Liam Hemsworth breaks silence on taking over from Henry Cavill in controversial The Witcher recasting

Liam Hemsworth has got some seriously big shoes to fill when he takes over the role of the White Wolf, Geralt of Rivia in The Witcher.

To put it politely, fans were surprised when Liam was announced as the replacement for the much-loved Henry Cavill, and let's just say the initial response must have been hard to take...

The Hunger Games star has finally opened up about taking over the role of the fabled character, for what has also been confirmed will be the final two seasons of The Witcher.

Filming is currently underway for the fifth and final season, and Liam has finally given an interview and shared his feelings about stepping into the role of Geralt.

Season four is set to air all eight episodes from October 30, so fans haven't got long to wait to see how he fares onscreen.

Technically, he's Thor's brother so it shouldn't be too much of a stretch...

Henry Cavill was Geralt of Rivia for three seasons of The Witcher, but for the final two it'll be Liam Hemsworth as the titular monster hunter. (Netflix)

Hemsworth called his first few days on set the same as 'changing school halfway through the year', and revealed his casting caught him off guard too: "It came out of nowhere, I was as surprised as anyone."

Unsurprisingly, however, was that the huge uproar made things a little difficult, leading Hemsworth to quit social media for a while.

He told Entertainment Daily: "There was quite a bit of noise and I had to put that aside. It started to become a distraction.

"At the end of the day, I love making movies and I love telling stories and acting. I just don't want any of that to affect my way of telling the story that I'm trying to tell. I jumped off social media and the internet most of last year."

Of his predecessor, he added: "I'm a massive fan of Henry's, and I'm a fan of what he did in the show."

Top executive producer, Lauren Hissrich, says Hemsworth was her top pick for the challenging role, explaining: "His name has been out there for a very long time."

Anya Chalotra, Liam Hemsworth, Joey Batey and Meng'er Zhang at a table read for The Witcher season four. (Netflix)

She added that Liam has taken the role 'really, really seriously' and knows what it means to fans.

"It was really important to him to have certain things [for] continuity — and also certain things that he could invent so that his Geralt could stand on his own two feet."

Whether Cavill's infamous grunting will continue remains to be seen...

One of Cavill's co-stars, Anya Chalotra, who plays onscreen love interest Yennefer, said it was emotional hearing the news. "I cried," she confessed.

"I remember it so vividly. It really impacted me. We were so bonded to these people, and to lose such an important member of the team… I've put everything into this character. I started [Witcher] having not much work under my belt, and this show means the world to me. So it hurt."

Meanwhile, Freya Allan, who play Princess Cirilla of Cintra, a.k.a Ciri, said: "He was Geralt for Ciri for so long and that's sad to let that go, but I was also really excited to see what Liam's done with the role."

The final season will also consist of eight episodes and is expected to air in 2026.