The Witcher and Picard United, i.e. Cavill Converses With Stewart
Henry Cavill and Patrick Stewart had an online chat where they exchanged their feelings about their roles and adventures during their careers. The topics discussed by the actors included The Witcher, Star Trek and Superman.
As part of the youtube series Actors on Actors organized by Variety, Henry Cavill and Patrick Stewart faced each other in a conversation. Both are iconic actors - the first of them played Geralt and Superman, and the second is the legend of Star Trek, who "raised" several generations of viewers.
The conversation was held in a relaxed, friendly atmosphere, and the topic of the conversation was primarily acting and ways to prepare for specific roles. It turns out that the artists follow each other's achievements and are able to understand the hardships that their specific profession entails.
This can be seen especially on the example of one of the first topics raised in the discussion, namely the issue of castings. Cavill proved that there is a shy kid inside the big man, who had his share of failures during auditions. Stewart described the rather harsh conditions of selecting actors for Star Trek: The Next Generation:
"I was shocked by how brusque and offhand my fellow producers and directors were with actors. And I would always make a point of getting up from behind the table, shaking hands with them, asking how they were. Until my fellow producer said to me, “Will you stop doing that? You’re not allowed to make friends with these people!”"
The mere mention of Star Trek has evoked many memories in Cavill. The actor admitted that he grew up watching the series. He also asked an older colleague how he managed to develop this character in Star Trek: Picard, bearing in mind the acting creations from several decades ago. Stewart replied that preparations for this role were similar to those of Charles Xavier in Logan.
"I cited the movie “Logan” that I did with Hugh Jackman, the last of the “X-Men” movies. That movie found the two of us in conditions that were totally unlike anything that we experienced before, and it was thrilling for both of us, because we were continually being challenged. I said to my fellow producers, “I would like the same thing.” The contrast between the Picard that I had been in “Next Generation,” and how the years that have passed had changed him. He was now angry, moody, guilty, sad, lonely, which he had never been before.
Cavill noticed similarities to the character created by Stewart in Geralt. The actor decided to share the backstage of his work on and off the set and a number of activities he was doing just to give the impression of being a buff, serious witcher:
"I wanted to draw on elements of all of those things. It was about an hour-and-a-half to two-hour process every morning before rehearsals. And by the time I was in my full Geralt rig, as I call it, it was like I was looking at a different person, and I felt halfway to the character just through the physicality. I would move slightly differently, and then as soon as the contact lenses went in, everything shifted. And my interactionswere completely different, and the only time they went back to being truly Henry was when I was passed out asleep in a chair in my trailer for 20-minute breaks."
The difference between the generations had no effect on the conversation, and everything turned out 100% natural. As it seems an actor will always understand another actor, and sharing experiences is an universal activity. Both Cavill and Stewart will return as Geralt and Picard in the second seasons of their respective series. All that remains for us is to wait patiently.
