Netflix casting actor from The Witcher video game for the show

Looks like Netflix’s Witcher show has hired another actor from the popular Witcher video games, but he’s not playing the character he voiced in the games.

The Witcher is bringing in a lot of new characters for its upcoming second season, most of them drawn from Andrzej Sapkowski’s Witcher books (including Game of Thrones veteran Kristofer Hivju, aka Tormund Giantbane, as aristocrat-turned-monster Nivellen). And the news keeps coming in. Redanian Intelligence reports that actors like Richard Cunningham (His Dark Materials, Rogue One), Michele Moran (Into the Badlands), Niamh McCormack and Krysten Coombs are also coming on board. (Coombs, by the way, played one of the dwarves who reenacted the War of the Five Kings at Joffrey’s wedding on Game of Thrones.)

But the interesting new addition may be Doctor Who veteran Alastair Parker, who plays the dwarf Cleaver in The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt.

Now, Parker is very much not a dwarf in real life — in fact, he’s a pretty big guy — so he’s not going to play Cleaver on the show. But RI has a good idea of who he might play instead.

Earlier this year, we heard about actor actor Graham McTavish auditioning for the role of Sigismund Dijkstra, the spymaster for King Vizimir II of Redania. McTavish’s audition video is even out there, which likely means he didn’t get the part; otherwise you keep those things to yourself.

Diijkstra is a seven-foot-tall bald guy with a big stomach who dresses very flamboyantly, although his personality is more reserved and cunning. In any case, Parker fits the bill — he’s the one on the left, if it wasn’t obvious.

LONDON, ENGLAND – DECEMBER 05: Cast members Alastair Parker and Oliver Evans attend the press night after party for “A Christmas Carol” at The Old Vic Theatre on December 5, 2018 in London, England. (Photo by David M. Benett/Dave Benett/Getty Images)

The Witcher showrunner Lauren Hissrich has admitted that she has taken some inspiration from the video games, and why? They’re tremendously successful, a lot of fun, and quite possible the reason Netflix was willing to make the show in the first place. Parker isn’t even the first actor from the games to appear in the show. MyAnna Buring (Tissaia de Vries in the show, Anna Henrietta in Blood and Wine) and Lu Corfield (Marites in the show, Iris von Everec in Hearts of Stone) are also part of the cast.

Netflix is also staffing up for its upcoming Witcher prequel show, Blood Origin, putting out a call for a character codenamed “Z.” They want a woman between the ages of 20 and 45 to play “A mystical and earthly conduit with cerebral palsy. This incredibly powerful female becomes part of a motley crew on a quest for vengeance.”

"We are looking for authenticity for this role and performers who can relate to the character. We welcome actors with similar disabilities to the character or shared experiences with character."

Netflix is going all in on this franchise. We should see the second season of The Witcher sometime in 2021.

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