More than 200 actors were considered for the role eventually won by Henry Cavill in Netflix’s The Witcher, the show’s executive producer said.
British actor Cavill, best known for playing Superman, will portray Geralt of Rivia in the fantasy series, which is due to arrive on the streaming service later this year.
The 36-year-old appeared on a panel at Comic-Con in San Diego on Friday and told fans he was intent on starring in The Witcher after playing the video game adaptations of the book that the TV series is based on.
Executive producer Lauren Schmidt Hissrich said there were 207 options for playing Geralt, a travelling monster hunter for hire.
Cavill eventually got the part after his agents badgered Hissrich “every day”. “He was really annoying,” Hissrich said.
Cavill, seated alongside his co-stars Anya Chalotra and Freya Allan, told fans inside Hall H of San Diego Convention Centre he spent “many hours” playing The Witcher video games and the character of Geralt “really struck a chord with me”.
He said: “Geralt won’t treat everyone perfectly and at the same time deep down he’s a real hero. And he keeps that very secret and very private.”
Fans were shown several action-packed clips of The Witcher, featuring Cavill as Geralt in a long, white wig.
Producers have promised the series, based on Polish novels of the same name, will stay true to the source material and be “very adult”.
Cavill said he had no stunt double on the show, saying it was “very important to me that when you see Geralt on screen that you know it’s Geralt”.
The series will air in late 2019. Comic-Con continues until Sunday.