While Henry Cavill is undeniably the most famous actor to portray Geralt of Rivia, Doug Cockle, the voice of Geralt in CD Projekt Red's acclaimed RPG series, remains the definitive White Wolf for many gamers. Their paths converge in Netflix's animated film, *The Witcher: Sirens of the Deep*, where Cockle lends his iconic voice to the character.

Interestingly, Cockle wasn't asked to emulate Cavill or Liam Hemsworth's portrayal. This allowed him to reprise his signature gravelly Geralt voice, unchanged from nearly 20 years of embodying the character. The result? Fans hear the same voice they've known and loved.

Cockle's distinctive voice was forged during the recording of the first *Witcher* game in 2005. He recalls the challenge: "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." Long recording sessions (eight to nine hours daily) initially strained his voice, a process he humorously compares to an athlete building muscle.

The development of *The Witcher 2* brought another significant change. "The books started to come out in English while I was recording *Witcher 2*," Cockle explains. "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." This deeper understanding of the character enriched his performance, clarifying the developers' direction for a more emotionally restrained Geralt.

Cockle's appreciation for Andrzej Sapkowski's writing, particularly Season of Storms, is evident. He envisions this story as a compelling anime or TV episode, highlighting its thrilling, graphic fight scenes. While he enjoys Geralt's serious and brooding aspects, he also appreciates the character's attempts at humor, as showcased in a campfire scene with Jaskier in Sirens of the Deep. This scene reveals Geralt's softer side, a facet often overlooked.

"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," Cockle explains. "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 voicing Geralt in Sirens of the Deep was largely familiar territory, learning to speak the fictional mermaid language presented a unique challenge. Cockle found this surprisingly difficult, despite preparation with phonetic spellings.

Cockle's return to Geralt in *The Witcher 4*, announced at The Game Awards, promises a smoother experience. With Geralt in a supporting role to Ciri, the amount of dialogue is significantly less. While remaining tight-lipped about specifics, Cockle expresses enthusiasm for the shift in perspective, highlighting its potential based on the books.

"I think it's a really good move," he says. "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 on *The Witcher 4*, check out our interview with the creators. To see Doug Cockle's work, watch *The Witcher: Sirens of the Deep* on Netflix, or find him on Instagram, Cameo, and X.