The Witcher(s): Meet the new monster-hunters joining Henry Cavill in season two

Among those Witchers are old friends, rivals, mentors and (possibly) opponents – and ahead of the new season’s debut we caught up with two of the new Witcher recruits, aka season two stars Paul Bullion and Yasen Atour, aka Lambert and Coen.

“We’re coming as new Witchers, and we have our own characteristics,” Atour told RadioTimes.com.

“Thank God for Henry, because he managed to kind of take us under his wing, in a way. We started training early on, and we had a wonderful stunt team that helped us build our characters, and the way they move, and the way they fight.

“But it was really Henry. I remember being on the set with Henry, and asking him hundreds of questions. You know, Henry’s a geek in that way, in that respect, because he knows everything, man. It’s unbelievable.”

“Lambert is a fellow Witcher of the central character, Geralt, and he trained at the same Witcher schools,” Bullion said. “So he’s had all the same kind of experience and training as Geralt. He’s a fellow monster hunter, and he travels around, collecting coin, in exchange for killing monsters."

“Coen is the Witcher who’s not like the rest of them, because he’s had a tough time trying to go through the mutation process,” Atour added. “As a result, he’s suffered physically, as you’ll be able to see from the show, but he gained in a lot more empathy.

“He’s a fun guy. He’s a fun character, and a lot of fun to play, actually. Yeah, that’s Coen in a nutshell: very loyal, and doesn’t take himself too seriously.”

While not listed as “main” characters in the series, Lambert and Coen play a large role, appearing across more episodes than most higher-billed characters (excluding leads Henry Cavill, Freya Allan and Anya Chalotra, of course) alongside other Witchers like older leader Vesemir (Kim Bodnia) and Geralt’s old friend Eskel (Basil Eidenbenz).

And of course, to fans of the Witcher no characters are really small anyway. Lambert and Coen have been familiar to readers of Andrzej Sapkowski’s books and players of the CD Projekt Red videogames for years, and taking them on means living up to those expectations.

“It was probably the first time I’ve played a character that has that kind of history and recognition,” Bullion said. “I think it was even more important, then, just to focus in, and try to distort the noise a bit.”

“You had to look at the game – I’m not a crazy gamer, but I had to look at the game, and take what I could from the books,” Atour said.

“But the fans, they were the biggest help for me. That was the biggest resource of information. There’s a plethora of information there, from fans. You take what you think will work, and you try it out.”

“In [first Witcher novel] Blood of Elves, it’s quite clear what Lambert’s like, and that informed a lot of my decisions,” Bullion added.

“And then I dabbled in the games. It’s a brilliant game, especially The Witcher 3. Great for learning, especially the lore surrounding the different beasts and monsters. But I’ve also said before that I’m here to do an interpretation of the character, not an impersonation.”

Of course, there was another impersonation Bullion, Atour and the other new Witchers had to factor in – that of Henry Cavill’s performance. Because how much of Geralt was just, well, Geralt, and how much should be taken as the Witcher default?

“It was tough. Exactly like you said, we’re coming as new Witchers, and we have our own characteristics,” Atour said. “And then you watch the OG Witcher, Henry, Geralt, playing this role in a certain way. And you’re like, ‘Does my voice need to be a certain way? Do I need to move a certain way?’”

This individuality also extends to fighting styles – in their “Witcher school” training, Bullion notes that they all developed variations of the same, broadsword-wielding fighting style – though given that these action scenes whizz by quickly, more individuality comes from characterisation.

“It’s not about going in and doing a carbon copy, because, you know, Geralt is Geralt,” Bullion said. “Lambert is also a Witcher, and he’s experienced the same training. He’s experienced similar scenarios to Geralt.

“But his ways of dealing with them are very different. Lambert’s a very prickly, kind of short-tempered character. One thing I was very clear about, going into it, was to root him in a huge sense of insecurity. So the way that he would react to things was completely different to Geralt.”

Surprisingly, one thing that apparently helped nail these tricky shades of performance was also the show’s biggest obstacle – the delays in filming forced by the coronavirus pandemic, which gave the actors more time to think about their characters, develop their personalities and (when everyone returned) bond on set.

