Henry Cavill and Anya Chalotra, the stars of the Netflix fantasy series The Witcher, successfully argued against a particularly intimate scene between their characters, Geralt of Rivia and Yennefer of Vengerberg, in season two of the show.
Cavill and Chalotra believed that the location was inappropriate for their feelings at that point in the story and instead argued for a more emotional reunion, given the characters’ relationship history.
Henry Cavill And Anya Chalotra backed out of Intimate Scene In The Witcher
The scene was initially intended to be more passionate and s**ual, but the actors convinced the showrunners to alter it. Lauren Schmidt Hissrich, the show’s creator, commented, “The story is much more about the evolution of a family. And so we didn’t need to have a lot of s*x. We didn’t need to have a lot of nud**y.”
Throughout the series, Geralt and Yennefer share several emotional and intimate moments shadowed by heartache and distrust. Cavill and Chalotra felt that the reunion between their characters needed to be more emotional than sensual, and they wanted the scene changed.
The actors worked together to ensure that the location was valid to their feelings and didn’t turn into something they didn’t believe should be. In an interview with The Observer, Chalotra conferred the development of the onscreen relationship with Cavill and how they wanted the scene to be emotional rather than sensual. The set that ultimately made it into the show features a moving moment between Geralt and Yennefer and Yennefer meeting Ciri.
Cavill and Chalotra’s success in changing the scene is not uncommon in the industry, as many actors care about the development of their characters throughout a show or movie. The Witcher, based on novels by Andrzej Sapkowski, has two seasons on Netflix, with a third expected to premiere in 2023.
