Viewers have found a lot to like about the original series The Witcher, which stars erstwhile
Superman Henry Cavill as Geralt of Rivia, the protagonist of the well-loved series of
video games.
It's well-written, briskly paced, lovingly rendered fantasy fun.
And while some critics have tried to rain on fans' parade, those fans have been quick
to write off these half-baked criticisms.
Rightly so, in our humble opinion.
A good number appear to have been fielded by critics who either don't care for the fantasy
genre in general, or can't keep from comparing The Witcher to the recently-ended Game of
Thrones, which is frankly a ridiculously weak comparison.
Cavill acquits himself nicely in the lead, but viewers have been particularly taken with
the character of Yennefer, a sorceress with a troubled history and decidedly mixed feelings
about Geralt.
"Tell me, are there women who find this coarseness charming?
Maybe someplace where they find your coin very charming indeed."
The show-stealing magic user, who becomes ever more powerful as the first season goes
on and eventually has occasion to use her formidable powers to take on an entire army
single-handedly, is portrayed by young actress Anya Chalotra, a relative newcomer whom you
might nevertheless find to be a bit familiar.
If you can't quite put your finger on where you've seen her before, well, we're here to
help.
Chalotra hasn't been in the business for very long, but her talent has already earned her
some pretty high-profile gigs.
Since we'll assume you're a fan of The Witcher, you obviously have a Netflix subscription,
meaning that you might have caught her debut credit: 2018's Wanderlust, a drama series
which is a joint production between the streamer and BBC One.
The series stars Toni Collette as Joy Richards, a therapist whose life goes into a downward
spiral after both the death of one of her patients and a terrible car accident in which
she's badly injured.
The series is the brainchild of British playwright Nick Payne, who recently branched out into
feature film work with his screenplay for the 2017 adaptation of Julian Barnes' novel
The Sense of an Ending.
Its well-received first season introduced Chalotra in a minor role, and gave her the
opportunity to work alongside the always-excellent Collette, as well as co-stars Steven Mackintosh
and Zawe Ashton.
While the series' first season left a number of narrative threads dangling, there hasn't
yet been any word on whether a second has received the official greenlight, let alone
whether Chalotra will return.
Whether or not the young star is tapped for another round of Wanderlust, though, it appears
likely she'll be kept plenty busy.
Also in 2018, Chalotra appeared in the BBC One miniseries The ABC Murders, an adaptation
of the classic Agatha Christie novel of the same name.
Once again, she had the privilege of working with an outstanding cast, led by the great
John Malkovich as Hercule Poirot.
The miniseries is available for streaming in the U.S. on Amazon Prime Video.
Interestingly, Chalotra has also shown an early talent for voice acting.
The only other credit on her resume: the YouTube Premium animated series Sherwood, an ambitious,
futuristic adaptation of the Robin Hood legend set in the 23rd century.
Chalotra leads the series as the gender-swapped Robin Loxley.
Her co-stars include Tyler Posey, Jamie Chung, Rachel House, and Joseph Fiennes.
She may be a relatively new face, but with credits this interesting, Chalotra has already
proven her versatility — and with The Witcher, she's proven that she can win over fans and
hold her own against the charismatic likes of Cavill.
"What?
You were going to summon chaos on king's orders between feeding and naps?"
"Do not patronize me."
We think it's safe to say that we'll be seeing much, much more of her in the years to come.
While her IMDb page doesn't currently list any upcoming projects, we already know that
we'll be getting a second season of The Witcher, as it was renewed by Netflix before the first
season even dropped.
Given fans' warm response to the character of Yennefer, we'd be surprised if Chalotra
weren't given an expanded role for the series' second outing.
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