Marc Jobst, who helmed two episodes of Netflix‘s The Witcher, says Henry Cavill may have left the show because it was too demanding for him.
The filmmaker speculated as much during a talk with Screen Rant, noting that Cavill put plenty of himself into both the character and the production. “Henry has done three series, these are demanding shows to make, you know, they are huge,” Jobst said. “Henry does every single beat of his stunts, he won’t even allow a hand, if you’re doing a close-up of a hand grabbing a sword, it has to be his hand.” Beyond performing all of his own stunts, the director also noted that a great deal of The Witcher is shot on location, necessitating the cast and crew to travel around the world constantly.
“That’s draining on your number one, so after three series, I feel, ‘Okay, he’s brought the show into being, and if he feels like he’s done what he can, I trust him,'” Jobst elaborated. “That focus that he has, that desire to get it right, is a gift to work with because it elevates everybody to say, ‘Good enough isn’t good enough. It’s got to be fantastic.’ We all want to work like that, we all don’t wanna make something that’s good, we want to make something incredible.”
A Witcher No More
Netflix made waves in late 2022 when the streaming service confirmed that Cavill would not reprise his role as Geralt in The Witcher. While a solid reason was never provided, many have speculated that he dropped out of the show due to disagreeing with the writers over how to adapt the work of Andrzej Sapkowski. The part of the titular monster hunter will be played by Liam Hemsworth from Season 4 onwards, a casting decision that has proved controversial amongst The Witcher’s fanbase.
The Witcher Seasons 1-3 are available to stream on Netflix.
