The Witcher Star Freya Allan teases explosive season 2 of the Netflix Show
Almost two years later debuts recording tracks on Netflix, The Witcher returns for another season of eight episodes next month, and it continues immediately after the gruesome Battle of Sodden Hill.
Based on Andrzej Sapkowski’s best-selling book series of the same name, the fantasy drama is centered around Geralt of Rivia (Henry Cavill), a lone and magically enhanced monster hunter who struggles to find his place in a world where people often prove to be more onde. than animals. But as fate strikes him against Yennefer of Vengerberg (Anya Chalotra), a powerful sorceress, and Princess Cirilla of Cintra (Freya Allan), a young royal with a dangerous secret, the three must learn to navigate the increasingly volatile continent together.
The first season of the series followed the three characters at different times and explored formative events throughout their lives before merging into a single timeline culminating in the fateful battle with Geralt of Rivia and Princess Cirilla’s long awaited first encounter.
In the second season, Geralt – who is convinced that Yennefer died in the Battle of Sodden – brings Princess Cirilla to the safest place he knows: his childhood home Kaer Morhen. While the continent’s kings, elves, humans and demons strive for supremacy outside its walls, Geralt must protect the girl from something far more dangerous: the mysterious power she possesses inside.
During the virtual TCA Summer Press Tour, Allan spoke exclusively with the Observer about the experience of working with Cavill and Chalotra, the challenges ahead for Cirilla and Geralt in the second season, and the detailed combat sequences she cannot wait for. with taking on in upcoming seasons. (The Witcher already been renewed for a third season.)
Observer: You probably expected an intense fan response from the moment you got the role of Cirilla, but how surreal has it been to become famous in the last few years with this show?
Freya Allan: I’ll tell you what’s more surreal – it’s enough when we travel the world on the press tour and get to live in so many different places and move from one place to another and the premieres. It’s so slightly supernatural. But I will say that I really feel very different from it in terms of its success. Of course, I’m very happy, because that means I can keep working. But I don’t really get that freaked out by it, because it feels pretty separate. It feels like you’re going, you’re doing your job, you love it, and then you hope it’s well received, and then it’s, and then you’re happy about it. But otherwise I’m just a normal teenager. I’m in my buddy’s uni residence right now, so I’m just normal. It has not been too strange. [Editor’s note: Allan turned 20 in September, but this interview was conducted in August.]
We live in a consumer culture where spoilers are almost inevitable, but you and the cast have, at least so far, managed to keep the details of the second season hidden. Has it become easier for you to avoid spoilers, or do you still find yourself biting your tongue?
You know what? I thought I would be awful. I just thought I would slip in, but I have not until now, and I will not say that I feel I am good at keeping spoilers away, for now I will inevitably reveal one. But I think I’m pretty okay. I think it’s a lot of fun to watch the Tom Holland videos where he’s just messing around. I kind of secretly want to give it to them by accident because I think it’s pretty funny, but I’m sure Netflix does not want that. (laughs.)
Do you have a favorite moment from season 1 that stayed with you when you read the script or saw the finished product?
I have to admit: It feels like so long ago and I did not even see the program properly. (laughs.) We had to watch episode 1 so many times because we were making premieres and we were going to sit in there and watch it so I do not know if I’m the best person to ask. (laughs.) I’m going to say I love Jaskier (Joey Batey) and Geralt’s relationship. I think that’s great. I always say it’s like Shrek and Donkey, and I love that. But oh god, it seems like so long ago that I’ve seen some of it, to be honest, so I can not even remember it.
How does the Ciri we meet in the pilot ultimately compare to the one we see in the season 1 finale, and how does she continue to evolve over the course of season 2?
So [in] Season 1, her whole life changes in one night. She has to experience a world she has never experienced before; she has had a very protected upbringing. And then she’s suddenly thrown into this very brutal world, and she sees things she’s never seen. She has been hidden from all that kind of brutality and now she is suddenly confronted with it on her own. It’s obviously going to change her, and I think her trust in people has been lost a little bit through her experience. She has stuck to the one thing she has been left with – she must find Geralt. So when she finally finds him at the end of season 1, it’s a big relief, because this could be her potential family and her protection.
[In] Season 2, it takes off not long after Geralt and Ciri have met each other and they try to navigate after each other because Ciri lacks trust so she likes him a lot and Geralt wants to find information from her. So that’s the kind of dynamic that goes on, and in the end, their relationship naturally evolves through it. And sometimes you have to go through knocking a little with someone to get closer to them so you can see it all happen.
What have you learned most from working for a seasoned and talented actor like Henry Cavill?
