Liam Hemsworth Was Almost Cast as Netflix's The Witcher Back in 2018
The actor could have always been Geralt of Rivia.
Summary
- The news that Geralt of Rivia will be getting a new face in Season 4 took The Witcher fandom by surprise.
- However, the show's creators didn't cast Liam Hemsworth out of the blue.
- As it turns out, the actor has been in the mix since the very first auditions for the titular role.
The Witcher Season 4 is still in the works after some delays caused by the Hollywood strikes. It is likely that the new penultimate chapter will arrive on Netflix in 2025 at the earliest, giving fans plenty of opportunity for speculation and theorizing.
The main topic of discussion these days is of course the recasting of the titular monster hunter, Geralt of Rivia. In the last two seasons, the White Wolf will be portrayed by Liam Hemsworth instead of Henry Cavill, who filled the shoes in the first three chapters.
The reason for the recasting is Cavill's refusal to renew his contract after the initial three-year term expired. Exactly how Geralt will change his face is still up in the air, but the creators promised to deliver a 'flawless' and 'lore accurate' transition.
However, as it turns out, if things had gone differently when the show was in its infancy, the transition would not be an issue at all.
Liam Hemsworth has been in the picture since 2018
Back in 2018, when The Witcher was still in the planning stages, the creators were very serious about choosing the right Geralt, so they auditioned a whopping 207 actors over the course of four months.
While no one could compare to Henry Cavill, who reportedly wanted in since rumors about the project started swirling, there were a few frontrunners. And Liam Hemsworth was one of them, according to Redanian Intelligence.
This makes a lot of sense, since the showrunners didn't organize a new big star hunt in 2022, when Cavill announced his decision to leave the show. All they had to do was revisit the four-year-old audition tapes with all the frontrunners.
Apparently this time Hemsworth, who is an avid fan of Andrzej Sapkowski's book series, caught their eye and attention and got the long-awaited role.
Who else was in the running for Geralt?
Of course, the names of all 207 actors who auditioned for the role of the White Wolf have not been revealed to the public. But the rumor mill is working, and we can name a few celebrities who could star in The Witcher if Cavill and Hemsworth don't take the role.
Reportedly, Royce Pierreson, who now plays Istredd, Michael McIntyre, Wolfgang Cerny, Adam Fergus, Max Beesley and Zach McGowan all fought to bring Geralt to life. Max Beesley's audition tape has even been released on YouTube.
Other frontrunners that fans figured out based on their social media followings are Luke Arnold from Black Sails, Ben Barnes from the Chronicles of Narnia franchise, and MCU favorite Sebastian Stan. Well, at least Stan got the role of White Wolf in the Marvel superhero universe, right?
Source: Yahoo, Gizmodo, Redanian Intelligence.