“We used that time to really knuckle down, and dive into our characters, and be able to take what Henry’s done with Geralt, and use that as the foundations,” Atour said. “And then we can start implementing our own characteristics, and why.

“COVID was a blessing and a curse, in a sense, because what it did was, it gave us a lot more time before we actually started to shoot. Me and Paul used that time, because me and Paul were almost a double act in the show.

“I feel like that did feed into the scenes, because we would bond. I was living by myself. My time on set was normally the only human interaction I’d have. So I’d say it definitely made me feel close to the people in my scenes.”

“I think it was kind of reflecting what was happening in reality,” agreed Bullion. “You know, we were in the middle of a pandemic. We had to close the set for the best part of seven months whilst Netflix found a way through with incredible safety measures, and we were able to return to work.

“We all felt like we were all experiencing the same thing, and we could help each other through that, and try to get this thing achieved, which was to film a huge fantasy season in the eye of a storm.”

Fans will see the result of this effort in season two, two years after the first run of episodes debuted – and it’s no exaggeration to say that Witcher society and history is a crucial plank of the new series, at least in the middle episodes.

“As the season progresses, you’ll start going deeper into the characters’ emotional state; their triggers; and you’ll see a little bit of history into what [Witcher fortress] Kaer Morhen is about, and you’ll understand the characters a lot more on a personal level,” Bullion said.

“It’s such a vast series that you’ve just got to give it time to unfold. And that’s what’s exciting about season two. They did an exploration, or an introduction, of what the Witcher world is in season one, and now we’re moving onto season two, we get to go deeper into everything. And that’s where all the fun, gritty stuff starts. You’ll definitely see stuff unfold as the eight episodes go on.”

“I think that season one introduced you to the world of The Witcher, and The Witcher as an entity, as a world,” agreed Atour. “But, you know, season two is bonkers, in a way, because there’s so much action. There are so many epic fight scenes.

“But essentially, what we get more so in this season is, at the heart of it, a story about loved ones, about family, and what lengths one would go to protect their loved ones.”

And further ahead, the future also looks bright. The Witcher is already renewed for a third season, and while it’s unclear how much Geralt’s fellow-Witchers will feature in the story (in the books and games they only appear in key segments) both actors are keen to return.

“You know, it’s no secret, I love the series, and I love the project,” Bullion said. “We’re very excited about it. If I’m lucky enough to be part of the expansive plans that they’ve got, then, hey, look, let’s see how series two goes down.”

“Listen, why wouldn’t I? – is your answer,” Atour laughed. “You know what I mean? It’s been an absolute pleasure and honour to be part of a show of that magnitude. There are conversations. I can’t go too deep into that, but I think: watch this space.”

Conversations? Expansive plans? Could there be something these two aren’t telling? After all, we’ve got one Witcher prequel spin-off on the way, an anime movie, a kids’ animation and more coming from the expanded IP of the franchise. Could a separate Witcher spin-off be on the cards as well?

Bullion plays coy – “they call Geralt the White Wolf, so I suppose they could do the Red Wolf spinoff, couldn’t they?” he laughs, referencing Lambert’s fiery mane – but Atour reveals their plans are no joke.

“We’ve actually put some stuff together, me and Paul,” he told RadioTimes.com. “And you never know. You never know. There could be something in the pipeline.

“It’s funny how Paul was like, ‘The Red Wolf.’ We’ve actually got a treatment, you know? Paul’s sneaky. We’ve actually got a treatment together for a show.

“It all depends on how they go down in season two. And if there is a hunger and a thirst to see more of those two guys, then we have many options, and many routes that we can go down.”

So watch this space, and watch Lambert and Coen in the background of the Witcher season two – if all goes well, you could be seeing a lot more of them…

The Witcher season two streams on Netflix from Friday 17th December. For more, check out our dedicated Fantasy page or our full TV Guide.

This year's Radio Times Christmas double issue is on sale now, featuring two weeks of TV, film and radio listings, reviews, feature and interviews with the stars.