‘The Witcher: Blood Origin’: Jodie Turner-Smith To Star In Netflix’s ‘Witcher’ Prequel Series

Jodie Turner-Smith (Queen & Slim, Nightflyers) has been tapped as a lead in Netflix’s six-part, live-action limited series The Witcher: Blood Origin, a prequel to the streamer’s hit series The
Witcher.

Set in an elven world 1,200 years before the world of The Witcher, Blood Origin 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.

Turner-Smith will 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.

Declan de Barra serves as executive producer and showrunner of The Witcher: Blood Origin. Lauren Schmidt Hissrich, creator of The Witcher mothership series, executive produces. Andrzej Sapkowski, author of The Witcher book series the Netflix show is based on, serves as creative consultant. Jason Brown and Sean Daniel from Hivemind, and Tomek Baginski and Jarek Sawko from Platige Films are all executive producers.

The Witcher: Blood Origin is one of two offshoots from the hit Netflix series The Witcher, starring Henry Cavill. The streamer also has an animated spinoff film titled The Witcher: Nightmare Of The Wolf, focusing on the origin story of Geralt’s mentor and fellow Witcher Vesemir.

In-demand British actress Turner-Smith earned strong awards recognition for her breakthrough starring feature role opposite Daniel Kaluuya in Queen & Slim, written by Lena Waithe and directed by Melina Matsoukas.

Next up, Turner-Smith can be seen in A24’s After Yang opposite Colin Farrell as well as Amazon’s Without Remorse, opposite Michael B. Jordan. Both films are set for release in 2021. Turner-Smith will also star as ‘Anne Boleyn’ in a three-part mini-series for the U.K. broadcaster, Channel 5.

This marks a return to Netflix for Turner-Smith who starred in the streamer’s Nightflyers series, based on the novella by George R.R. Martin. Her series credits also include Cinemax’s Jett, TNT’s The Last Ship, Amazon’s Mad Dogs and HBO’s True Blood.