The Witcher: Blood Origin star Jodie Turner-Smith drops out of role

Last Updated on July 30, 2021

Just two and a half months ago, it was announced that Jodie Turner-Smith had signed on to play a lead role in the upcoming Netflix series The Witcher: Blood Origin, a prequel to the streamer's hit show The Witcher. Unfortunately, Turner-Smith has now had to drop out of the project. A Netflix spokesperson said, 

Due to a change in the production schedule for The Witcher: Blood Origin limited series, unfortunately Jodie Turner-Smith will no longer be able to continue on in the role of Éile."

Producers are now searching for someone else to play Éile, 

an elite warrior blessed with the voice of a goddess, who has left her clan and position as Queen’s guardian to follow her heart as a nomadic musician. A grand reckoning on the continent forces her to return to the way of the blade in her quest for vengeance and redemption.

Set in "an elven world" 1,200 years before the events we saw in the first season of The Witcher, The Witcher: Blood Origin is a six-part series that will tell 

a story lost to time – the creation of the first prototype Witcher, and the events that lead to the pivotal “conjunction of the spheres,” when the worlds of monsters, men, and elves merged to become one.

Laurence O'Fuarain is on board to play the lead role of Fjall.

Born into a clan of warriors sworn to protect a King, Fjall carries a deep scar within, the death of a loved one who fell in battle trying to save him. A scar that won't let him settle, or make peace with himself or the world around him. In his quest for redemption, Fjall will find himself fighting beside the most unlikely of allies as he carves a path of vengeance across a continent in turmoil.

Lauren Schmidt Hissrich and showrunner Declan de Barra serve as executive producers on The Witcher: Blood Origin, alongside Hivemind's Jason Brown and Sean Daniel, and Tomek Baginski and Jarek Sawko of Platige Films. Andrzej Sapkowski, whose novels inspired the Witcher shows, is involved as creative consultant.