Where to Stream: The Witcher

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Leave it to Netflix to save one of their best shows for last with the end of December premiere of The Witcher. Created by Lauren Schmidt Hissrich, the fantasy thriller is an adaptation of Polish writer Andrzej Sapkowski’s beloved saga. The series follows a lone monster hunter for hire, known as a witcher, whose life is forever changed when he comes into contact with a powerful sorceress and a child of destiny.

Thanks to the award-winning video game Witcher III: Wild Hunt, The Witcher is coming in this December with a strong fan following. And ahead of its premiere Decider spoke to lead actors Anya Chalotra, who plays Yennefer the sorceress, and Freya Allan, who plays Princess Ciri, about what’s ahead for their magic and monster-filled saga.

“I read The Blood of Elves, but that was mainly out of just pure excitement,” Allan said when asked how familiar with The Witcher‘s source material. She also revealed that she read the first book in Andrzej Sapkowski’s saga to confirm that she was doing her character Ciri justice in her audition. “But for me I didn’t want to over prepare because I felt like I already had such a kind of natural parallel with the character. I didn’t want to ruin that by overthinking things.”

Young and headstrong, Princess Ciri of Cintra is ripped away from her comfortable life and told to find a monster hunter for hire known as Geralt of Rivia. As the series progresses, Geralt (played by Henry Cavill) and the sorceress Yennefer become sort of surrogate parents for the mysterious and powerful young woman.

Anya Chalotra, the actor behind the powerful Yennefer of Vengerberg, started with Sapkowski’s short stories about the witcher. But after filming began, she stopped reading ahead so she could better focus on something neither Sapkowski’s original novels nor its video game adaptations have satisfactorily explained: Yennefer’s backstory. Though the sorceress Yennefer is a hugely important character in the world of The Witcher as well as being Geralt’s true love, little is explained about her personal history. The Witcher saga reveals that she had a difficult past, is roughly a century old though she appears to be in her early 30s, was born with a congenital disability, and that she’s powerful enough to make a name for herself across the Continent. But specifics about Yennefer’s past are sparse.

“Really my main source of information was the scripts that we were getting. Other than that, I had many conversations with Lauren and the cast and directors to figure out how we were going to best portray this role,” Chalotra explained. “I knew that was going to be a challenge because I don’t age within that time. I’m playing from 14 to someone in her late 70s. It was going to be a challenge, so I just needed to know that we were all on the same page and that they supported me and the instincts I had. I’d read the script again and again, and every time I’d be more familiar with Yennefer’s thoughts and responses.”

Portraying Yennefer pre-transformation and when she was still living with her disability was a challenge. These scenes required Chalotra to wear prosthetics around her back and mouth.

“The mouthguard was difficult because I would get ulcers and I would have to speak using very hard material,” Chalotra said. “But other than the pains of wearing it, it really did help. It changed my physicality. I looked at the floor more, and I became more insecure as a result. That only ever helped the place Yennefer was at in her life anyway.”

Yet actually wearing these prosthetics helped Chalotra to more authentically shape her character. “When I had to play Yennefer who was transformed, I would think about the pains that I went through in that time and it was a painful memory as Anya as well,” Chalotra explained. “I found that whole post-Christmas, from October to Christmas, very hard mentally.”

The actor also revealed what it was like taking on another daunting element of Yennefer’s life — her sexuality. Even in its game adaptations, The Witcher is an immensely sexual story. And as Chalotra noted, no one in this first season has as many sex scenes as her.

“The only reason I would take the job was if they, if those scenes weren’t gratuitous for gratuitous’ sake and if they progressed the story,” Chalotra explained. Because this first season of The Witcher sees Yennefer grow up, that includes explorations of her sexual maturity.

“Within that time life happens and those moments of vulnerability and manipulation are really important,” Chalotra said. “I had to speak to a lot of people to get me ready for those scenes because it’s very difficult to draw the line between Anya and Yennefer whenever I have to do them. But I’m learning, and I’m happy with the way they’ve been shot.”

Though Season 1 hasn’t even been released yet, both Chalotra and Allan have some lofty plans for what’s ahead. “I know a little bit about Season 2. Obviously you don’t get to see Ciri doing much fighting this season. Well any. And that’s all to come,” Allan teased.

The actor especially has one fellow cast member she wants to work with in mind: Geralt’s best friend, the bard, and this series’ comedy relief Jaskier (Joey Batey). “I don’t know what’s going to happen,” Allan cautioned before painting one of her dream scenes. “If we’ve got Geralt and Yennefer and they’re kind of arguing. And then you’ve got us just being there being like, ‘Cool.'”

But both Allan and Chalotra are in agreement. The future scene they’re most excited about is the eventual meeting between Geralt, Ciri, and Yennefer. “We’ve built up such a strong relationship outside of the characters, it’s exciting to think of what’s going to happen between our characters,” Allan said.

“It’s going to be fireworks,” Chalotra agreed. “We were saying our first scene we’re going to laugh our heads off.” She then added, “We can’t say that. I learned something yesterday about magical thinking. And so we shouldn’t do that.”

As for all The Witcher‘s comparisons to HBO’s fantasy mega-series Game of Thrones, both actors understand why the connections between the shows have been made but they disagree with the sentiment. “I’m very flattered, I think we both are, that it’s being compared to Game of Thrones,” Chalotra said.

“It’s a natural comparison to make. Game of Thrones just ended and we’re just coming. So it’s natural to make,” Allan added. “But I would say it’s very, very different.”

Even though this fantasy series may be called The Witcher, at its core this is Ciri and Yennefer’s story. “I think what’s so great about this show is that the female characters are strong but not as a consequence of a man,” Allan explained. “And also you get to look at our stories as independent of Geralt’s story. I’m really glad that people will be able to see it and that they’re not immediately together.”

“You invest in them more as characters. I think that’s the whole point; it isn’t just Geralt’s story. There’s a whole world and we’ve focused on the hearts of a lot of these characters that Andrzej [Sapkowski] has created,” Chalotra said.

The Witcher premieres on Netflix Friday, December 20.

Watch The Witcher on Netflix December 20