Liam Hemsworth may not have watched The Witcher show or read the original book series before being cast by Netflix as Geralt of Rivia, but he was a big fan of The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt.
The actor, who'll portray Geralt in Season 4 and the final Season 5 after Cavill stepped down, said on Live With Killy and Mark that he played The Witcher 3 at launch and was otherwise a big gamer.
"I hadn't seen the TV show and I hadn't read the books but I played the video game like ten years ago or something," Hemsworth said. "It's still, to this day, one of the best video games of all time, and Netflix came to me almost two years ago now and said that they wanted me to step in and take over, and I was really excited by taking on that character because I was a fan of the video game."
Hemsworth didn't say yes immediately, however, as he wanted to get to grips with the world of The Witcher beyond just the game before committing. "I said, 'let me watch the TV show and have a look at the books and really get stuck into it'," he added.
When asked if he'd played The Witcher 3 since it released, Hemsworth said he's gone back to it "a couple of times" since. "When I'm not surfing I'm playing Xbox," he said.
Netflix announced in November 2022 that The Witcher would continue without its leading man as Cavill walked away after three seasons. The actor hasn't given an explicit reason for leaving, though said in November 2021 he was absolutely committed to a seven season run of The Witcher "as long as we can keep telling great stories which honor Sapkowski's work."
Co-star Freya Allan, who plays Geralt's adopted daughter Ciri in the show, has said she feels sorry for Hemsworth as he deals with what's "not an ideal situation," but hopes fans give him a chance.
Critical reception of The Witcher is mixed so far, with IGN awarding Season 1 a 6/10, Season 2 a 7/10, and Season 3 a 7/10 and 5/10 over its split season in our reviews. "The Witcher closes out its most compromised season yet by once again losing Henry Cavill in the clunky, plot-heavy shuffle," we said of the most recent episodes.
Showrunner Lauren Hissrich said the show could've ended or moved on without Geralt after Cavill's departure, but Netflix wasn't willing to because "there's just too many stories left to tell."
Ryan Dinsdale is an IGN freelance reporter. He'll talk about The Witcher all day.