I think the most important thing that stood out to me is that you have a voice on the set, and that if you feel passionate about something you do not think is quite right, then just say it. And so I, as Freya, have always been, because I express what my opinion is. Otherwise, there is no point in doing my job. I think it’s great to work with someone who also wants to discuss things and wants to make sure it feels right for them, and the showrunner and instructors were also so open to talking that it just felt like a team . Because there were some big emotionally charged scenes where you could take it in so many different directions, it was nice for us to get talking, and TV also works a little faster than movies, so it was good that we could do that. I think that’s one of the most important things I’ve learned.
In the season 2 premiere, Ciri tells Geralt: “Everywhere I go, people die”, which makes her afraid that she only does more harm than good wherever she goes. How would you describe the journey she takes on this season while training to become a witch and coming to terms with this mysterious power she has?
I think when she comes to Kaer Morhen, she meets all the witches and they become like her brothers. There is an element of wanting to be like your older siblings, which is a kind of relationship she has with them. However, that’s the environment she’s in. They’re all trained to be witches, so why wouldn’t you think God, I want to be too? And she’s always had that element in her when watching season 1. She can tell she likes to hang out with the boys on the street; she does not want to be like a princess all the time. She also wants to get dirty. So she gets very determined, very passionate about becoming a witch, and that’s actually one of the problems she has with Geralt.
Geralt does not let her quite reach the potential she wants to reach and it is very frustrating for her. Because where he stands, he needs to protect this girl – and it’s her who’s trying to become a witch. does not the way to do it, because it is a very dangerous process. Clearly, exercise in general can be dangerous, as you will see and find out. But there is also a whole process you have to go through – people can end up just dying from it. So it’s not an ideal situation with Geralt, but Ciri is very determined and she says she wants to be a great fighter and that’s just her goal.
And I also think she sees it as an escape. I think she’s trying to find something that can solve. Basically the trauma she feels from her past and finding out so many lies that her family had fed her – or not lies, but just things that have not been told to her. I think all of that has really affected her and she sees it becoming a witch as a way to escape it and push it aside. She sees it as her solution, so it means a lot to her.
When you did press interviews in the first season, you did many of them with Anya, but you two did not share any scenes together. Now that you’re done filming the second season, what has it been like working for her?
Yes, we both kept saying on the press tour, “God, it gets so weird when we work together, because we’ve known each other before we performed with each other.” Often, when you meet someone for a show, you perform with them before and you get to know them through it. But we were both excited about it.
I thought I was just going to burst out laughing, but I think one of our first scenes was pretty serious, so we didn’t really. But we always have a lot of fun together, so it’s a lot of fun when we film. We are silly, but at the same time she is, as we all do, so preoccupied with finding the truth in the scene that it was amazing. And I really enjoyed bouncing off of her, because she was obviously incredible in season 1, so it was a lot of fun. And as a young actor who has not gone the drama school route, it is to get to work with different actors mine drama school, and it’s not necessarily that people give me advice literally, but you just suck from everyone. And it’s really exciting for me personally as an actor.
How would you describe Ciri’s relationship with Yennefer?
I would say that Ciri knows that Yennefer is an incredible mate and she has been very scared of the idea of using her power because she has only seen it do things that are not necessarily good. She has accidentally killed people, so for her it is very scary. But she faces this kind of proof of how you can use it and you can use it to become something quite beautiful. She’s not entirely convinced, because for her it’s just scary. But that’s what Yennefer gives her: the space to actually try and use it. I think that’s the most important aspect we get to see.
It’s no secret that the production value of a show like this is completely out of this world, and the stunt work has to be world class. What was it like to return to that world and really try to learn all the intricate battle sequences?
It was so exciting. Before we started filming, I was just really excited to be honest. I just love it, so I just wanted to learn. They taught me the basics of sword work, which just enabled me to capture choreography so much better and make it look better. The stunt department was amazing. I really got on with them too; I had so much fun with them. It was exciting due to [in] In season 1, I ran a lot through the woods, and this time you get to see [me] doing some action sequences.
But apparently [Cirilla] will not necessarily be out there and fighting against everyone yet because we need more for potentially other seasons if that happened and we can not do it all right now as much as I would like. I remember thinking, God, can I not just fight that guy ?! (laughs.) I thought, “Boys, come on. Let me fight him!” And they said, “Freya, there’s a reality in the situation. It takes one long, a long time to become a great fighter. “But yes, you will definitely see her training process as she continues. Episode 3 is store.
This interview has been edited and compressed for clarity.
Second season of The Witcher premieres December 17.
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