Filming This Death Scene Was "Embarrassing" for The Witcher Star

Whether you loved or hated The Witcher Season 3, you have to agree that the action scenes were solid. The season featured epic one-of-a-kind stunts. However, some of the sequences that looked cool on screen were a struggle to film.

Anya Chalotra, the actress who plays Yennefer of Vengerberg, told Vulture that one such scene felt particularly 'embarrassing' for her on set.

The moment in question is Rience's death. In Episode 6, the fire mage runs into Yennefer and Ciri amidst the chaos of the Thanedd coup, and Yennefer tricks him into believing that she will lay down the Witcher's sword. Instead, she uses her magic to send it flying right into Geralt's hands. Geralt then decapitates Rience with a clean blow.

This moment of smooth cooperation between Yen and Geralt certainly looked impressive. But filming it was nowhere near as legendary. Of course, the actors don't have the magic to make the sword fly, so the scene was shot from different angles and several takes were required to get all the footage needed.

'I throw [the sword], it lands on the floor. Thank goodness the camera turns away from my face because I'm like, Oh, that was embarrassing,' Anya Chalotra described. 'In that moment, when I go [pantomimes throwing it], and it just falls flat on the floor, there's nothing worse. There's nothing more humiliating. And my face is so determined!'

After the first two seasons, in which Yennefer didn't have access to her magic powers, Season 3 was a treat for Chalotra, who got to do significantly more stunts than before.

'I love stunt work. I love working with my body to make something. I've always wanted to do more of it,' the actress said. 'This season, we were more specific because we wanted to bring Yennefer's magic to life a bit more, and I basically just wanted to hang out with the stunt department.'

While hanging out with the stunt crew, Anya helped them develop Yen's own brand of magical gestures. We've seen a lot of witches, enchantresses and sorceresses on screen, but Yennefer's moves feel unique. That's because they're infused with Indian dance.

'[Stunt team] wanted to elevate Yennefer's magic, and they first thought of Indian dance, kathak. Of course, I jumped at the opportunity,' Chalotra said. 'I didn't want it to be about Indian dance moves — it's Polish folklore, it's Polish novels, it's a Polish world, we didn't want it to be a thing — but enough of a moment that people are like, "Wow, I've not seen that before."'

This approach definitely helped Yen step up her game and become the main character that millions of viewers love and can't wait to meet in Season 4. However, given the way scenes involving magic are filmed, feeling silly on set is part of the job.

Source: Vulture.