Henry Cavill Was An Unofficial Stunt Coordinator On The Witcher Season 3 - /Film

Henry Cavill Was An Unofficial Stunt Coordinator On The Witcher Season 3 - /Film,'He's, from the beginning, there and giving all his input.'

Henry Cavill Was An Unofficial Stunt Coordinator On The Witcher Season 3 – /Film

As strange as the whole debacle with Henry Cavill trying and failing to stay in the DCU was, the leading man can’t be faulted when it comes to his commitment to action. Cavill was dedicated to doing his own stunt work for “Mission: Impossible — Fallout,” often pushing himself beyond his physical limits to keep up with co-star Tom Cruise. As he told The Hollywood Reporter in 2021, “It’s what they call mental stamina — because what you believe is your physical boundary is actually just a mental boundary.” Meanwhile, his “Fallout” director Christopher McQuarrie noted how Cavill threw himself into one particularly challenging stunt that he characterized as “an extreme form of physical punishment,” noting how the “Man of Steel” star did it with “with full commitment” and didn’t complain once.

The actor, who has spoken about having ambitions to join the Marines as a young man, seems to have embodied a Marine-like mindset even after being pulled into show business. The man exudes an easy charm while maintaining a steeliness that seems at odds with his polite English manner, which has propelled his dogged commitment to performing his own action scenes.

That commitment was no less potent when it came to his role as Geralt of Rivia in Netflix’s “The Witcher.” As showrunner Lauren Schmidt Hissrich previously told CinemaBlend about the show’s first season, “Henry did not have a stunt double. He does all of his own work. Any time you see him, it’s really him. Which means that he trained non-stop. Always had swords in his hand. Was always in the training room with his team.” Now, with season 3 finally streaming, it seems the determined star pushed himself even further when it came to stunt work.

Cavill stepped things up for season 3

Netflix

Liam Hemsworth is taking over as Geralt after “The Witcher” season 3, but that doesn’t mean Henry Cavill phoned in his last go-round as the White Wolf. Quite the opposite, in fact. For the latest run of episodes, he once again worked without a stunt double, performing every fight himself. But as stunt coordinator Wolfgang Stegemann revealed to Unilad, Cavill went a step further this time, with the actor becoming like a “second fight coordinator” on the show’s third season. Steggemann added:

“What many people don’t know, they think the stunt team comes together and we start choreographing something and show it to him. It’s not like that. He’s, from the beginning, there and giving all his input.”

Steggemann explained how he and Cavill would meet ahead of shooting to figure out how to “approach the scene and how’s the storytelling,” characterizing the process as “like composing a song.” Revealing that Cavill was “deeply involved in the whole process” of crafting fight scenes in “The Witcher,” Stegemann recalled how their collaborative work went beyond designing the combat and extended to the camera movement and shot selection. He said, “Henry and I basically sit together on the monitor and we hold the cameras and go through the fight to find the right angles, the right movements.”

One of the greats?

Susie Allnutt/Netflix

Though there’s nothing in “The Witcher” like the helicopter chase in “Mission: Impossible — Fallout,” Henry Cavill clearly treated his streaming series with as much commitment. And it seems the now 40-year-old, rather than letting up as he gets older, is only growing more determined. With his upcoming adaptation of “Warhammer 40,000” it’ll be interesting to see how much he throws himself into the physical requirements of leading that Amazon series. He’s thus far appeared to lead the charge to get the series made, not only starring in but executive producing the forthcoming project. Might he also add stunt coordinator to that list of credits?

In the meantime, it looks as though the actor is on track to join the ranks of legendary Hollywood leading men who have been determined to do their own stunt work. Just recently the 81-year-old Harrison Ford impressed the cast and crew of “Indiana Jones and the Dial of Destiny” by embracing the physical requirements that come with playing Dr. Jones. But when it comes to actors doing their own stunts, the undisputed king remains Tom Cruise, who at 60 is still pushing his limits by performing what he called the most dangerous stunt of his career in the upcoming “Mission: Impossible — Dead Reckoning Part 1.” All of which makes it even more impressive that, as “Mission: Impossible — Fallout” director Christopher McQuarrie explained to The Hollywood Reporter, Cavill was the only actor in the movie who could actually keep up with Cruise during fight scenes on the movie. He might have made a mess of his return as Superman, but it seems he’s only getting sharper when it comes to stunt work.