The Witcher season 2 mixes monsters, set pieces and “big emotional journeys”

Director Sarah O’Gorman teases what to expect in The Witcher season 2, from “mythical monsters” to “big set pieces” to “big emotional journeys”!

Sarah O’Gorman is one of Netflix’s go-to directors when it comes to their crop of medieval shows; she’s done episodes of historical drama The Last Kingdom, Arthurian remix Cursed, and her next gig is directing the third and fourth episodes of The Witcher season 2.

The Witcher follows professional monster hunter Geralt of Rivia as he plies his trade on a Continent full of fairy tale monsters as well as scheming human leaders. Gorman hasn’t shot any of her episodes yet, but with the show going back to work, hopefully it won’t be too long.

We were lucky enough to get to talk to O’Gorman exclusively about it. “I think it got maybe, four weeks of filming done before it was shut down,” she said of the production, which had to deal with the outbreak of the coronavirus a few months back. “I don’t know the specifics yet. What I do know is, Netflix is really caring about the staff and will make sure the right protocols in place. We have COVID training before we start though.”

As for what’s in store for season 2, O’Gorman isn’t saying more than she thinks she can. “This is tricky,” she said. “I can tell you what [showrunner Lauren Hissrich] has already revealed, which is the timeline is going to be linear. We have our three main characters, Yen, Geralt, and Ciri on their journeys. I read the scripts before it was out, and it’s really exciting. It has the mix of mythical monsters, with those big set pieces, but with the big emotional journeys. Which is what I find appealing.”

Image: Netflix/The Witcher

And do the three main characters from O’Gorman’s shows — Uhtred from The Last Kingdom, Nimue from Cursed, and Geralt — share anything in common?

"I think they are actually quite different. There are some similarities in their circumstances I’d say, and the thematics around them. But I think they are all really distinct if you think about what each of them wants, and what they would do to get what they want, they are all really different. That’s why it’s appealing. Their worlds are similar in the fact that it’s swords and mythical, but the lead characters and their obstacles are very different, so they feel very distinct. The three of them though are characters that I really want to spend time with."

O’Gorman has accomplished a lot as a director. But does she have a dream job she’d like to tackle? “Oh, that’s a big question,” she said. “I want to do all of it basically. For me, it’s where the good stories are. I’ve done lots of contemporary, and if the story is good, I read it and it’s original, I want to do it. I think one of the joys of being a director is that you get to put yourself in completely different worlds every six months. So whichever story is good, happy to go there.”

"I’m reading scripts for next year, for when The Witcher finishes. The scripts I’ve been sent for next year are amazing, there is just so much good TV to go around, good writing. Nothing signed off yet, but there are some good projects around for next year."

Whatever she signs on to, we’ll be interested.

Finally, O’Gorman told us how she’s coping with quarantine. “It’s been hard, the things I like to do are go to the theater, go to restaurants with my friends, go to the cinema, and we haven’t be able to do any of that. I’ve also been doing home schooling, which is a challenge. Home schooling is very challenging, we had our ups and downs with it. But it was just trying to get through each day, and have a bit of fun. No matter how small that fun is. And actually, to cheer ourselves up, music has been important. We listen to music, have a dance. Watching some comedy, revisiting some old comedy shows. It feels like we are coming out of it. Fingers crossed.”

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