The Witcher’s Joey Batey weighs in on why fans adore his character Jaskier

Perhaps staying true to his The Witcher character, English actor-musician Joey Batey started The STAR virtual interview with a little joke to answer the question if he’s ever been to the Philippines.

“I’m afraid I haven’t. There was a press tour about two years ago where some of the cast were lucky enough to pop over to Manila and say hi to everyone. But I was left out. I always get left out of all the fun things,” the 32-year-old mused, referring to The Witcher lead star Henry Cavill and showrunner Lauren Hissrich’s 2019 visit here to promote the inaugural season of the Netflix epic-fantasy series.

The Witcher is based on the fantasy world of sorcery, battles and superhuman monster-slayers called witchers created by Polish author Andrzej Sapkowski in his novels of the same title. The books also spawned a popular video game series.

In Season 2, Batey reprises his role as Jaskier, the scene-stealing bard and sidekick to Cavill’s main character Geralt of Rivia. Being the resident jokester, Jaskier emerged as a fan-favorite from Season 1, the ending of which cast a cloud of doubt on whether the character was returning or not. As it turned out, fans had nothing to worry about. He’s back — and how the dynamics in his love-hate bromance with Geralt change (or not) is something to watch out for in the new season.

Interestingly, Batey didn’t harbor any big expectations over whether his portrayal of Jaskier or that Season 1 would be a hit. Currently, the show is the third most-watched English-language series on Netflix, after Bridgerton Season 1 and Stranger Things 3. “We knew there was a preexisting fandom of the books and the games that was going to come along and watch it probably just to see if it was any good,” he told The STAR.

“What was very surprising to everyone was how the show managed to reach people perhaps who have never read the books, never played the games, or perhaps aren’t even fantasy fans in the first place.”

Batey added, “It really warms my heart to see how popular the show grew, particularly over the pandemic. It meant a lot to everyone involved. The success of the show, I think, is down to our showrunner Lauren Hissirch’s amazing vision and to the characters Mr. Sapkowski created. I mean, they’re the ones to thank. We’re the ones to blame if it goes wrong (laughs).”

Below are more excerpts from the Zoom one-on-one:

The Witcher is full of compelling characters but why do you think Jaskier is one of the most-loved?

“I think there are a number of different facets to Jaskier in the books and games. He is the antithesis to Geralt, he is open and comfortable with expressing emotion, which I think it’s fair to say that Geralt might not be as much as he is. He’s kind of that fool-like character whereby he can be incredibly intelligent and yet he hides it with impropriety, foolishness and humor as well.

“When I first took on the role, I knew people would love this character, and I knew I had to try and bring as much of the books into the character as I could. I don’t know why people like the character now, because I’m playing him. I’m sure they’ll get bored of me sooner or later. But I think, it all comes down to the character that Mr. Sapkowski created. All these characters are so multifaceted — full of texture, culture and life that they kind of leap off the page.”

In what ways can you say you’re similar to Jaskier?

“We look very similar (laughs). Contrary to popular belief, I would hazard to say I’m quite different. I’m not nearly as extroverted and as self-assured perhaps as Jaskier is. And I would hazard to say, I’m a bit more stoic. I’m a bit more of a grumpy old man than Jaskier is. But I do try and bring a sort of joyousness to him. I do try and bring like a youthful vibrancy, which does mean that it’s very tiring for me because that’s not really what I’m used to, what I do as a person. It’s exhausting to play a constantly open, extroverted character, but I do thoroughly enjoy playing him when he turns up.”

What were your comedic influences and references to help you portray your character?

“Some of the comedy in the show, it’s ad-libbed. I do come out with jokes on the day, and I improvise and give offerings to Lauren and the team and sort of make stuff up because a lot of the writers are American. The character has a lot of Britishness to him and there is a very specific British sense of humor, I suppose.

“In order to prep for Season 1, I actually ended up watching a lot of TV shows that have improvisational tones — Parks and Recreation, The Office, Arrested Development, Always Sunny in Philadelphia, all of these shows. And I kind of tried to bring as much of Andy Samberg and Bo Burnham and these very, very watchable comedians, the bards of our day, really, and inject a bit of their life into it, their likeability, sense of fun and also strong sense of self-perspective. There was a small amount of Samberg, Stephen Colbert and all of these comedians that hopefully bleed through in some quiet, little way.”

Henry Cavill told us earlier that he pushed for certain changes to his character in Season 2. Was it the same case for you?

“Yeah, we did talk an awful lot about the trajectory for Jaskier not just for Season 2, but hopefully beyond. Those conversations are always ongoing. I think one of the main things I did really enjoy was collaborating with Lucinda, our costume designer, who I turned up for dressings and things, and I said, look, this is kind of what I’m seeing. Can I have a long stretchy coat, please? This is the kind of necklace I would like, or I found this necklace and can it be commissioned to be made? And Lucinda was so open, took all of my pretty terrible ideas and turned them into something actually good (laughs).

“The whole show kind of works like that. Henry is so insightful and understands the books really, really well. He treasures and wants to protect his character. I think we’re all like that. We all want the show to be its absolute best and Lauren is one of the few showrunners that I’ve ever worked with who is open to and welcoming to everyone’s ideas.”

(The Witcher Season 2 premieres today on Netflix.)