We finally know who will be starring opposite Henry Cavill in Netflix’s upcoming adaptation of The Witcher! The two female leads, Ciri and Yennefer, finally have faces to put to their names. Freya Allan will be taking on the role of Ciri, while Anya Chalotra is going to be Netflix’s Yennefer.
Ciri is the princess of the kingdom central to the plot. Allan has previously been in Into the Badlands and will be featured in BBC’s upcoming adaption of War of the Worlds. Yennefer is a sorceress who becomes a mother figure to the girl and is also Geralt’s love interest. Chalotra can be seen on the TV series The ABC Murders and Wanderlust.
The casting of Ciri, in particular, has caused some controversy. A casting notice noted the producers were looking for an actress of color to play the young princess, leading to backlash. In an interview with THR, showrunner Lauren S. Hissrich touched on the backlash. She stated that the team “ended up seeing over 200 young women” for the role of Ciri and eventually found Allan, who was actually auditioning for another role.
In addition, several other cast members were announced:
- Adam Levy (Knightfall, Snatch) as a druid named Mousesack
- Bjorn Hlynur Haraldsson (Fortitude) as Eist, Queen Calanthe’s husband
- Jodhi May (Game of Thrones, Genius) as Queen Calanthe
- MyAnna Buring as Tissaia
- Millie Brady as Princess Renfri
- MyAnna Buring as Tissaia
- Mimi Ndiweni as a novice sorcerer
- Therica Wilson-Read as a novice sorcerer
The Witcher seems to be coming along quite nicely. Hissrich stated the series is “in prep,” and production is set to start soon. With a targeted 2020 release, it appears things are beginning to kick into high gear. Now, the only question is how much of a cut of the profits will Andrzej Sapkowski be getting.
[Source: The Hollywood Reporter]
