Jodie Turner-Smith has stepped away from Netflix’s upcoming “Blood Origin,” a prequel series to “The Witcher,” due to scheduling conflicts.
“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 told TheWrap.
Turner-Smith joined the show back in January, and was set to play the show’s lead character, Éile, “an elite warrior blessed with the voice of a goddess” who “has left her clan and position as Queen’s guardian to follow her heart as a nomadic musician. A grand reckoning on the continent forces her to return to the way of the blade in her quest for vengeance and redemption.”
“Blood Origin” per the official description, is “set in an elven world 1200 years before the world of ‘The Witcher,’” and follow “the creation of the first prototype Witcher, and the events that lead to the pivotal ‘conjunction of the spheres,’ when the worlds of monsters, men and elves merged to become one.”
Declan de Barra is executive producer and showrunner on “Blood Origin,” and Lauren Schmidt Hissrich, who is the creator and showrunner on “The Witcher,” is also executive producing. Additional executive producers include Jason Brown and Sean Daniel from Hivemind, and Tomek Baginski and Jarek Sawko from Platige Films. Andrzej Sapkowski, who wrote “The Witcher” novels, will serve as creative consultant on the series.
“The Witcher” season 2 wrapped filming last week after more than a few delays due to the pandemic. No premiere date for “The Witcher” Season 2 or “The Witcher: Blood Origin” has been set.