Did Henry Cavill leave The Witcher over creative differences?
Bringing things back around to The Witcher, one other prominent bit of gossip is that Cavill’s departure was influenced by creative differences between him and the team behind the show. Obviously no one has come out and said that this was the reason, and there are quite a lot of assumptions flying around, but there’s enough solid information here to paint an interesting picture.
As we said earlier, it’s no secret that Henry Cavill is an enormous fan of The Witcher series. He’s been very open about playing the games multiple times, and once he discovered they were based on novels, he devoured all of those as well. The Witcher television show has had some issues interpreting that source material; while season 1 didn’t stray too far afield, season 2 basically shelved the book and told a story comprised of mostly original material.
Last week, former Witcher writer Beau DeMayo said that some of the writers on the series “actively disliked” the books and games, claiming they were “even actively mocking the source material” and that it was “a recipe for disaster and bad morale.” On its own, that might raise some eyebrows, but considering that Cavill’s departure was announced only days later, it’s easy to see why people might connect the two. Perhaps one of the team members suffering from bad morale was Cavill?
There have been stories of Cavill advocating to be more true to Sapkowski’s books on set. For instance, last year Hissrich talked about the death scene for Geralt’s horse Roach. A ways into season 2, Geralt’s trusty steed is slain by a chernabog. Hissrich said she initially wrote a bit of meta-comedy into the scene, making light of Roach’s death. Geralt has had a great many horses over the years, all of which he names Roach. But the comedic angle didn’t sit well with Cavill.
“Henry was so unhappy with the line,” she recalled to Polygon. “Finally I said, ‘You know what, you come up with something. I trust you, you know this material so well, you know the book so well, you don’t even have to pitch it to me.’ And he came back the next day with a beautiful speech that’s at the end of Sword of Destiny when Geralt is facing death and it’s such a pitch perfect moment.”
This isn’t the only example of Cavill pushing back creatively on set. Hissrich also shared that the actor sent her quite a few notes about ways to improve the show for season 2 during the COVID shutdown. One of the most prominent notes was that he wanted Geralt to “talk more” in season 2 — not so that he could have more lines, but so that the show could more accurately capture the character depth we get in the novels.
“A lot of the notes he was sending to me were about Geralt’s dialogue — could he, first of all, say more,” Hissrich said. “Everybody came out of season 1 laughing and loving Geralt’s fuming. But Henry was saying that when you read the books you spend a lot of time in Geralt’s head. So how can we put that on the page? Meanwhile, I wanted to tell the story of him becoming a father figure to Ciri. So those two things coalesced wonderfully. He opens up to get Ciri to trust him, by speaking his mind and his heart more.”
It doesn’t sound like Cavill and Hissrich had a tumultuous relationship, but it does sound like there was a push and pull behind the scenes, with Cavill wanting the show to stick closer to Sapkowski’s original tale and Hissrich being more willing to go in other directions.
The Witcher has a history of creative disputes behind the scenes
There’s another big example of a Witcher team member leaving the show, and this one we now know for certain had to do with creative differences. Veteran director Alik Sakharov (Game of Thrones, Black Sails) was originally slated to direct episodes 1, 2, 7, and 8 of The Witcher’s first season and had a big hand in creating the style of the show. He left shortly into filming, however, and Netflix had to reshoot much of the series premiere. Though Sakharov stayed quiet about it for years, late in 2020 he finally opened up about his departure, telling Forbes Russia that he was “quite critical” of his work on The Witcher.
“You see, in my perception, Eastern-European literature has a completely different pace,” Sakharov explained. “It is no coincidence that Andrzej Sapkowski has so many storylines and characters. The producers set the task of setting the adaptation at an action pace and filling it with colorful special effects. That was their vision. My vision was very different and I tried to convey it to them, giving my arguments. Unfortunately, I was not considered convincing enough, so I decided to leave the project.”
The interviewer pointed out that when they had previously spoken to Henry Cavill, the actor singled out Sakharov as “one of the few directors who has the right approach to actors.” Sakharov said that Cavill is “the best thing in The Witcher…he absolutely nailed the role.”
How exactly is this related to Cavill’s departure? The short answer is that it’s not. But it may be another piece in the puzzle that gives us a more detailed look at some of the troubles that The Witcher has had behind the scenes. When we put all these pieces together and examine how the show has often played fast and loose with its source material, at times even outright undermining its themes, it makes you think.
Did Henry Cavill leave because of creative differences? He said that he was committed to making the series “as long as we can keep telling great stories which honor Sapkowski’s work.” A failure to honor Sapkowski’s work seems to be one of the most pervasive criticisms of the series among fans. As Cavill is among them, it’s reasonable to assume his vision for the show might not have agreed with that of the producers.
Whatever the reason for Henry Cavill’s departure, the Continent is a sadder place for it. We’ll be keeping an eye peeled for any developments on this story or statements from the production itself.
Until then, we still have one last season with Cavill as Geralt of Rivia to look forward to. The Witcher season 3 is expected to hit Netflix in summer 2023.
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