‘Because of the nails, I ended up with scratches,’ the Ciri star recalled (Picture: Netflix)
The Witcher star Freya Allan has revealed that she was literally slapped across the face during while filming season 3 – and she felt extraordinarily bad for her co-star behind the accidental mishap.
Since the beginning of the Netflix fantasy series, when Ciri was first introduced as a princess in need of looking after by monster-hunter Geralt of Rivia (Henry Cavill), the royal has made massive strides while exploring the power that she holds within herself.
From training at Kaer Morhen, the base of witchers, to learning how to harness her magical strength, Freya has been involved in action sequences that have become increasingly physically-demanding over the years, and the third season is no different.
However, while talking to Metro.co.uk ahead of volume 1’s release, the 21-year-old admitted that one piece of choreography went slightly wrong when she was actually struck in the face.
‘I had a scene where someone slaps me, and they accidentally… they had fake nails on. Bless her, she didn’t mean to and I think it was her first day,’ the actor recalled.
‘The slap didn’t seem to be looking right and stuff, so there was a lot of pressure on her, but she accidentally slapped me.’
Ciri is ready for more action against monsters and foes in the new season (Picture: Netflix)
Yennefer star Anya Chalotra, who was there at the time, recollected: ‘We all just went, “Woah.”’
‘Because of the nails, I ended up with scratches, so they had to add scratches for that episode,’ Freya continued, gesturing on her face where the scratches were as Anya recalled how her co-star ‘went straight back in’ to continue filming the scene.
When Freya was asked whether she had to console her scene partner who had made the mistake, Anya said that was the ‘worst thing’ about the situation, explaining that it was ‘horrible’ to see the reaction on her co-star’s face to the unfortunate scenario.
‘It was absolutely fine,’ Freya shared. ‘Like, yes, I had a couple of scrapes. It wasn’t about that.
Freya joined her co-stars at the season 3 premiere in London (Picture: Jeff Spicer/Getty Images for Netflix)
Henry attended The Witcher premiere with his girlfriend Natalie Viscuso as he prepares to say goodbye to the lead role of Geralt after season 3 (Picture: Dave Benett/WireImage)
‘I felt horrible for her. I had to tell her a hundred times, “Please don’t worry, these things happen, it’s okay.” I just felt bad for her. First day and she’s managed to slap the lead actor. I actually was pained for her.’
With Freya having sustained actual scratches on her face, the team behind the scene were able to make it work when it came to the continuity of the narrative, by incorporating the scrapes into it.
‘Thank god for the continuity it managed to work out, ‘cause otherwise I don’t know what we would have done,’ she acknowledged.
Anya witnessed Freya being slapped in the scene mishap (Picture: Gareth Cattermole/Getty Images)
In December 2020, it was reported that filming on The Witcher’s second season had been suspended after Henry hurt his leg, an injury that he confirmed a month later.
The Geralt star shared with his followers on her Instagram that he’d hurt his hamstring, while Freya told Metro.co.uk at the season two premiere that she was there when it happened.
‘I was actually there, and I had just been doing the same thing that he was doing when he injured himself, because we had to both do it,’ she told us at the time, before jokingly quipping that they’d been able to go for their Christmas break early as a result.
The Witcher season 3 volume 1 premieres on Thursday June 29 on Netflix.
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‘Because of the nails, I ended up with scratches,’ the Ciri star recalled.