Doug Cockle Discusses Portraying Geralt in Netflix's The Witcher

While Henry Cavill may be the most recognizable actor to have portrayed Geralt of Rivia, within the gaming community, Doug Cockle is celebrated as the definitive voice of the character from CD Projekt Red’s critically acclaimed series of RPGs. Now, the worlds of Cavill's and Cockle's Geralts converge in the new animated film, *The Witcher: Sirens of the Deep*, where Cockle lends his iconic voice to Netflix's version of the character.

In this new venture, Cockle does not mimic the live-action Geralt portrayed by Cavill or Liam Hemsworth, who will take on the role in the upcoming season of the series. Instead, he maintains the same gravelly tones that fans have cherished for nearly two decades, allowing him to bring the same depth and authenticity to the animated Geralt.

Cockle developed this distinctive voice back in 2005 while recording for the first Witcher game. He recalls the challenge: “The thing I found most challenging about recording Witcher 1 was actually the voice itself. When I first started recording the game, (Geralt’s) voice was very, very far down in my register. It was something I had to push towards.” Initially, the lack of guidelines on voice recording sessions led to him spending eight or nine hours a day, which was taxing on his throat. This struggle persisted into the recording of *The Witcher 2*, but over time, his vocal cords adapted, much like an athlete's muscles conditioning for a sport.

During the development of *The Witcher 2*, another significant change occurred: the English translations of the Witcher books became available. Cockle shares, “The books started to come out in English while I was recording Witcher 2. Before that, it was the developers from CD Projekt Red who taught me everything I needed to know about Geralt. So as soon as *The Last Wish* came out in English, I was down at the bookstore buying it, and I tore through it. And I understood things about Geralt just from reading just that one book that I didn't understand at all before.”

He further explains the emotional portrayal of Geralt, “The developers kept saying, ‘He's emotionless’. And I was like, ‘Okay, I get it, I get it, but I'm an actor. I want to play with emotions.’ But I better understood [when reading] the book why they were pushing for as flat as possible of an emotional life for him.”

Cockle quickly became enamored with the Witcher series, praising the author Andrzej Sapkowski’s writing: “He is such a wonderful writer.” Having grown up with Tolkien’s *The Lord of the Rings*, he found a new connection with this fantasy universe. Among Sapkowski’s novels, *Season of Storms* stands out to him, a story he hopes to voice if Netflix ever needs him again. He describes it as, “one of those stories that when I read it, I was like, ‘Oh, this is horrible. This is awful.’ [But] it's thrilling at the same time. There's some really graphic fight scenes that Sapkowski gives to us, and I think that would be a really fun story to turn into an anime or a TV episode.”

Currently, fans can experience Cockle’s Geralt in *The Witcher: Sirens of the Deep*, an animated film based on the short story *A Little Sacrifice* from the *Sword of Destiny* collection. This dark and twisted tale, inspired by Hans Christian Andersen’s *The Little Mermaid*, follows Geralt as he navigates a conflict between two kingdoms following a mermaid's love for a human prince. While the story is filled with intense action and political drama, Cockle particularly enjoys the lighter moments, such as a humorous exchange around a campfire with Jaskier, showcasing Geralt’s often overlooked softer side.

“Part of liking acting is liking all those different aspects of a character's personality and the different choices that could be made and how they might approach those choices,” Cockle says. “I enjoy the gravitas of Geralt when he's all serious and mopey and whatever, but I do also like those moments when he's trying to be light. When he's trying to crack a joke and it just doesn't go very well for him most of the time because he's just not funny.”

The Witcher: Sirens of the Deep Geeked Week 2024 Teaser Stills

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Working on *Sirens of the Deep* presented a unique challenge for Cockle: speaking in a fictional language. He confesses, “I found doing this really difficult. I got phonetic spellings of the words and things so I could get familiar with it and hopefully be okay on the day. And then I got in front of the mic and… it wasn't like performance anxiety or anything like that, it's just that it was a lot harder than I thought it was going to be.”

Looking ahead, Cockle is set to return to the video game world with *The Witcher 4*, where Geralt will take a supporting role to Ciri, his adoptive daughter. He anticipates this shift to be a smooth transition, likening it to slipping into an old pair of comfortable slippers. “I think it's a really good move,” he says of the narrative shift. “I mean, I always thought that continuing the saga, but shifting to Ciri would be a really, really interesting move for all kinds of reasons, but mostly because of things that happen in the books, which I don't want to give away because people, I want people to go read. So yeah, I think it's really exciting. I can't wait. I can't wait to see what they've done.”

For more insights into CD Projekt Red’s plans, check out our detailed interview with the creators of *The Witcher 4*. And to see more of Doug Cockle, watch *The Witcher: Sirens of the Deep* on Netflix, or follow him on Instagram, Cameo, and X.