The Witcher: Blood Origin is one step closer to appearing on your screens. Deadline reports that the spinoff series, set 1200 years before The Witcher (pictured above), is now filming in the UK—and has added a host of actors to its already intriguing cast.
Michelle Yeoh (Star Trek: Discovery), Laurence O’Fuarain (Vikings), and Sophia Brown (Marcella) lead the series, with Brown stepping into the role that originally went to Jodie Turner-Smith (who left due to scheduling conflicts). Now, Netflix has announced ten new actors who’ve joined the cast—including Lenny Henry (Amazon’s Lord of the Rings) and Dylan Moran (Black Books).
Netflix announced the names of the characters the actors will be playing, but given that Blood Origin is set so long before The Witcher and doesn’t seem to be based specifically on any of Witcher author Andrzej Sapkowski’s books, it’s hard to glean too much info from them. But here are all the new additions:
Buy the Book
A Marvellous Light
Lenny Henry as Balor
Dylan Moran as Uthrok One-Nut
Mirren Mack (The Nest) as Merwyn
Nathaniel Curtis (It’s a Sin) as Brían
Jacob Collins Levy (Young Wallander) as Eredin
Huw Novelli (The Capture) as Callan “Brother Death”
Francesca Mills (Harlots) as Meldof
Zach Wyatt (Karen Pirie) as Syndril
Lizzie Annis as Zacaré
Amy Murray as Fenrik
There were rumors last fall that the show was casting “Princess Merwyn,” who may be one of the leads. And there is one name on this list that may be familiar to Witcher fans: Eredin is the name of an elf who becomes King of the Wild Hunt—and who is around long enough to eventually cross paths with Cirilla.
If you’re curious what all of these actors look like, the show did a Twitter thread introducing them:
Give a Witcher welcome today to the cast and crew joining The Witcher: Blood Origin. ⚔️
— The Witcher (@witchernetflix) August 16, 2021
While we don’t know much about these roles, descriptions have been released for the leads. Sophia Brown plays Éile, a warrior with “the voice of a goddess,” who quits her positions as Queen’s guardian to become a traveling musician—until events force her to pick up her sword in search of vengeance.
Yeoh plays Scian, the last of a tribe of nomadic sword-elves, who is also a masterful swordswoman. Scian sets off on a quest to reclaim a sacred sword that was once stolen from her tribe—but her quest will have huge repercussions.
And O’Fuarain plays Fjall, also a warrior. He mourns a loved one who died trying to protect him in battle, and is also set on vengeance.
The Witcher: Blood Origins takes place in an elven world, and will explore the creation of the very first Witcher prototype in the time leading up to the Conjunction of the Spheres—when the worlds of monsters, elves, and men became one. The six-episode series has Witcher writer/producer Declan de Barra as showrunner, with Witcher showrunner Lauren Schmidt Hissrich among the executive producers. Two directors are on board: Sarah O’Gorman (The Witcher) and Vicky Jewson (Close) will each direct three episodes.
There’s no premiere date yet for The Witcher: Blood Origin, but the original Witcher will stroll back onto screens on December 17th.
