Netflix’s The Witcher and showrunner Lauren S. Hissrich revealed their choice for not only Ciri, but Yennefer earlier today. Unfortunately, fans are not too happy with Netflix’s choice for Yennefer.
A lot of the criticism for the Yennefer casting appears to be the age gap between Henry Cavill’s Geralt and Anya Chalotra’s Yennefer.
OK, I’m going to say it.
I’m annoyed that they have cast a 21 year old (who looks about 15) as the love interest of Henry Cavill (35) in #TheWitcher
They adopt a teenage girl together. This casting makes zero sense. pic.twitter.com/326hFI57ed— good work zombie arm ?♀️ (@FionaUnderhill) October 10, 2018
The casting choice for Yennefer is atrocious and immersion breaking, however, it will compliment well the terrible casting of Henry Cavill.
— Radka Kavalcová (@Radka2D) October 10, 2018
I am sorta put off by how young Yennefer is gonna be. They made Yennefer look older in the Witcher games, and I think that should have been the case for Netflix. That 13 year age gap is showing…Henry looks like he could be her father. pic.twitter.com/sK8HohDCZ8
— feardosa addams (@atomicwick) October 10, 2018
Disappointed but not surprised.
— yennefer. | 53. ? (@neganskink) October 10, 2018
would love to know why the man playing geralt is 35 but the woman playing yennefer is 22 https://t.co/4EpQ7c0dSE
— emily? (@odrowner) October 10, 2018
Anya 22 years old, Freya 17, hmm… They look the same age. What was your point to make Yennefer so young?
— cheapmage (@cheapmage) October 10, 2018
Anya Chalotra looks way to young for Yennefer. Seeing her picture next to Cavil is so off-putting. #TheWitcher
— Becca (@hiitsbecca) October 10, 2018
Am I the only one who thinks they got Yennefer’s casting completely wrong?? #TheWitcher
— Lisa (@lisamariejm) October 10, 2018
Ciri and Yennefer casting is eh
— Luis (@TuSePagliaccio) October 10, 2018
the girl they cast as Yennefer looks like she’s like 15….
— emily ? (@niightwngs) October 10, 2018
So I just saw that Yennefer was cast for the new Netflix series, and my phone's autocorrect is on point. pic.twitter.com/V6HMQaYrIJ
— Lord Stabbington (@vesaldi) October 10, 2018
Others pointed out her skin complexion.
“Her face was very pale, triangular in shape with a slightly receded chin. Her eyes were cold and sparkling with a remarkable violet penetrating gaze, in anger blazing with livid, blue-gray fire.”
I can’t really say I see that in this Yennefer? #YayDiversity
— Dominic Hamptferdunk (@dominhapt) October 10, 2018
Anya Chalotra is too dark to be Yennefer, show is set in Europe, isnt she too dark or only I think that?
— Or (@Or12314) October 10, 2018
Showrunner Lauren S. Hissrich explained her approach to casting:
“We’re looking for the best actors for these roles. Period. End of story. It comes down to the best actor for the role.”
However, Hissrich also noted, “One of the things I feel most strongly about is people being afraid that we’re going to strip out the cultural context of The Witcher, to remove its Slavic roots, the very thing people in Poland are proud of. That couldn’t be further from the truth. What I’ve always wanted to do is take these Slavic stories and give them a global audience.”
Chalotra doesn’t have much experience. She appeared on four episodes of Wanderlust as Jennifer Ashman and is expected to appear on the TV mini-series The ABC Murders. She also starred in the stage show The Village, this past year. The Guardian describes her role in the stage perofmance, “Anya Chalotra is compelling as a 16-year-old who leads the women in her Indian village to stand up to Art Malik’s sadistic, tyrannical cop.”
Do you agree with these fans? What do you make of Anya Chalotra as Yennefer?