Anya Chalotra's Yennefer has emerged as a major highlight of The Witcher for many viewers, but you might be surprised to learn how and why she was cast in the role.
Casting director Sophie Holland has spoken about pushing to cast Chalotra as Yennefer of Vengerberg in Netflix's adaptation of the fantasy adventure novels, and her comments have raised a few eyebrows.
During an interview with Variety (via SFFGazette.com), Holland said that she wanted the relatively inexperienced actress to play Yennefer to "challenge" what she perceives as an outdated "standard of beauty."
"Lauren Schmidt Hissrich is the showrunner [on The Witcher] and we work so well together and she's so open to conversations," she told the trade. "In the book, [Yennefer's] described as the most beautiful woman in the world. This was a few years ago and I'd like to think things have changed. But when you think about people's unconscious bias -- especially in the fantasy world, it felt like these worlds were predominantly white"
"I remember saying, 'I feel like we need to challenge what people think of as the standard of beauty. And having a woman of color in this role does incredibly powerful things to the people watching.'"
To be fair, Holland's comments have been taken at least somewhat out of context, as she seems to have been referring more to her desire to cast a non-white actress in the role as opposed to someone who wasn't conventionally attractive.
All episodes of The Witcher season 3 are now available on Netflix.
"As monarchs, mages, and beasts of the Continent compete to capture her, Geralt takes Ciri into hiding, determined to protect his newly-reunited family against those who threaten to destroy it. Entrusted with Ciri’s magical training, Yennefer leads them to the protected fortress of Aretuza, where they hope to uncover more about the girl’s untapped powers; instead, they discover they’ve landed in a battlefield of political corruption, dark magic, and treachery. They must fight back, put everything on the line – or risk losing each other forever."
The Witcher also stars Joey Batey (Jaskier), Myanna Buring (Tissaia), Eamon Farren (Cahir), Mimî M Khayisa (Fringilla), Royce Pierreson (Istredd), Anna Shaffer (Triss Merigold), Mecia Simson (Francesca), Tom Canton (Filavandrel), Mahesh Jadu (Vilgefortz), Graham McTavish (Dijkstra), Cassie Clare (Philippa), Hugh Skinner (Radovid), Wilson Mbomio (Dara), Lars Mikkelsen (Stregobor), Terence Maynard (Artorius), Simon Callow (Codringher), Liz Carr (Fenn), Therica Wilson-Read (Sabrina), Safiyya Ingar (Keira), Rochelle Rose (Margarita), Michalina Olszanska) (Marti), Robbie Amell (Gallatin), Jeremy Crawford (Yarpen), Bart Edwards (Emhyr), Aisha Fabienne Ross (Lydia), Christelle Elwin (Mistle), and Meng’er Zhang (Milva).