Jodie Turner-Smith has exited Netflix’s “Witcher” prequel series, “The Witcher: Blood Origin,” due to a scheduling conflict.
Turner-Smith was set to play a warrior named Éile, one of the leads in the six-episode limited series. Laurence O’Fuarain was also recently cast in a lead role.
“Due to a change in the production schedule for ‘The Witcher: Blood Origin’ limited series, unfortunately Jodie Turner-Smith will no longer be able to continue on in the role of Éile,” a Netflix spokesperson said.
The character Éile, who has the voice of a goddess, will need to be recast. In the show, the fierce warrior leaves her clan and role as the queen’s guardian for life as a nomadic musician. However, a grand reckoning forces her to return, and continue her quest for vengeance and redemption.
The series takes place 1,200 years before the events of “The Witcher,” the streamer’s hit starring Henry Cavill, and show the backstory of the elven civilization before its fall. “Blood Origin” follows the creation of the very first Witcher and the events that lead to the pivotal “conjunction of the spheres,” when the worlds of monsters, men and elves merged into one.
Declan de Barra (a writer on “The Witcher” Season 1) will serve as showrunner, and executive produce with Lauren Schmidt Hissrich (executive producer and showrunner of the first two seasons of “The Witcher”). Andrzej Sapkowski, who wrote the original “Witcher” fantasy novels, will be a creative consultant on the series. Jason Brown and Sean Daniel from Hivemind, and Tomek Baginski and Jarek Sawko from Platige Films will all serve as executive producers.
Source: Variety
