The Witcher has faced many dangers for its characters, but a recent interview revealed a shocking real-life threat that almost literally blew up production.
The Witcher just dropped its fourth season, which is its most ambitious yet. The big news, of course, is Liam Hemsworth taking over from Henry Cavill as Geralt of Rivia on a new quest. The show has already showcased some amazing fight scenes, with Hemsworth proving himself worthy of following Cavill’s large footsteps.
The series had a pretty arduous production, filming across Europe. However, stars Liam Hemsworth and Joey Batey (Jaskier) shared in a recent promotional video that one day, the show’s production was threatened by the danger of actual bombs!
Hemsworth and Joey Batey discussed how the show had several scenes filming in Llyn Padarn in Gwynedd and how they “had a pretty exciting time in Wales.”
According to Batey, the cast and crew were filming for two weeks on a boat for scenes where Geralt and company travel across a river in the season finale. That was already challenging, only for the crew to get the shocking news that “19th-century bombs” had been found nearby.
As Batey explained, the cast were simply told to stay on the boat. "There were no crew on the boat - there was just us hiding protein bars and snacks around this raft - and then we radioed 'can we come back to shore please' and they said 'well, don't panic, but we did find 19th Century bombs and the bomb squad are on their way. And the safest place for you now is on the boat.'"
For those wondering, yes, bombs did exist in the 19th century as Felice Orsini crafted what amounted to a hand grenade in a bid to kill Napoleon. That type of device was named after him, notable for being very huge orbs that were buried across Europe. Variations were also used during the American Civil War.
To find some artifact bombs still intact enough to be dangerous was a wild reveal that made this shoot even more memorable.
How did The Witcher cast react to the bomb threat?
Obviously, being stuck on a river while bomb squads were working a bit away was worrisome, but the cast managed to handle it well. Batey joked with Laurence Fishburne (who joined season 4 as Emiel Regis) on how the latter’s reaction was simply "You just went 'of course there is - what else would there be?'”
Meanwhile, Hemsworth stated that when he returned to his trailer, he got a rude surprise. "I was in my trailer and I was eating lunch, and then I heard this explosion, and I was like 'it couldn't have been the bomb exploding? Is everyone alright?’”
Thankfully, it seems the whole thing was handled quickly. It's lucky the bombs were found, as even centuries-old explosives could still cause damage to people, and the production accidentally setting them off would have been a nightmare. It's oddly fitting these were ancient bombs to delay a fantasy production filled with ruins and in-world history.
It’s amazing that in a show packed with so many wild stunts and special effects work, The Witcher nearly endured a real-life disaster from technology far beyond the show’s usual magic!
The Witcher season 4 is streaming on Netflix.
h/t BBC News