love for all things monsters and magic compare? Turns out he’s an OG fan of The Witcher 3, but that was the extent of his familiarity with the world of Andrzej Sapkowski when Netflix first approached him about joining the show. The new Geralt says he hadn’t read any of the books or even seen the Netflix series before taking on the role. But don’t worry, he made sure he did before he said yes.
During an appearance on Live With Kelly and Mark (which we first heard about at IGN), Hemsworth talked about working on The Witcher. He says he has about three more weeks of shooting before he wraps season four. He also shared the story of his own journey with The Witcher long before he joined the series. Here’s what he said:
I hadn’t seen the TV show and I hadn’t read the books, but I played the video game like ten years ago or something. It’s still, to this day, one of the best video games of all time. And Netflix came to me, almost two years ago now, and said that they wanted me to step in and take over. And I was really excited by taking on that character because I was a fan of the video game. But I said, “Let me watch the TV show and have a look at the books and really stuck into it.”
We’re sure he more than knows his stuff now. He’s read the books, watched the show, and replayed one of his favorite game. Plus, you know, he’s literally been filming as Geralt. Forget his past experience with The Witcher. You can’t get much more intimate with the franchise than that.