The Witcher: Jaskier actor says Liam Hemsworth is “brave” and “fresh”

The Witcher star Joey Batey, who plays Jaskier, has praised Liam Hemsworth for taking over from Henry Cavill and striving to fill his “incredibly big boots.”

Next year, fans of The Witcher will toss a coin to Cavill for the final time: the actor is leaving Geralt of Rivia behind after Season 3, with Hemsworth stepping into the role for the foreseeable future.

While initially coming as a shock, the reasoning became clear: Cavill has just returned to the DCEU as Superman, so his schedule is stacking up; and there have long been reports of creative differences between the star and the show’s writing team. He reportedly came close to departing after Season 2.

Batey, who plays beloved bard Jaskier in the Netflix show, has already reached out to Cavill and Hemsworth, giving the latter actor a warm welcome to the Continent.

Jaskier star praises Liam Hemsworth for taking on The Witcher

In an interview with Dexerto ahead of the release of The Witcher: Blood Origin, Joey Batey spoke about Cavill’s departure from the flagship show and how he’ll always miss him.

“Yeah. I spoke to Henry. We text a fair bit. He’s a very good friend,” he said.

“I sent him a message just saying how much everyone in the show would miss him… myself, more so than most, because Henry and I are very, very good pals. We’ve spent the past four years, you know, carving out these stories.”

Batey didn’t hesitate to get in touch with Hemsworth following the news. “At exactly the same time, I reached out to Liam and said, ‘Welcome’,” he said.

Netflix

“The strength in him and the bravery to come and join a show like this, like halfway through, is unbelievable. And I just hope that everyone knows the commitment that he’s already showing to these incredibly big boots he has to fill.

“He is diving in headfirst into this and is taking it so seriously with his research and training and things like that. We’ll miss Henry an awful lot. But Liam’s gonna bring something, something new and fresh and different to it.”

The Witcher: Blood Origin is a prequel series chronicling the creation of the first prototype Witcher and the “conjunction of the spheres”, when the worlds of elves, humans, and monsters collided. It’s set 1,200 years before the mainline series, so don’t expect Cavill to show up until next year.

The Witcher: Blood Origin will hit Netflix on Christmas Day this year. Find out more here.