Featured Image Credit: Netflix
Topics: Henry Cavill, The Witcher, Film and TV, Celebrity
Katherine Sidnell
Topics: Henry Cavill, The Witcher, Film and TV, Celebrity
He may not be playing a superhero anymore, but it turns out that Henry Cavill is a real-life Superman on set.
The Witcher star was so dedicated to his final series of the show that he ended up doing ‘100 percent’ of his stunts on his own.
If that wasn’t impressive enough, he even helped to craft some of the incredible fight sequences on the Netflix show.
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Given that he’s a huge fan of the books and games, it’s unsurprising that Cavill would be so heavily involved in the production of the adaptation.
Even as he was gearing up to leave The Witcher though, the actor’s passion for the series never dulled and he became like a ‘second fight coordinator’ – according to crew member, Wolfgang Stegemann.
The stunt coordinator revealed that he and the Man of Steel actor would sit together and plan how to film the fight sequences during season three.
“Henry [was] like basically my second fight coordinator," revealed Stegemann exclusively to UNlLAD.
"So he's coordinating and choreographing with me together, he is deeply involved in the whole process.
"[…] We first look how we approach the scene and how’s the storytelling - not just building a fight together with some techniques. It’s constantly composing, like composing a song.”
Describing the A-Lister as ‘a hard, hard worker’, Stegemann said the actor constantly trained to master the skills to play the grumpy Geralt of Rivia.
He added: “What many people don’t know, they think the stunt team comes together and we start choreographing something and show it to him. It's not like that. He's, from the beginning, there and giving all his input.”
Stegemann even explained that the 40-year-old was ‘deeply involved’ in designing shots, saying: “It's not just having a fight, it's how we shoot this fight. Henry and I basically sit together on the monitor and we hold the cameras and go through the fight to find the right angles, the right movements. And, yeah, it's incredible.”
Having already been injured on season two, Cavill still went ahead with the complex choreography and did ‘100 per cent’ of his own stunts on set - as if you couldn’t his love work ethic anymore!
The stunt coordinator continued: “Henry, of course, is performing himself. So first of all, which was very important to know, I didn't use any stunt double at all.
"So he did all his stunts by himself – like 100 percent, which is very rare and I’m very proud of because he’s just an incredible performer.”
He wasn't the only one though, with Freya Allen (who plays Princess Ciri) also having minimal stunt doubling on set.
“She put the same amount of work in, and [was] constantly working hard on the skills," Stegemann said.
"It was then easy for me and my team to design very complex scenes.
"So even Freya, we almost didn't really double her, because she was able to do most of it by herself.
“Even new techniques, she just collects them and makes them her own […] which you will see in season three. She has way more fights and she looks incredible.”
The Witcher will be available to stream on Netflix from June 29.