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In his final days of playing Geralt in The Witcher season 3, it’s been said that Henry Cavill had a bit of an illness to grapple with – but coped with it in the most Geralt way possible.
The first volume of the new season is now out on Netflix for all to seek their teeth into, as viewers discover what latest adventures the titular monster-hunter, his allies and his foes are up to as new threats arise in the Continent.
Metro.co.uk recently spoke to stars of cast Joey Batey, who plays the charming bard Jaskier; Anya Chalotra, who stars as masterful sorceress Yennefer; and Freya Allan, who depicts Ciri as the princess’ power continues to grow.
The trio all found out after the third season had finished filming that Henry, 40, would be leaving the show, before being replaced by Hunger Games star Liam Hemsworth, 33, from the fourth instalment.
We asked them whether having that knowledge months later made them reflect on their final scenes with Henry in a different way… and Joey, 34, admitted that he now views those last moments on set that his co-star had with a ‘special poignancy’, particularly as he apparently wasn’t 100% well.
‘I was there on Henry’s last day shooting, and he was doing a large fight scene and he was ill, if I remember correctly. So I do look back on those final few weeks and they are quite poignant,’ the actor recollected.
Henry’s final scenes as Geralt have a ‘special poignancy’ for Jaskier star Joey (Picture: AP/Netflix)
The former Superman star has formed close connections with his co-stars, including Joey and Freya (Picture: Netflix)
‘There was something Geralt-like about Henry in his final few days – he refused to let something like illness or tiredness or exhaustion stop him from committing wholeheartedly to this character. I think those scenes really have a special poignancy to them now, to me.’
Freya, 21, outlined how the relationship that her character Ciri shares with Geralt impacted how she felt when she learnt that Henry would be stepping down from the lead role.
‘For me, it’s not reflecting on any final scenes. I think my final scene was me shoving mashed potato down. It’s more so… this sounds crazy, but sort of like mourning through Ciri, because we really got to become so close through those characters,’ she stated.
‘He plays my adoptive father. So that part was the most sad element of it. So it was more reflecting on this whole experience we’ve had together and that coming to a close with his side of it.’
Anya, meanwhile, admitted that she was glad that she hadn’t known during filming that it would be Henry’s final season, as she would have been ‘bawling’ in that case.
Anya would have been ‘bawling’ if she knew Henry was leaving during filming (Picture: Netflix)
The actor put on a suave display at the season three premiere (Picture: Gareth Cattermole/Getty Images)
‘I don’t think it changed the way I would have dealt with doing my final scenes with Henry,’ the 26-year-old shared.
‘It’s kind of a testament to him. He is so committed to the scene. He wouldn’t let anything else come into that – nor would I to be honest, so yeah.
‘It’s quite nice actually that I didn’t know and could just live in that moment. It was like 3am, I think. I would have been bawling.’
On the eve of the release of the first volume of The Witcher’s third season, Henry attended the premiere in London with his co-stars and his girlfriend, Natalie Viscuso.
The actor received an emotional standing ovation before the screening, having recently expressed his gratitude towards fans on social media for ‘touching his heart’.
The Witcher season 3 volume 1 is available to stream on Netflix, with volume 2 due to premiere on Thursday July 27.
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‘There was something Geralt-like about Henry in his final few days,’ Jaskier star Joey Batey recalled.