It came as somewhat of a surprise when it was announced that movie star Henry Cavill would be taking on the role of Geralt of Rivia in Netflix's adaptation of
The Witcher, especially given the poor track that video game adaptations have always had (with the exception of the recent
Detective Pikachu, of course).
This is because the franchise is relatively well known amongst the gaming and reading communities but not much further than that and given the numerous films that Cavill has starred in over the last decade -
Man of Steel, Batman Vs. Superman, Justice League, Mission Impossible: Fallout it is a bit shocking that he not only accepted - but graciously welcomed the project with open arms.
After giving the subject a moments thought it makes sense since three of those four films are a part of the DC Extended Universe - something that Cavill has pretty openly been trying to distance himself from for some time now due to the rampant backlash amongst the fan community. It seems that even now that he is out of that franchise he still receives paparazzi attention in a manner that bothers him - and considering he was the last actor to play Superman on the big screen it will probably stay that way for a while - no matter how many white-haired roles he takes on in the meantime.
“Every time I step out my front door, I’m hyper aware. Even if I’m not looking terrible, you still realise there are people taking sneaky photos of you, because that’s what people like to do. And then they put them on the internet and you see them on Instagram and you’re like, ‘Oh, my god.’ At home, I get to sit playing games for ridiculous amounts of hours and escape there, because going outside has the opposite effect.”
Who would have thought that Superman has the same social issues that most of his fans do? It looks like all of the attention, whether negative or not, helped keep Cavill inside and had him playing video games more often. He opens up about his 250 hour experience in
The Witcher 3 during his two and a half playthroughs.
“My first involved experience [with the franchise] was The Witcher 3. It’s all well and good when you’re trying not to stress out, but then I realised I wasn’t chilling out. I just ended up dying at the wrong points and thinking, ‘I should not have left the roads. I don’t know why I left the roads.’ I couldn’t run away fast enough or my attention span dropped for a second or I answered a text and now I’m dead and that’s six or seven hours of gameplay that I’ve just messed up.”
Something else that should make fans of both the books and the games happy is the importance to Cavill of staying true to the lore. Being a fan he treats the project as more of a job but as something of import to him and something he wants to protect - which seeing as he is the biggest name involved, will likely make a difference going forward.
“I want to do it as true to the lore as possible. For me it was about bringing my love for the character to the show, as a fan – I want to protect it. It would’ve hurt my heart to hear there was a show that I didn’t jump on, [especially] if someone else had a unique and perhaps even brilliant interpretation of Geralt, but one not who I, as a fan, sees.”
If you haven't seen the trailer for Netflix's new
The Witcher series starring Henry Cavill as Geralt of Rivia, check it out below and let us know your thoughts on the actor's words in the comments!
You can't outrun destiny just because you're terrified of it. Henry Cavill is Geralt of Rivia.
The Witcher is now streaming on Netflix.
GameFragger.com, and/or the user who contributed this post, may earn commissions or revenue through clicks or purchases made through any third-party links contained within the content above.