The Witcher’s Rebecca Hanssen on Authority, Fantasy, and Women Who Rule

Maybe you fell in love with The Witcher at fifteen, devouring the books in one all-consuming sweep. Or maybe you were scrolling mindlessly through Netflix a few years ago and, intrigued by Henry Cavill’s gold eyes, decided to see what the fuss was about. Either way, here you are, four seasons later, captured, hooked, and every other synonym you can think of for how ridiculously obsessed you are with this fictional world and its inhabitants.

Same.

Credit: Connor Harris

New Wave sits down with Rebecca Hanssen, The Witcher’s Queen Meve, to talk authority, literature, and finding freedom inside a character whose self-embodiment speaks before she does.

The conversation begins with a temperature check.

“This morning…frazzled. In my career? Strangely content.”

Hanssen is momentarily suspended in an in-between space: currently not filming, but surrounded by work that is only just being released. With seasons four and five filmed back-to-back, and the fifth and final season arriving later this year, she is finding peace in pausing, appreciating and looking forward rather than chasing her next set.

“It’s an unusual position. To have something coming out, but not be in production. You’re just… waiting. And that’s actually lovely.”

She speaks with the same affection for the show as its loyal audience. Her eyes light up when she tells me about a detail no one ever asks about: the prosthetic teeth.

To create the illusion of broken teeth, the special effects team at Fangs FX designed retainers that subtly lengthen the surrounding teeth, making the rest appear shattered.

“It’s genius,” she says. “You’d never guess. Their workshop is like a museum.”

It’s a small detail, but it captures the love behind the world of The Witcher, and Hanssen speaks warmly of the production’s scale and collective passion — from costume to set design to hair and makeup. Even after months inside it, the fantasy still feels “magical”.

“I pinched myself every day. Translating something from books into television is so hard…the pacing, the compression, the narrative logic…but I really think these seasons have stepped up a notch.”

Credit: Connor Harris

We remain enthralled (read: obsessed) with powerful women, and Meve is one of the show’s most compelling. She enters the story not as romantic presence, but political force. She is not written to be liked, but to be effective: a woman who does not seek approval, who speaks when others hesitate.

In one of her central episodes, Meve is positioned directly opposite Geralt, now played by Liam Hemsworth. Their dynamic, Hanssen explains, was built on mutual power.

“It’s two people testing boundaries. There’s respect there, but also tension. Meve pushes it, just to see what happens.”

“She says what everyone else is thinking. Especially when she’s in the Council of Kings. She’s obviously fed up being the only woman in this room full of men who are too scared to act.”

The feeling is deeply recognisable.

Off-screen, Hanssen is candid about being a natural people-pleaser. She jokes she would apologise for asking for water and then offer to fetch it herself.

“In real life, I’ll take a back seat. I’ll think, maybe it’s better not to rock the boat. Meve doesn’t do restraint.”

But playing her has been freeing.

“You can put your foot down without being rude. People actually respect you more when you say what you think.”

In this way, acting becomes a way of accessing parts of herself she sometimes holds back.

“That fire is already there in all of us,” she reflects. “Someone just turns up the gas and suddenly it’s allowed.”

Hanssen is also, by her own admission, an obsessive reader; fantasy worlds become second homes. The Famous Five, A Series of Unfortunate Events, and epic sagas filled her childhood…to the point that she would unconsciously take on the mannerisms of whichever character she was reading.

“I thought it was subtle,” she laughs. “My sister says it was unbearable.”

Credit: Connor Harris

Even now, literature comforts her. She is currently reading Robin Hobb’s Farseer trilogy, drawn to its mysticism and sophistication.

“I miss that way of speaking…the subtext, the poetry. I feel nostalgic for a time I wasn’t alive in.”

As The Witcher approaches its conclusion, Hanssen hopes audiences see Meve not as a tyrant or a hero, but something a lot more human: a woman juggling [a lot of] responsibility.

“She knows her priorities. Everything she does is for her kingdom. Sometimes that means being selfish. Sometimes it means risking her life.”

Meve rides into battle. She does not rule from a distance. And yet, Hanssen admits she herself would be terrified to carry such authority.

“I want people to be happy. I don’t want to be hated.”

But what she takes from Meve, and what she hopes viewers will too, is self-assurance. The courage to know when to stand firm, when to yield, and when to speak.

“That alignment between power and wisdom. That’s what matters.”

Rebecca Hanssen, content in this pause, understands that beautifully.