The Witcher Season 2 Recasts Eskel with Basil Eidenbenz
The role of Eskel on The Witcher has been recast with Basil Eidenbenz after COVID-related scheduling issues with the previous actor.
The Witcher Season 2 has cast Basil Eidenbenz for the role of Eskel, replacing the previously tapped Thue Ersted Rasmussen.
Swiss actor Eidenbenz will fill the role of Eskel, which was vacated by Rasmussen over rescheduling issues attributed to COVID-19, halted back in March as COVID escalated to a pandemic level; an occurrence that leaves the series with a lingering issue upon its recent return, since Rasmussen had been filming scenes as Eskel starting in late February before the early-March shutdown. Consequently, the recasting of the character with Eidenbenz calls for reshoots.
The role of Eskel will likely prove important for Henry Cavill’s Geralt, the reshoots could prove particularly inconveniencing, especially if the scenes shot by Rasmussen included the headlining star.
Eskel represents the biggest role yet for the Zurich-born Eidenbenz, who comes into The Witcher having put in notable television runs on shows such as U.K. Sky comedy The Athena, Canadian AXN/Ovation spy series X Company, and ITV/PBS historical drama Victoria. He also had a small role in director Yorgos Lanthimos’s Oscar-nominated historical comedy, The Favourite, along with appearances in recent films such as Wildlings, Oh, Ramona! and Another Mother’s Son. He s fellow newcomers on the series such as Game of Thrones’ Kristofer Hivju as Nivellen, Yasen Atour as Coen, Agnes Bjorn as Vereena, Paul Bullion as Lambert, Aisha Fabienne Ross as Lydia and newcomer Mecia Simson as sca.
Adapting Polish author Andrzej Sapkowski’s literary fantasy mythology and the popular video game series it spawned, The Witcher premiered on Netflix back on December 20, 2019, and became an instant hit. Besides brandishing an A-list headliner in Henry Cavil, the series also seemed to be the fantastical serial offering for which fans were clamoring, especially after the genre’s most prominent example, HBO’s The Witcher: Blood Origin.
The Witcher Season 2 doesn’t have a formal release date as of yet, but production appears to be back on track in time to make its previously-teased 2021 window.
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