The Witcher Star Frida Gustavsson Describes Her Experience Working with Henry Cavill When you’re the lead actor on the set of a blockbuster movie, your job doesn’t stop when you’re acting, which is something that Frida Gustavsson learned firsthand when she worked with star Henry Cavill on the set of The Witcher. As she told Graham Bensinger during an interview, it was her responsibility to make sure that people were where they needed to be at the right time and to make sure that the cast and crew knew what they were doing every step of the way. The Witcher Star Frida Gustavsson Describes Her Experience Working with Henry Cavill
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Why Was She Chosen For the Role?
I have been a huge fan of [showrunners] Lauren Schmidt Hissrich and Sean Daniel since The Mummy, she says. When I first met them, I instantly thought we could work together in an amazing way. They are extremely professional and know exactly what they want for each character, but more importantly for our show in general. It was a great honor to be asked to play Ciri!
What Does it Mean to be in Charge of an Entire Cast?
Show leads need to get along well with other cast members and be good communicators. Lead actors need to push for what they want on set, especially when it comes to drawing out emotion from themselves or others. It’s also a good idea to learn as much about your character as possible before shooting so you can help provide input if there are any concerns or questions about how you should play a scene. Whatever happens, show leads need to take charge and lead by example—otherwise nothing will get done.
What was It Like Shooting With A Huge Franchise Like This?
It was really fun. It was really intimidating in some ways because everyone that’s part of The Witcher world is a fan of it, and I hadn’t read any of it, she says. So I knew absolutely nothing about The Witcher when I met up for my first meeting. And then talking to people on set about what had happened and reading up on it as well—it’s an interesting universe because there are so many different stories within these books.
How Did She Feel When She Learned That They Would Have Live Action Scenes In Body Paint?
This was a new challenge for me, so I was very excited to do it. The main thing about body paint is that it takes two to three hours for makeup, and then around two hours for every scene that you film. You have to be really patient and focused because all of your time on set has to be used wisely. I loved working with Henry Cavill.
What Challenges Did she Face During Production?
What was it like to work on such a large-scale production? My biggest challenge was moving to a new country and starting something new. It was exciting, but also very intimidating at first because I didn’t know anyone or speak English.
What was it like to Work With Henry Cavill? (Ask her about the scene she shot with him and what challenges there were. Ask her if they knew each other before.)
It was a real treat to work with him. He’s such a great actor and he works so hard! It was nice working alongside of him. We were in Prague for 3 weeks, I believe. One scene we shot together is one of my favorites – you’ll see it in Season 2 Episode 4, actually. The challenge was that we weren’t able to rehearse our dialogue together before shooting because we were off filming other episodes while they were setting up his scenes!
Has she always wanted to be an actress and what drove her to choose this career path?
I have always had a passion for performing, but I never considered it as a career path. Acting wasn’t something I ever thought about until I graduated from high school and was making plans for college. It wasn’t until then that I decided to study theater at college because it combined my love of all things creative, but also allowed me to stay close to home and be part of my community.
