Witcher’s Voice, Doug Cockle, Reveals the Key to Playing the White Wolf – and Why Henry Cavill Nailed It

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Before we had Netflix’s Geralt in the form of Henry Cavill, now Liam Hemsworth, Doug Cockle was the voice we associated the most with the White Wolf. Cockle voiced the character in all Witcher games and will return to voice him again in the upcoming “prequel” animated movie, ‘Sirens of the Deep.’

Cockle recently sat down with GamesRadar and talked about his excitement of seeing Hemsworth in the role, but also about one quality that every interpretation of Geralt should have.

The voice actor praised Hemsworth’s work in action films like ‘The Expendables’ and ‘The Hunger Games,’ calling him a talented actor. Cockle expressed eagerness to see what Hemsworth would bring to the character.

He’s great in all those action films that he’s done, isn’t he? He is wonderful. So I think he’ll bring all that to it. We’ll see what he brings to the table. He’s a good actor, so I’m really excited to see what he brings.

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He also emphasized that the most important trait for playing Geralt is capturing his “reluctant hero” nature—a balance between neutrality and being forced to make tough moral decisions. He believes this quality, which both he and Henry Cavill brought to the role, is key to portraying Geralt authentically.

I think what Henry and I brought to the role was that slight dour[ness] – I call him a reluctant hero. It’s that quality I think is most important to bring to the character of Geralt, because that’s what he does. He’s not a bad guy; he’s not necessarily a good guy. He always wants to remain neutral, but he keeps finding himself in these situations where he has to make a decision when faced with a moral dilemma.

Cockle explained that Geralt’s “reluctant heroism” is essential to the character, though it can be portrayed in different ways. He noted that while Henry Cavill’s interpretation was different from his own, both captured this core aspect of Geralt well.

Sometimes these decisions turn out okay, sometimes they don’t. So I think that reluctant heroism is the most important quality to bring to the character of Geralt. But that can take many different shapes. Henry’s version of that was different from mine, but very similar.

Liam Hemsworth will take over as Geralt in the upcoming ‘Witcher’ Season 4, and you will have the opportunity of hearing Cockle in the role again when ‘Sirens of the Deep’ hits the streaming platform on February 11.

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