Thanks to inspiration from Tom Cruise on Mission: Impossible – Fallout, Henry Cavill did his own stunts on The Witcher.
Tom Cruise is well known for doing his own stunts, many of them crazy feats of bravery. It turns out that working with Cruise on Mission: Impossible – Fallout rubbed off on Henry Cavill when it came to The Witcher.
Speaking to Patrick Stewart during a Variety feature, Cavill revealed that Cruise inspired his decision to get more involved in the stunts:
“For me, when it comes to that kind of thing like stunts, I’ve always enjoyed doing the physical stuff. Working with Tom Cruise really helped — or maybe, in the eyes of the producers, made worse my enjoyment for stunts. I really want to do them now, and I think it’s an essential piece to the character. If an audience is watching Geralt on-screen, they must believe that it is me. If it’s not me, I feel like I’ve betrayed the character in some way, and so I try and do as much as a production will let me.”
Of course, it’s a big risk for the studio to have their valuable actors endanger themselves by doing their own stunts so Netflix probably wishes that Cruise hadn’t been such an inspiration on Cavill.
Based on the best-selling fantasy series of books, The Witcher is an epic tale of fate and family. Geralt of Rivia, a solitary monster hunter, struggles to find his place in a world where people often prove more wicked than beasts. But when destiny hurtles him toward a powerful sorceress, and a young princess with a dangerous secret, the three must learn to navigate the increasingly volatile Continent together.
The Witcher stars Henry Cavill as Geralt of Rivia, Anya Chalotra as Yennefer and Freya Allan as Ciri. Other cast members include Jodhi May, Björn Hlynur Haraldsson, Adam Levy, MyAnna Buring, Mimi Ndiweni, Therica Wilson-Read, Emma Appleton, Eamon Farren, Joey Batey, Lars Mikkelsen, Royce Pierreson, Maciej Musiał, Wilson Radjou-Pujalte, and Anna Shaffe.
New cast members for season two include Kim Bodnia as Vesemir, Yasen Atour as Coen, Agnes Bjorn as Vereena, Paul Bullion as Lambert, Thue Ersted Rasmussen as Eskel, Aisha Fabienne Ross as Lydia, Kristofer Hivju as Nivellen, and Mecia Simson as Francesca.
