Turn down your mics, sneak off into a corner, and tune in to Joey Batey’s Answer Time tomorrow at 12pmPT/3pm ET, happening exactly 12 hours after the The Witcher season two premieres on Netflix!
British actor Freya Allan stars as ‘Ciri’ in Netflix’s The Witcher alongside Henry Cavill and Anya Chalotra, premiering on December 20th. Set for release in 2020, Freya will make her film debut in action thriller Gunpowder Milkshake. She also stars in the three-part BBC drama adaptation of H.G Wells War of the Worlds, which premiered last month, as well as in The Third Day, premiering in 2020. Freya made her television debut in 2018 on AMC’s Into the Badlands as ‘Young Minerva’. We got the chance to ask Freya some questions about herself and her role on The Witcher. Check it out:
How would you describe the character you play in The Witcher?
Ciri is the princess of Cintra. She’s very stubborn and feisty. She has so much curiosity but because of the people around her, she’s not able to actually find anything out because they want to keep her away from everything. Curiosity scares them. She really values her voice and vocalizing her opinion and she finds a lot of power in the choices she makes. Ciri is very innocent and naive to the world so she can be vulnerable at times, but it’s her determination, strength and the drive that’s in her that allows her to keep going even at the darkest of times.
Do you have any fun facts about filming The Witcher that fans would be surprised to know?
I had to constantly have the hair on my eyebrows bleached.
If The Witcher was a musical what would your character’s big number be?
“On My Own”
How do you stay in character during scenes that rely heavily on special effects?
I didn’t have much green screen so that wasn’t a problem for me.
You wake up tomorrow in the world of The Witcher, what’s the first thing you’re going to do?
Find Geralt of Rivia
How would you describe the plot of The Witcher to a five year old?
There is a man who hunts monsters, a woman who is a sorceress which means she has magical powers and a princess who also has powers, and they are all magically connected which means they ultimately want to be together and they each go on adventures in the hopes that they will one day be together.
What did you do with your free time on set?
If I was acting with Wilson, who plays Dara, we would usually get into character and debate or chat. I got to know so many of the actors because we would talk for hours and laugh, especially at the beginning. I did some dancing in the trailer and a bit of singing.
What type of characters are you normally drawn to?
I don’t prefer a type, but a character that has something that makes me want to read more about them. If i’m reading a script and I want to keep reading and I’m attached even though I have no commonality, but I still want to find out what happens to that character. That’s usually a good sign but there’s definitely not a type. My aim is to play as many different characters as possible.
Describe each of the following in one word: who you are, what you value the most, what you would be if you were a food item.
- Freya
- Family
- Coconut
Thanks for taking the time, Freya! The Witcher premieres on Netflix on December 20th.
Entertainment Spotlight: Anya Chalotra, The Witcher
Anya is set to star in Lauren Schmidt Hissrich’s Netflix adaptation of The Witcher alongside Henry Cavill and Freya Allan. Most recently, Anya was seen on stage in Peter Gynt at The National Theatre. Anya’s further credits include the television series Sherwood, The ABC Murders, and Wanderlust. In addition to her television work, Anya also has an impressive on-stage portfolio, performing in The Village at the Theatre Royal Stratford East, and in Much Ado About Nothing at The Globe, as well as a further fifteen productions at the Guildhall. Anya took the time to answer some of our questions. Check it out:
Without any spoilers- what scene, moment or line from The Witcher are you most excited for audiences to see?
I’m very excited for them to see the transformation scene.
Can you take us through a typical day on the set of The Witcher?
I don’t think there was a typical day. I would get up at about 3 o'clock in the morning, have some breakfast, get changed into my costume and I’d get a 5 minute call to go on set. Then I’d go on set and usually be blown away by another one of the incredible sets, and do the scene and leave very tired.
If you could have a conversation with Yennefer what would you say to her?
Put some color in your wardrobe.
If a theme song played every time you entered a room what song would it be?
Depends on the mood I’m in. Probably “Here Comes the Sun”
How do you prepare for your role on The Witcher?
I read the short stories and then very quickly realized I couldn’t continue because it complicated Yennefer’s journey. We were focusing on her backstory so I didn’t want to read ahead. Then I kept reading the script and as I was reading, new things came up and I was asking more and more questions about her and having many conversations with Lauren, the director, and the cast members, interrogating each scene and how we were going to best bring it to life in the most truthful way. Then, because we were working at such a fast pace and there was so much material we were covering every day, it became second nature to think and respond as Yennefer.
In your opinion what’s the most interesting thing about yourself that people might not know?
I love cooking.
If you were to come up with an alternate title for The Witcher what would it be?
Queens
Do you have a personal motto or mantra?
Stay silly.
Thanks for taking the time, Anya! Catch The Witcher on Netflix starting December 20th.
Ready to get bardcore?The Witcher’s Joey Batey, aka Jaskier aka everyone’s favorite bard, will be answering some of your burning questions during his Answer Time on December 17th at 12pm PT / 3pm ET.
On December 20th, 2019, Netflix subscribers were treated to eight episodes of The Witcher, a Henry Cavill-led series based on the books by Andrzej Sapkowski and the video games they inspired. Tumblr was no stranger to Geralt of Rivia, and the show debuted at the second spot of our Week in Review on January 6th, 2020. It remained one of the top things on the site for most of January, February, and March, as many people found themselves watching it multiple times to better understand the complicated timeline. (Or, really, just to see more of every hot person in the show. Every one of them is hot.)
But why The Witcher? Sure, we were all coming out of our Game of Thrones cultural anticlimax, but what was the magic that made this eight-episode show so captivating? The answer is Lauren Hissrich. The showrunner flipped the story a bit, fleshing out Yennefer and Ciri’s backstories and allowing them to have (fully formed) lives of their own before even meeting Geralt. She sets Yennefer and Geralt as equals, each going through their own trials to get to each other as they seek to fulfill their individual needs.
