One of Netflix's most successful series to date has been the live-action adaptation of The Witcher. Upon release, the show quickly became the most in-demand series in the world, according to some reports. Its success is in no small part due to the efforts of showrunner Lauren Schmidt Hissrich, who recently revealed that she had initially turned down the opportunity to work on the show.
In an interview with 3rd & Fairfax: The WGAW Podcast, Hissrich, who was already familiar with Andrzej Sapkowski's The Last Wish, explained that she was approached with the opportunity while working on Netflix's Umbrella Academy and was told she would be perfect for The Witcher. She replied, "I think you're wrong... No thanks." When asked why she felt that way, the showrunner stated, "There was a hefty dose of fear there," going on to explain that comparisons to Game of Thrones discouraged her, "'I can't do that!' There's no way." She then explained that size and passion of The Witcher fanbase also factored into her initial decision. Hissrich said, "That fanbase deserves someone that knows they can write a fantastic fantasy show. Someone who has experience writing fantasy; someone who... can give them what they're expecting... I don't think I'm the person to take that on."
Netflix executives expressed understanding, but continued to ask Hissrich for opinions on an approach to the story. "So I read the next two books, Sword of Destiny and Blood of Elves," She recalled, "And I started to realise that The Witcher... becomes a story about a family." She continued, "My experience up to that point in writing had really been about family drama, character-driven drama, and that's something I knew I could write."
She relayed the family-driven drama approach to Netflix, emphasizing the need to establish all three central characters -- Geralt of Rivia, Ciri and Yennefer -- from the beginning. "'Let's make it a story about all three of them, let's follow them on their adventures, until they start to interweave,'" Hissrich explained, "I think that pitch was, first of all, what got me incredibly passionate about the show, and probably what convinced Netflix to give me a shot with a huge property that I had no experience with."
The Witcher stars Henry Cavill as Geralt of Rivia, Anya Chalotra as Yennefer of Vengerberg, Freya Allan as Ciri and Joey Batey as Jaskier. Season 1 is now available on Netflix.