The Witcher's casting director has revealed plans to "challenge" beauty standards with their casting of Yennefer in Netflix's adaptation of The Witcher.
The Witcher season 3 just dropped their final three episodes, concluding Henry Cavill's time as lead of the franchise. One character that might get a little overlooked in this "changing of the guard" is Yennefer of Vengerberg, or more accurately, her actress Anya Chalotra.
In an interview with Variety, the casting director for The Witcher revealed that the casting of Yennefer of Vengerberg was meant “to challenge what people think of as the standard of beauty”.
Casting Director For The Witcher Explains Reason For Casting Anya Chalotra
We all know, that beauty is in the eye of the beholder, but obviously there still are beauty standards that permeate society. The epitome of objective beauty in The Witcher is supposed to be Yennefer of Vengerberg.
- Can't wait for the episodes and crave more Geralt of Rivia? Explore the books here.
The casting director for the Netflix adaptation of The Witcher decided to use this opportunity to cast an Indian woman to portray that ideal of beauty.
I remember saying, ‘I feel like we need to challenge what people think of as the standard of beauty. And having a woman of color in this role does incredibly powerful things to the people watching.'
This casting choice is supposed to challenge “people’s unconscious bias – especially in the fantasy world, it felt like these worlds were predominantly white”.
To have the epitome of beauty in The Witcher be portrayed by a woman of color sends a powerful message to other people of color. Although, we aren't 100% convinced that this role really does challenge beauty standards; Anya Chalotra is conventionally beautiful.
Well, what about Liam Hemsworth's casting, then?
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