Luckily, the wig eventually helped create a perfect Geralt on the small screen, and The Witcher also became a global hit right after its release in late 2019.

It can be said that  The Witcher  had an impressive global debut thanks in large part to Henry Cavill, who performed the role of Geralt of Rivia impeccably. Being extremely fond of this famous series, Henry invested a lot of time and effort into the role of the Butcher of Blaviken, from appearance, voice to demeanor and even skillful swordplay. All were carefully researched by the actor to be able to play the role best.

However, to create a Geralt that looks like he came straight out of a novel, Henry’s efforts alone are not enough. The costume and make-up design team also had to work hard for this role. The wig that Henry wore in the film alone had to go through many tests and adjustments, taking months to choose the most satisfactory final product.

While Netflix spent months creating a wig for The Witcher, Henry Cavill wanted to grow his own long hair and dye it silver for convenience - Photo 1.

Henry’s wig alone took the costume design team months to perfect.

Recently, on the sub-reddit r/wiedzmin, producer Lauren Hissrich had a session to answer all the questions of fans about  The Witcher  season 1. Among them, many people expressed their impression of Henry Cavill’s hair on the film, both wild and rugged of a monster hunter, but not too messy or unsightly. The silver-white color was also used very skillfully according to the original, not too eye-catching when broadcast.

Sharing about the process of designing this hairstyle, Lauren said: ” We had to test many different options before shooting. There were wigs that were so white that they glowed brightly on the small screen. There were wigs that reflected the light and created a strange blue color instead of silver. They looked really funny and very annoying at the same time .”

The costume design team then had to add textures and dirt to the wig to both increase realism and limit excessive light reflection. This was a process that took them months, because creating textures is never easy. Even the most professional artists have to spend a lot of time taking care of the texture of their products.

While Netflix spent months creating a wig for The Witcher, Henry Cavill wanted to grow his own long hair and dye it silver for convenience - Photo 2.

The design team was working hard on the wig, but Henry wanted to grow his own hair long and dye it silver for convenience.

As a huge fan of Geralt, Henry Cavill naturally wanted to be perfect when playing the White Wolf. In addition to doing all the stunts himself, the actor even wanted to grow long hair and dye it silver for filming convenience. Producer Lauren had to try her best to convince him not to do so, and promised that the wig would satisfy him.

Netflix had previously considered using CGI for the beards and hair of some characters in the show, including Geralt. However, partly because of budget constraints (they had to prioritize CGI for monsters and magic scenes), and partly because Henry didn’t want to use this technology (even his amber eyes were created by wearing lenses, not by any special effects), Netflix was forced to use wigs.

After all, the wig really suits Henry, creating a Geralt that is extremely close to the original and is warmly welcomed by global fans. This is also the reason why this witcher has the nickname White Wolf. For those who have never read The Witcher novels by writer Andrzej Sapkowski, this nickname will be explained more clearly in the following seasons. Lauren said: ” We will meet many other witchers, none of them have white hair like Geralt. That proves that this is the character’s natural hair, not a side effect of the Trial of Grasses (the mutation process to create a witcher)”