Witcher prequel series Blood Origin casts Jodie Turner-Smith
Following her breakout turn in Melina Matsoukas’ Queen & Slim, Jodie Turner-Smith has quickly ascended to the ranks of Extremely In Demand. In addition to recent news of her casting in Channel 5's Anne Boleyn miniseries (in which she’ll play the title role), Turner-Smith has lined up another major small-screen project: a leading role in Netflix’s next Witcher spinoff. Titled Blood Origin, the limited series prequel is set 1,200 years before the events of The Witcher, the hit fantasy series starring Henry Cavill as long-haired hunk-beast Geralt. Turner-Smith will play Éile, a badass warrior who decides to pursue her dream of being a “nomadic musician.” Here’s how Deadline describes the plot:
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.
Blood Origin is the second prequel spinoff from The Witcher series proper following the animated The Witcher: Nightmare Of The Wolf, which centers on Geralt’s mentor, Vesemir.