Henry Cavill gives ‘uncomfortable’ and ‘sad’ interview days before The Witcher exit

‘He always knew his heart wasn’t in the right place,’ wrote one fan

Days before his exit from The Witcher was announced, Henry Cavill gave an interview that fans believe foreshadowed the news.

Last week, the British actor announced that he would be leaving the Netflix fantasy series after its next season. His role of Geralt of Rivia will be taken over by Liam Hemsworth.

News of the sudden change has shocked fans, leading many to question why Cavill would leave the much-loved series.

An interview that Cavill gave on the Happy Sad Confused podcast on 27 October – days before the news of his exit was announced on 29 October – appears to shed some light on his decision.

Speaking about his work ethic and his approach to his projects, Cavill told host Josh Horowitz: “It’s just about belief. If you believe what you’re doing is the right thing then you’ll be able to keep on doing it.

“It’s also important to know that if you realise you’re doing the wrong thing, that’s when you stop doing the wrong thing. You don’t just keep going just because, because that leads down a dark path.”

While his answer wasn’t in response to a question about The Witcher exactly, his quotes are a strong indicator that the fan theory proposing Cavill left the series over creative differences may be correct.

Many fans have reacted to the moment, with one person writing on social media: “It pains me because he is genuinely such a fan of books they couldn’t get a better Geralt and they threw it all away.”

“You can tell something happened behind the scenes with The Witcher,” said another, with someone else stating he “clearly isn’t comfortable lying on camera. He could have said nothing but he had to tell the truth”.

As per Gamesradar, according to Redanian Intelligence, a website that reports exclusively on The Witcher, the actor originally had his sights set on leaving during season two.

Cavill allegedly considered leaving because he and the producers “weren’t seeing eye to eye” on the subject of the show’s content and his character’s role.

Throughout the press tour for series two, as per Redanian, Cavill made it clear that he had been pushing for the show to stay true to the books on which it is based.

“The toughest part for me was finding that balance between the showrunners’ vision and my love for the books, and trying to bring that Geralt to the showrunners’ vision. It’s about treading a fine line there. It’s the showrunners’ story and so it’s an adaptation,” he said.

“The tricky bit for me was finding Geralt from the books’ place within that and being able to serve both as much as I could.”

(HBO)

The timing of the announcement has also not been lost on fans, many of whom pointed out that it was only recently revealed that Cavill would be returning to his role as Superman in the DC Extended Universe.

Many people suggested that his return to the DCEU had something to do with his exit from The Witcher.

Others, however, also suggested that his decision may stem from behind-the-scenes trouble as claimed by Redanian.

The Independent has contacted Cavill and Netflix for comment.

Netflix users are threatening to boycott the show once Cavill leaves. The Witcher is showrun by Lauren Schmidt-Hissrich.