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Whether or not you knew Regis’s lore going into The Witcher Season 4, you’ve been waiting for his arrival since the series began. Only a screen legend like Laurence Fishburne (The Matrix, John Wick, Boyz n the Hood, Apocalypse Now) could step into the role of Emiel Regis Rohellec Terzieff-Godefroy, who crosses paths with Geralt of Rivia (Liam Hemsworth) at a critical juncture. For Geralt, the enigmatic barber-surgeon becomes an unlikely yet ideal mentor: He’s a healer with a philosopher’s zen who also knows how to whip up a mean mandrake potion. But this new ally has a shadowy past — he can read Geralt too easily and knows more about monsters than any human should. When his chest is pierced by an arrow — and he casually pulls it out — a bloody truth is revealed: Regis is a vampire. But, as Fishburne teases, “He’s not an ordinary vampire. Let’s just put it that way.”
“It will be the first time we’ve met a higher vampire on our show,” says showrunner Lauren Schmidt Hissrich. “The very first time that I spoke to Laurence about the role, what I wanted to do was to get into Regis’s backstory, which is a story of addiction, which is a very interesting thing to place in a fantasy world. It’s the story of a vampire who became addicted to blood and lost everything that was important to him because of it. When we meet Regis, he is our version of sober. He is off blood. Is he still a vampire? Yes, absolutely, but the truth is he is on his own path of redemption for a lot of the things he’s done in his past.”
During Season 4, streaming now, Regis becomes the center of gravity among Geralt’s traveling companions. His relationship with Geralt is one of the most surprising in the show’s history: the Witcher and the vampire, two ancient predators, learning to trust one another. “In any other story,” Schmidt Hissrich says, “Geralt would be trying to kill Regis — yet what we find is one of the closest relationships he’s ever had, aside from Jaskier [Joey Batey].”
“Laurence Fishburne is one of my favorite actors,” Hemsworth tells Tudum. “I don’t think Geralt’s quite sure of why, but Regis becomes a bit of a guide and counselor for Geralt and helps steer Geralt in the right direction, helps him realize certain things and points out certain things. They end up having a very close relationship, and Regis plays a really important part in holding Geralt together physically and mentally.”
Tudum caught up with Fishburne to talk about embodying a creature of contradictions and how he found the soul inside one of The Witcher’s darkest legends.
While fans of the wider Witcher world know Regis, he’s new to this series. What can you tell us about him?
Laurence Fishburne: He’s very old, nearly half a millennium. That’s a long, long time. I am not that old [laughs], just in case anybody is wondering. He’s a barber-surgeon, so he’s good at pulling teeth, bloodletting, herbs, poultices, tonics, and tinctures.
Regis and Geralt form an unlikely bond. How does that come about?
Fishburne: Geralt and Regis bond because Regis is older, perhaps a bit wiser, a bit more thoughtful about taking action sometimes, and that influence helps Geralt in this predicament he finds himself in, trying to find his child of surprise and his love, Yennefer [Anya Chalotra]. Geralt is becoming much more introspective in this season and is really struggling with some deeper emotions. He’s not accustomed to embracing his emotions and expressing his emotions. And through his relationship with Regis, he’s becoming more and more comfortable with that as a way of being.
He and Regis share a kind of genetic similarity. They’ve both been genetically engineered, altered, however you want to call it. They have that in common. Although they don’t really talk about it too much, it’s something that’s sort of understood.
You’re joining an established show that’s entering a fourth season. How did the team welcome you into the fold?
Fishburne: Everyone has been really wonderful. It’s a very large cast, it’s a very big world, and there are essentially three different storylines running through Season 4: Yennefer’s storyline, Ciri’s [Freya Allan] storyline, and Geralt’s storyline, and they’re all trying to find their way back to each other. There’s a lot of really wonderful stuff that they’ve packed into this season. As the newcomer — or one of the newcomers — I was just really excited to be a part of this world. I’ve not [acted] in a fantasy thing like this before. I’m a big fan of fantasy and science fiction, and when they asked me to join them, I was like, “Oh, this is interesting. This is something I’ve always wished to be able to do, and now I’m getting an opportunity to do it.”
What is it about the genre that intrigues you?
Fishburne: Oh gosh. There’s so many things. I mean, magic, creatures, capes — I have a fabulous cape. The costume design on this show, the production design on this show, the locations that they use on this show — all these things are just beautiful, magical, and for any audience, it’s really a great escape.
Introducing Laurence Fishburne as Regis in The Witcher Season 4
This production prides itself on having a family vibe. Is that something you’ve felt?
Fishburne: Yeah. I was immediately brought into the family of our showrunner, Lauren; it’s really her family. She’s got a great leadership style, and she’s got a great team of people working with her. The cast members that have been here from the beginning are all very tight, very familiar with each other, and very comfortable in their roles. They’ve welcomed me, they’ve welcomed Danny Woodburn, Linden Porco, the other people who are here that are new. What’s that other fella’s name? Oh yeah, Liam Hemsworth. They’ve welcomed him as well. He is really going to be a wonderful Witcher.
I’m sorry, who?
Fishburne: Hemsworth. Liam Hemsworth. Really blokey, really good-looking, strapping guy. Sweet. Heart of gold.
Liam has admitted that he was quite nervous at first about taking on this role. What has been your experience working with him, and how have you seen him grow into Geralt?
Fishburne: It’s really interesting what Liam has managed to do with Geralt, even from the very first moment that I saw him. He has made it his own, which is quite a feat. Liam is a very gifted actor, and he’s brought a kind of humor and, at the same time, a depth and gravitas to it. There’s a great balance of his seriousness and his humor … and I think people are going to love it.
