I don’t often feel sorry for celebrities, much less Liam Hemsworth. This is a man who has adequate acting ability and an attractive face in that standard Hollywood way that does it for teenagers and just about nobody else, and he has somehow been cast in some of the biggest franchises in the world. Who am I kidding, he’s been cast in those franchises for the exact reasons mentioned above. He’s a kinda hot, inoffensive white man – perfect for headlining your IP movie. Hollywood executives could only love him more if he was called Chris, but that would probably make family barbecues too confusing.
Right now, though, I do feel a bit bad for Hemsworth. No matter what he does, no matter how much his acting has improved since I saw him in The Hunger Games, no matter how well he knows the source material, nobody is going to accept him as Geralt of Rivia.
Henry Cavill had a similar mountain to climb. Doug Cockle’s voice performance as everybody’s favourite witcher (no, Vesemir isn’t your favourite, grow up) is iconic, and The Witcher 3’s global renown had many fans rallying for Cockle to take the lead role in Netflix’s adaptation. Despite the issues with this (voice acting and acting are two very disciplines for starters), Cavill was met with some trepidation. Then everybody realised he was a massive nerd and it was all fine.
Cavill has embarked on a years-long campaign to endear himself to nerds across the world. Stories leaked from the set of The Witcher that told of him poring over Sapkowski’s books and employing method techniques to truly get into character. He also is so muscly that he wore through his leather pants on multiple occasions. At the same time, he was posting his Warhammer models on Instagram, and soon everyone realised that he was one of them, forgetting all about his previous comments about #MeToo and banishing all memories of Cockle from their heads.
Then, The Witcher show got kinda bad. Some people didn’t like the fact there were people of colour in it, some people didn’t like the fact that the stories departed from their book counterparts, and some people just liked complaining. I haven’t seen the latest season because Netflix cracked down on account sharing, but the second was fine to me. It wasn’t particularly compelling, but decent fantasy fare. I haven’t read the books, but I’m generally a fan of alternative adaptations and new interpretations of popular fantasy series.
Henry Cavill is said to have parted ways with the show due to creative differences. Fans believe that he had the books at heart, but we don’t really know for sure. It’s a lot easier to believe that your sweet, nerdy heartthrob is a Sapkowski purist rather than an on-set tyrant, but there’s no way of knowing. Either way, Cavill maintained his reputation and the show plummeted to new depths in the eyes of hardcore fans.
Step in Liam Hemsworth. After a marketing campaign that seemed to poke fun at the show’s new lead actor, he’s got big shoes to fill. Cavill is held in impossibly high regard by Witcher fans, despite his flaws. I think he was a good Geralt, for what it’s worth, but he was by no means perfect. His fighting style was nailed-on, but other elements of his performance were sometimes lacking. I’m sure Liam Hemsworth will be okay too, but fans won’t accept anything less than perfection. Hell, I don’t even think they’ll accept perfection. Because he’s not Henry Cavill.
That’s not a fair expectation to put on a new actor because, let’s face it, none of us are Henry Cavill. Only one man is, and he’s departed the show. We need to roll with the new Geralt, accept Hemsworth for his positive interpretations and his flaws, and embrace the change. There’s nothing we can do to bring Cavill back, whatever you thought of him. But The Witcher will carry on without him. Liam Hemsworth is the new Butcher of Blaviken, and fans should give him a chance to prove he’s up to the task.