In an interview with the Hollywood Reporter, Lauren Schmidt Hissrich, showrunner of Netflix’s upcoming The Witcher revealed the casting for two of the series’ most important female leads. Joining Henry Cavill as Geralt of Rivia, Ciri will be played by Freya Allan from The War of the Worlds, and Yennefer of Vengerberg will be played by Anya Chalotra from The ABC Murders.
This announcement comes a few months after Hissrich left Twitter following an online backlash over a casting call that purportedly was looking for non-white actresses to play Ciri. Hissrich has since returned to social media.
A princess with mystical powers, Ciri is a central character in CD Projekt Red’s critically-acclaimed The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt, and a major character in the books that inspired the games, penned by Polish author Andrzej Sapkowski. Yennefer, meanwhile, is a powerful sorceress and maternal figure to Ciri, and is the primary love interest of protagonist Geralt.
Filling out the remaining cast is Jodhi May as Queen Calanthe and Björn Hlynur Haraldsson as Eist, her husband and the king of Cintra. Adam Levy will play the druid, Mousesack; MyAnna Buring will play Tissia, the head of the magical academy at Aretuza; Mimi Ndiweni and Therica Wilson-Read will both play novice sorcerers; and Millie Brady will play the role of the outcast Princess Renfri.
In her interview with the Hollywood Reporter, Hissrich discussed using the books as her main influence and trying to steer away from the video games as the “sole representation” of the Witcher universe.
As of yet, no release date has been announced, but Hissrich in her interview with the Hollywood Reporter did confirm that production is starting soon.
Source: Game Informer Netflix’s ‘The Witcher’ Has Found Its Ciri