The Witcher’s Liam Hemsworth Says He Was “Reluctant” To Take Over For Henry Cavill

Actor Liam Hemsworth takes over the role of Geralt from Henry Cavill for the upcoming fourth and fifth seasons to close the show out, but Hemsworth originally had some reservations about joining the cast.

He told RadioTimes that he was feeling “pretty reluctant” to sign on after he was first approached for the part. “[I had] a lot of concerns and questions about it all. I was a big fan of the video game and then I watched the series, and was a fan of the series, and I read the books,” he said.

What specifically was he hesitant about? Hemsworth said it had to do with how the Netflix series already had an established and passionate fan base that enjoyed watching Cavill in the role.

“I think if I wasn’t a fan myself, if I didn’t care about it, I wouldn’t have come on board. The reason I came on board was because I was a fan, and because I thought that I could do justice to this character. I thought that could bring an interesting interpretation to this part of the story,” he said.

Showrunner Lauren Schmidt-Hissrich is quoted in the piece, too, saying when Cavill stepped away, the team knew it wanted to keep Geralt’s look the same, albeit with a new actor.

“We knew there were things that were really important to keep with Geralt–obviously, his look has to stay the same,” she said. “He’s a different human being, but I think there’s so many things that are sort of synonymous with Geralt–the white wig and the yellow eyes and the black leather and not wearing any color, and the way he walks through the world.”

At the same time, Schmidt-Hissrich said Hemsworth did a lot of work to create a version of Geralt that was unique to hom. “He needed to make Geralt his, and it was really important to let him do that and let him explore it and find it,” she explained.

The Witcher Season 4 debuts October 30 on Netflix, and The Matrix star Laurence Fishburne also joins the cast. A fifth and final season is coming sometime later.