Doug Cockle: From Video Game to Netflix's Geralt

While Henry Cavill may be the most recognized face to portray Geralt of Rivia, for many, especially within the gaming community, Doug Cockle's voice remains the quintessential embodiment of the White Wolf from CD Projekt Red's critically acclaimed RPG series. Now, the worlds of Cavill and Cockle's Geralts have intertwined, with Cockle lending his iconic voice to Netflix's animated film, "The Witcher: Sirens of the Deep."

In this new venture, Cockle does not reprise his video game role but instead voices a unique iteration of Geralt. Importantly, he was not directed to mimic Cavill's or Liam Hemsworth's portrayals, allowing him to maintain the deep, gravelly tone that fans have adored for nearly two decades. This continuity ensures that listeners will still experience the familiar voice they've come to love.

Cockle developed Geralt's distinctive voice back in 2005 during the recording sessions for the first Witcher game. He recalls the challenge of finding the right pitch, which required him to push his voice to its limits. "The thing I found most challenging about recording Witcher 1 was actually the voice itself," Cockle explains. "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."

During those early days, there were no clear guidelines on how long voice actors should record in a single session, leading Cockle to spend eight or nine hours a day in the booth. This intense regimen initially left his throat strained, but by the time of "The Witcher 2," his vocal cords had adapted, much like an athlete's muscles conditioning to a new sport.

The release of Andrzej Sapkowski's books in English during the recording of "The Witcher 2" marked a significant turning point for Cockle. "The books started to come out in English while I was recording Witcher 2," he notes. "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 found deeper insights into Geralt's character through the books, particularly understanding the character's emotional restraint, which the developers had emphasized. "The developers kept saying, 'He's emotionless'," Cockle says. "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."

Doug Cockle's Geralt appears alongside Joey Batey's Jaskier and other members of the Netflix cast. | Image credit: Netflix

Enamored with Sapkowski's writing, Cockle drew parallels between "The Witcher" and J.R.R. Tolkien's works, quickly becoming engrossed in the new fantasy universe. Among Sapkowski's novels, "Season of Storms" stands out as a favorite for Cockle, a story he'd relish voicing should Netflix ever return to it. "It's 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," he says. "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 feature on Netflix inspired by the short story "A Little Sacrifice" from the "Sword of Destiny" collection. This tale offers a dark twist on Hans Christian Andersen's "The Little Mermaid," where Geralt navigates a conflict between two kingdoms. While the film contains intense action and political drama, Cockle appreciates the lighter moments, such as a humorous exchange between Geralt and Jaskier around a campfire, showcasing Geralt's often overlooked softer side.

"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."

The Witcher: Sirens of the Deep Geeked Week 2024 Teaser Stills

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While much of Cockle's work on "Sirens of the Deep" involved using his well-honed Geralt voice, he faced an unusual challenge: learning to speak in a fictional mermaid language. "I found doing this really difficult," he confesses. "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's return to the world of video games in "The Witcher 4" promises to be less taxing, as Geralt will play a supporting role to Ciri, his adoptive daughter. The game, announced with an exciting trailer at The Game Awards, will see Cockle reprising his iconic role with ease. "I think it's a really good move," he says of the shift in focus to Ciri. "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 for "The Witcher 4," check out our in-depth interview with the game's creators. And to see more of Doug Cockle, don't miss "The Witcher: Sirens of the Deep" on Netflix, or follow him on Instagram, Cameo, and X.