The Witcher star celebrates show’s first LGBTQ+ relationship
NetflixIn a conversation with Dexerto, a new star to The Witcher celebrated the show’s first LGBTQ+ relationship in Season 3 of the hit fantasy series.
The Witcher Season 3 Vol 1 has arrived, centering on Geralt and Yennefer on their quest to teach Ciri how to harness her powers while protecting her from the monarchs, mages, and monsters of the Continent who want to get their hands on her Elder Blood.
With such a rich context to The Witcher’s universe, from Andrzej Sapkowski’s original book series to the popular games, fans have had plenty of expectations of the Netflix adaptation, one of which is the exploration of LGBTQ+ storylines.
The series is ripe for representation, and now the show has finally delivered its first meaningful gay romance, a fact that the critics, the viewers, and the cast are here for.
The Witcher star celebrates show’s first LGBTQ+ relationship
Ahead of the release of The Witcher Season 3 Vol 1, Dexerto sat down with Hugh Skinner, who plays King Vizimir’s brother Prince Radovid. Alongside his intriguing political affairs, he strikes up a relationship with the iconic bard, Jaskier (Joey Batey).
When asked how he thought the romance was handled and how it was filming those scenes with Batey, Skinner replied: “Oh, it was thrilling, it was really exciting.”
Elaborating on why it was so “nice to play,” he said: “I can’t speak for Jaskier, but definitely for Radovid to meeting someone who he has – I mean, there’s still some lies and confusion going on – but far more honesty than he has in murderous, terrifying Redania, to have this connection with him is really exciting.”
NetflixElsewhere in the interview, Dexerto learned more about the complex relationship between Redanian spymasters Philippa Eilhart and Sigismund Dijkstra from their respective actors Cassie Clare and Graham McTavish.
Opening up about what draws the characters together, they joked that their “shared love of sadomasochism” certainly helps, while elaborating on the psychology behind their partnership.
“When you’re dealing with people whose job almost is to deceive, when you start to think, ‘Well, perhaps I’m being deceived by you,’ that can be tricky,” explained McTavish. “But they also have a shared love of sadomasochism, which is obviously a very handy thing. I don’t know when that came up in conversation, do you think?”
“Very early on, probably the first thing they said,” quipped Clare, to which McTavish joked: “Really, ‘S&M?’”
Clare added: “I think Philippa’s drawn to people who are very intelligent… And she definitely sees Dijkstra as one of the most intelligent people around.”
The Witcher Season 3 Part 1 is available to stream on Netflix now. You can check out some of our other coverage below: