Behind the scenes, The Witcher has found a silver lining in Season 2’s production delay. Netflix’s hit series began filming its upcoming installment in February 2020, while confirming seven new casting additions. Unfortunately, things took a negative turn in March, when filming had to be delayed in the wake of the coronavirus pandemic.
The Netflix series is one of many major TV shows that has had to delay production on their currently in-production season. For The Witcher, the coronavirus ended up striking close to home. Season 2 addition and Game of Thrones fan favorite Kristofer Hivju actually tested positive for COVID-19, which led to the sets getting some deep cleaning. For The Witcher's casting director, though, the delay has featured some positive aspects.
The Witcher is one of Netflix’s hottest series, and while it is enduring a filming delay, that has not stopped the show from going on, at least, on the casting side of things. Casting director, Sophie Holland, explained how The Witcher is still updating its already extensive Season 2 cast list in ways that don't require actors to be there in person. Holland told Deadline:
We are literally having facetime with actors from all over the world — people that we wouldn’t normally have access to. It could just be a chat, they might want to do a piece, like a monologue, or they might just want to draw attention to some clips on their showreels. There’s been some really interesting actors that I didn’t know about before that I’m meeting now. I can definitely see that our paths will cross again in the future. I can already think of roles that might match with people I’ve spoken to. It’s also given me a sense that the industry still goes on.
There you have it! The Witcher has found a solid way to work around Season 2’s filming delay at least from a casting perspective. You can thank web-based auditions and meetings for the development, as well as just about every actor having the time and availability to take part, since so many countries are in different stages of lockdowns. Many times, casting takes place with in-person auditions, but with those now out of the question, The Witcher is utilizing other methods, and it is opening up the doorway to newly realized talent!
What is especially interesting is that it sounds like The Witcher team got to have discussions with actors they would not usually get around to landing for the audition process. While things may not have worked out for everyone for Season 2, it seems like the casting director has put certain entertainers in consideration for future roles. Are any of these actors also from Game of Thrones? We can only hope.
Whoever they are, The Witcher’s casting director seems assured that the industry is not at a total stand-still in the wake of recent events. For fans, The Witcher’s world will continue spinning with new content. There is an animated film coming up to help fans deal with the wait between Season 1 and Season 2.
Entitled Nightmare of the Wolf, the animated movie is based on Andrzej Sapkowski’s books. A recent tease by the film’s writer, Beau DeMayo, undoubtedly added to the excitement surrounding the project. He spilled that Nightmare of the Wolf would be cohesive to The Witcher series.
It does not sound like they need to worry about getting “Toss a Coin to Your Witcher” stuck in their head. Thankfully, star Joey Batey already has a go-to tune in the event of that happening. When it comes to The Witcher, preparedness and creative thinking have been crucial, and that includes casting!
The Witcher was set to return for Season 2 on Netflix in 2021, well after this spring’s premieres. Time will tell if that date sticks. You can re-watch or check Season 1 out for the first time on Netflix. The streaming giant will continue being home to lots of new 2020 content.
