The Witcher won't return for quite a while still, but Netflix's high-profile fantasy saga may already be casting a key role for Season 2 and beyond. An audition tape has hit the web with lines of dialogue that fans of Andrzej Sapkowski's book series can attest sound like they come straight from the mouth of a character by the name of Dijkstra. Is The Witcher working on finding the man to bring the legendary spy to life on the small screen?
Here's what's known so far. Scottish actor Graham McTavish, recognizable for roles on Outlander, Lucifer, and Preacher, shared an audition clip with him reading lines for a Witcher character referred to as "David." The original video of the audition has been taken down, but the dialogue remains accessible courtesy of Redanian Intelligence. Though the character is referred to as "David," there can be little doubt that the real character for The Witcher Season 2 is Dijkstra if genuine.
As Witcher book fans know, Dijkstra was the spymaster in the court of King Vizimir of Redania. A sizable man, Dijkstra had a hand in many of the novel saga's biggest plots, and it was difficult to imagine Season 2 moving The Witcher series on from the short stories without including Dijkstra.
In the dialogue from Graham McTavish's audition scene, "David" is referred to as "a large man" who has brought some news to King Vizimir. He also refers to "few of my spies" and suggests that "a coup is possible" with some "behind the scenes" work that they do best. Short of the character being explicitly named "Dijkstra," he couldn't seem much more like the character from Andrzej Sapkowski's books.
High-profile shows often change character names when it comes to audition scenes to prevent spoilers, and those scenes aren't even always from the show, but rather written for the audition process only. It's worth noting that The Witcher reportedly attempted to avoid spoilers during Season 1 casting by referring to Istredd as "Isaac" and Renfri as "Riley." "David" and "Dijkstra" both start with the same letter, and "David" certainly isn't a name that fits in with a show filled with character names like Geralt, Cirilla, Yennefer, and VIlgefortz.
Assuming Graham McTavish's audition video is proof that The Witcher is casting Dijkstra, that's still not confirmation that he landed the role. That said, the Scottish actor certainly fits the bill to play a physically imposing character, and he has experience in genre series. Just take a look at McTavish as Dougal in Outlander:
Graham McTavish presumably wouldn't wear a kilt if he lands the role of Dijkstra, and I don't think it's a spoiler to reveal that The Witcher isn't going to turn into a time travel romance a la Outlander, but he could be a solid choice to play the Redanian spymaster. And hey, as a reader, I look forward to seeing Dijkstra in live-action so I can finally figure out how to pronounce his name!
The Witcher has kicked off the early stages of production for Season 2 at this point, and the next batch of episodes is expected to hit Netflix in 2021. It would make sense for the series to start casting major roles already, especially since Dijkstra will be part of the show for the long run if it continues to follow the books. And if casting is happening, can Mark Hamill land that role he's after? If the show is making big strides already, maybe that means The Witcher Season 2 will arrive sooner rather than later in 2021!
The good news is that Netflix has plans for a Witcher animated movie that should deliver more content set on the Continent, and the streamer has every reason to want to keep the Witcher train rolling. For now, you can catch the eight episodes of The Witcher Season 1 streaming for your binge-watching pleasure on Netflix. If you want some inside info on what Dijkstra could mean for Season 2, you can also check out Andrzej Sapkowski's book series!
