The Witcher’s Liam Hemsworth had neither watched the Netflix series nor read the books before being cast as Geralt

Liam Hemsworth had neither seen the Netflix adaptation of The Witcher nor read the original book series before being cast as Geralt of Rivia.

The Hunger Games star will take on the role of The Witcher’s white-haired monster hunter in the show’s final two seasons following Henry Cavill’s departure. Although Cavill was a known Witcher fan from the start (his co-star Freya Allan, who plays Ciri, even referred to it as the “Witcher Bible”), Hemsworth wasn’t all that familiar with the source material when he was cast.

During an appearance on Live with Kelly and Mark earlier this week, Hemsworth was asked about his familiarity with the series. The actor admitted that he had neither watched the series nor read the books before being cast, but became a Witcher fan through playing the video game.

“It’s still to this day one of the best video games of all time, and Netflix came to me almost two years ago and said they wanted me to step in and direct it, and I was really excited to take on that character because I was a fan of the video game,” Hemsworth told his hosts.

But even though the actor was a fan of the video game, he didn’t immediately accept the role because he wanted to find out a little more about the background of the Witcher series before signing on. “Let me watch the TV show and take a look at the books and really get into it,” he told Netflix. He’s also been known to dip back into the game occasionally as a little refresher, Hemsworth continued.

“It’s one of those video games where you have to spend a lot of time, really putting in a few hours,” he said, adding, “When I’m not surfing, I’m playing Xbox.”

Hemsworth’s casting for The Witcher’s fourth season in 2022 was first announced when former Geralt actor Henry Cavill announced he was “retiring.” [his] medallion and [his] Swords”.

“As with the greatest literary characters, I pass the torch in awe of the time I spent embodying Geralt and excited to see Liam’s take on this most fascinating and nuanced man,” Cavill wrote at the time.

Hemsworth won’t be the only new face on set when the next season airs. Matrix star Laurence Fishburne will also join the Witcher cast as Regis. Meanwhile, Danny Woodburn has been announced as Geralt’s dwarven friend Zoltan Chivay.