Andrzej Sapkowski Reveals Which Actresses He’d Cast as Yennefer and Ciri

The Witcher author Andrzej Sapkowski took part in a Reddit Q&A session, answering several fan questions about the series. One of them touched on the origins of Yennefer — the powerful sorceress and Geralt’s love interest.

Sapkowski said that Yennefer was inspired by various mythological and literary figures. While he couldn’t recall them all, he listed several key influences: Circe from Greek mythology, the Irish war goddess Morrigan, the Norse goddess Freyja, Queen Guinevere, and Nimue the sorceress from Arthurian legend. He also mentioned “the merciless beauty” from John Keats’ ballad La Belle Dame sans Merci, Ayesha from Henry Rider Haggard’s novel She, and Katherine de Vauselle from François Villon’s The Great Testament.

According to the author, there are two illustrations of Yennefer that he considers most faithful to her image: one by Alejandro Colucci for the Spanish edition of Sword of Destiny, and another by Mikaël Bourgouin for the French cover of the same book.

When asked about casting, Sapkowski said he would choose Eva Green to play Yennefer. As for Ciri, he believes a young Natalie Portman would be the perfect fit.

During the same Q&A, Sapkowski also commented on the emergence of various Witcher schools, clarifying that they are not considered canon.