Who is The Witcher’s Freya Allan?
Netflix’s adaptation of The Witcher is exciting fans of the fantasy series and video game, but who is the newly-announced cast member Freya Allen?
Andrzej Sapkowski’s Witcher stories have grown in stature since their publishing success in the early 1990s. The author’s medieval fantasy series made the jump from his native Poland to an international audience in the late 2000s, when a video game was first developed out of the series and his books were first translated into English.
Its follow-up, The Witcher 2: Assassins of Kings, was a big gaming success and now plans are in the works for a Netflix series that follows the exploits of monster-slayer extraordinaire Geralt of Rivia.
A big announcement was made on Wednesday with news that the showrunners had cast their two female leads, but who is Freya Allan (set to play princess Ciri) and why was there controversy surrounding the casting?
Who is freya allan: the witcher’s ciri?
CREDIT: IMDB
Freya Allan is a relative unknown in the acting world, with The Witcher representing one of her first big roles. She appeared in an episode of AMC’s Into the Badlands entitled “Chapter XXI: Carry Tiger to Mountain,” where she played the part of a young Minerva (mostly referred to as ‘The Widow’ in the series), a character usually portrayed by Emily Beecham. She has also been cast in a sci-fi miniseries based on H.G. Well’s The War of the Worlds, which is currently in production.
All this suggests that Allan has a good level of experience for action roles and fantasy series, since her CV mostly comprises such parts. This may well explain why the show’s producers chose her for such a crucial part.
Why is there controversy around the casting of ciri?
CREDIT: CD PROJEKT
Earlier this year, there was some controversy surrounding a casting advert that the show was looking for a young BAME actress to take part in the series.
This generated a backlash online amongst Polish fans of the series who felt it important that their Slavic heritage be properly represented in what they feel is a successful Polish export to the rest of the world.
The series showrunner Lauren Hissrich, however, was very clear in her intentions for the fantasy adaptation. She took to Twitter to respond to some of the outrage, making it clear that she had held conversations with Andrzej Sapkowski himself about the overall direction for the show.
— in its population, in every way (race, culture, gender, and yes, occasionally skin color, which he said he did not always specify). I’m not sure how people insinuate I’m destroying the books by recognizing that. I’m honoring the author’s own intentions. He told me so himself.
— Lauren S. Hissrich (@LHissrich) May 11, 2018