Let’s talk spoilers. Regis is a complicated vampire. In the past, he might have wound up on the end of Geralt’s sword. Why is that not the case now?
Fishburne: Part of the reason I wanted to do this show is because Regis is a vampire who doesn’t drink blood. He’s sworn off blood because of a past tragedy that occurred in his life as a result of his addiction to blood. I’ve never seen that before; that’s really interesting. That’s also what helps Geralt accept him into this group. It’s also Regis’s wisdom, because he’s lived such a long life and he’s seen so many things and he’s done so many things, and also he shares that mutation. This vampire is a little different from a traditional vampire in how they were created, not unlike how the Witchers were created. Those are the things that they have in common, and those are the things that help them establish this wary kind of peace that they have with each other.
How would you describe the relationship between Regis and Jaskier?
Fishburne: It’s kind of crazy because of everyone in the group, Jaskier has the most fear [about] Regis. He’s the most afraid that Regis is going to bare his fangs and take a bite out of him.
Joey Batey, who plays Jaskier, is so wonderful. When I watch the show, he’s the person that I just keep my eye on, because it’s through Jaskier that you really understand the world and the tone and the tenor of the show. Sometimes there’s so much going on, you almost can’t keep up with it. When I focus on Jaskier, I’m like, “Oh, I see now what it is.” He’s also in the prequel, which is the Blood Origin story, right, so whenever I’m confused about what’s going on in the script, I’m like, “Joey, Joey, where are we? What are we doing? What’s going on?”
What can you hint about Regis and Milva?
Fishburne: Milva is played by a young woman named Meng’er Zhang, and she’s really wonderful. I like their relationship because it’s almost like father and daughter. She has a bit of a secret, and Regis is the only character who’s aware of it until she reveals it. And his barber-surgeon skills come in quite handy.
What awaits us with the Hansa, which includes Zoltan, Percival, Yarpen, and Field Marshal Windbag?
Fishburne: Yarpen and Zoltan and Percival are wonderful characters. All three of them are wonderful actors. Danny Woodburn, who plays Zoltan, and I have established a thing where we are the Brothers Burn because there’s ‘burn’ in both of our last names, so he’s like ‘wood’ and I’m like ‘fish,’ and that’s good.
They’re just a great trio, and they have the best quips. Linden [Porco], who plays Percival, is amazing because his character has this incredible sense of smell, so he and Regis have these exchanges about herbs and flowers and scents, and that’s really been beautiful to play. And, of course, Yarpen has probably got the best accent of everyone in the whole show.
How did you feel about the parrot, aka Field Marshal Windbag?
Fishburne: Oh my God, I love the Field Marshal, and his one-liners are the best.
How does Regis’s costume help you slip into character?
Fishburne: The production design on this show, costume design, makeup design, hair — all these things really bring the show to life in many ways. They’re so important to the look of the show and the feel of it. For me, just having the opportunity to wear this kind of garb is the ultimate playtime. It’s not often I get to wear anything that remotely resembles the costumes I’m wearing in this show, and I’m just trying to wear them well and seem natural in them.
[Costume designer] Lucinda Wright and I had conversations about the colors that she wanted to use and the palette for my character. She knows exactly what she’s doing; she’s an incredible designer. So I was like, “I put myself in your hands. Let’s just go with whatever you think. Whatever’s in your head, I’m happy to ride with you.”
How’s the wig?
Fishburne: The wig is fantastic. I’ve given him a name. His name is Prince Mamuwalde, after the great William Marshall’s Blacula character from the Blacula movies. [Makeup and hair designer] Deb Watson and I had some great conversations via Zoom when I first said yes to the project about hair and what it should look like. We looked at several different things, and we settled on what we have, and I think it’s really beautiful.
How do the massive, intricate sets that Andrew Laws builds on this show help you as an actor?
Fishburne: I’ll tell you what production value is: It’s not just the sets, it’s the locations. The locations are incredible. They are so beautiful. Combined with the natural beauty of the locations and then the sets that they’ve designed … to rest inside these environments, it’s like stepping into a whole different universe. I mean, it’s really beautiful.
What was the moment from filming Season 4 that most resonated with you?
Fishburne: What’s been very memorable is we had to go out to this very distant location, it was near an abbey or something, and I had to be on horseback. I’m not much of a horseman — I haven’t spent a whole lot of time on a horse, I haven’t done a Western — and they had a bunch of horses out there for us. We were in the rain, and it was wet, and my memory is of the truffles. The truffles were quite pungent. [Laughs] I was trying to watch my figure, so I didn’t try the truffles, I was just [sniffs] enjoying the scent.
When the credits roll on the final episode of Season 4, what do you hope that people are feeling?
Fishburne: I always hesitate to answer that question, but let me answer this way. What I really loved about this show when I started watching it was how diverse it was, how inclusive it was, and its representation of human beings in every size, shape and color that we come in. I hope we satisfy the audience’s desire for this kind of fantasy. I hope that they come away feeling like, “Oh, that was fun, that was great, that was good, I enjoyed that,” and that they feel like they’ve seen themselves in this world.
The thing about this experience that is the most gratifying for me is that a fantasy show like this, traditionally, hasn’t been as inclusive and hasn’t been as diverse as this one is. As a fan of fantasy, that’s awesome. So, fans of the show, I just … I just want more.
What are your hopes for the fifth and final season?
Fishburne: I’ve had a lot of fun working on Season 4. I only anticipate that we’ll have more fun on Season 5.
Watch the next chapter unfold. All four seasons of The Witcher are streaming now, only on Netflix.
