Doug Cockle Discusses Voicing Geralt in Netflix's The Witcher

While Henry Cavill may be widely recognized for his portrayal of Geralt of Rivia, within the gaming community, Doug Cockle is revered as the definitive voice of Geralt from CD Projekt Red's acclaimed RPG series. Now, the worlds of these two Geralts converge as Cockle lends his iconic voice to the animated film, The Witcher: Sirens of the Deep on Netflix.

In this new venture, Cockle does not mimic Cavill or Liam Hemsworth, who will take over the role in the live-action series. Instead, he was allowed to retain the same method and approach that have defined his Geralt for nearly two decades, ensuring fans hear the familiar, gravelly tones they've come to love.

Cockle developed this distinctive voice back in 2005 during the recording of the first Witcher game. He recalls the challenge of finding the right pitch, saying, "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 long recording sessions took a toll on his throat, but by the time he worked on The Witcher 2, his vocal cords had adapted, much like an athlete's muscles conditioning over time.

The release of The Last Wish in English during the recording of The Witcher 2 marked a significant turning point for Cockle. He explains, "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."

Cockle also gained a deeper understanding of Geralt's emotional range, which the developers described as "emotionless." He reflects, "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's appreciation for the Witcher series extended to the books, particularly praising author Andrzej Sapkowski's writing. Having been a fan of Tolkien's The Lord of the Rings, he quickly connected with Sapkowski's fantasy universe. Among the novels, Season of Storms stands out as a favorite, and he expresses interest in voicing Geralt in a potential adaptation of this story.

He describes Season of Storms 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 inspired by the short story "A Little Sacrifice" from the Sword of Destiny collection. This dark and twisted take on Hans Christian Andersen's The Little Mermaid involves Geralt in a conflict between two kingdoms. While the film features intense action and political drama, Cockle appreciates the lighter moments, such as a humorous campfire conversation between Geralt and Jaskier, showcasing Geralt's often overlooked softer side.

Cockle values the multifaceted nature of acting, stating, "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. 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."

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While much of Cockle's work on Sirens of the Deep felt familiar, he faced a unique challenge: learning to speak a fictional language for the mermaids. He admits, "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."

Cockle will return to the world of video games with The Witcher 4, where he will reprise his role as Geralt, albeit in a supporting capacity, with Ciri taking the lead. He anticipates this transition will be smooth, likening it to slipping into a comfortable pair of slippers. He shares, "Naturally, Cockle has little to say about The Witcher 4. He claims to only know as much about it as we do. But he’s eager to see what happens in CDPR’s next chapter of The Witcher story, and thinks it's already headed in the right direction."

He views the shift to Ciri's perspective as a positive move, saying, "I think it's a really good move. 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 in-depth 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.