Henry Cavill departed ‘The Witcher’ due to studio not following author Andrzej Sapkowski’s feedback
Actor Henry Cavill’s departure from ‘The Witcher’ was a subject of great controversy and disappointment for fans of the series who were particularly taken with his portrayal of Geralt of Rivia.
One of the prime reasons why Cavill left was because the studio never took the ideas of author Andrzej Sapkowski who wrote the books.
Sapkowski, speaking at the Vienna Comic-Con last week, was asked if he gave the studio and the series writers any feedback.
Laughing at the question, he replied: “Maybe, I gave them some ideas, but they never listened to me. But it’s normal.”
He then broke into an impression of a Netflix executive and said dismissively, “who’s this? It’s a writer, it’s nobody”, according to ‘The Hollywood Reporter’.
While the makers had revealed that they wanted to do their own thing with the source material, Cavill had made no secret his distaste with Netflix for deviating so heavily from the books.
As the actor is an avid fan himself, he wanted to portray Geralt and the world of ‘The Witcher’ with authenticity, and according to the books.
When the makers refused to heed the ideas of Sapkowski and Cavill, the actor made his decision to leave the series after Season 3, which ended up turning out a disaster as it was bombared with negative comments, currently holding only a 19 per cent audience rating at Rotten Tomatoes.
Months before his announced departure from the show, Cavill told ‘The Hollywood Reporter’ that he was committed to seven seasons “as long as we can keep telling great stories which honour Sapkowski’s work”.
After ‘The Man of Steel’ actor left the project, writer Beau DeMayo who helped in writing the first two seasons also opened up about his own distaste for Netflix, and the creative heads for deviating so much from the books in order to advance a certain agenda.
He revealed on Instagram: “I’ve been on a show — namely ‘ The Witcher’ — where some of the writers were not or actively disliked the books and games (even actively mocking the source material).
“It’s a recipe for disaster and bad morale. Fandom as a litmus test checks egos, and makes all the long nights worth it. You have to respect the work before you’re allowed to add to its legacy.”
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