“Game of Thrones” alum Kristofer Hivju is taking his talents from Westeros to The Continent. The actor, who played Tormund on the now-ended HBO fantasy series, has been cast as Nivellen on Season 2 of “The Witcher,” which went into production this month in the U.K., Netflix revealed Friday.
Other series newcomers for the second installment of the Henry Cavill-led fantasy epic, which is set to launch in 2021, include Yasen Atour (“Young Wallender”) as Coen, Agnes Born as Vereena, Paul Bullion (“Peaky Blinders”) as Lambert, Thue Ersted Rasmussen (“Fast and Furious 9”) as Eskel, Aisha Fabienne Ross (“The Danish Girl”) as Lydia and Mecia Simson as Francesca.
Like Cavill’s Geralt of Rivia, the characters Coen, Lambert and Eskel are witchers a.k.a. monster hunters in Polish author Andrzej Sapkowski’s “Witcher” novels, which the Netflix series is based on. Per the books, Vereena is a vampire who is in love with Nivellen (Hivju), a cursed man, and Lydia and Francesca are both sorceresses, like Yennefer (Anya Chalotra).
As TheWrap previously reported, leads Cavill, Chalotra and Freya Allan, who plays Princess Ciri, will all return for Season 2. Joey Batey will also be back in his role as Geralt’s minstrel BFF, Jaskier.
Other returning cast members include MyAnna Buring as Tissaia, Tom Canton as Filavandrel, Lilly Cooper as Murta, Jeremy Crawford as Yarpin Zigrin, Eamon Farren as Cahir, Mahesh Jadu as Vilgefortz, Terence Maynard as Artorius, Lars Mikkelson as Stregobor, Mimi Ndiweni as Fringilla Vigo, Royce Pierrseson as Istredd, Wilson Radjou-Pujalte as Dara, Anna Shaffer as Triss Merigold and Therica Wilson Read as Sabrina.
“The reaction to season one of The Witcher set a high bar for adding new talent for the second season,” “The Witcher” showrunner Lauren Schmidt Hissrich said in a statement. “Sophie Holland and her casting team have once again found the very best people to embody these characters, and in the hands of these accomplished directors, we’re excited to see these new stories come to life.”
The second season of “The Witcher” will be directed by Stephen Surjik (“Umbrella Academy”) who will direct Episodes 201 and 202, Sarah O’Gorman (“Cursed”) for Episodes 203 and 204, Ed Bazalgette (“The Last Kingdom”) for Episodes 205 and 208, and Geeta Patel (“Meet The Patels”) for Episodes 206 and 207.