The Witcher Star Shares Transformation In Season 4 That's A Mixture Between The Books And The Game

Highlights

Freya Allan’s Ciri will have a fresh new look in The Witcher Season 4, paralleling the character in the game and books.
Allan requested the change in Ciri’s appearance, ditching the bleached eyebrows to avoid losing them during filming.
Ciri’s transformation in Season 4 balances her character’s evolution in the books and games, reflecting new developments in her storyline.

The Witcher Season 4 has already begun production, and one character has undergone a significant transformation. Freya Allan’s Ciri will return with a fresh look for the second time.

Allan first shocked fans with her changing appearance as Ciri in Netflix’s The Witcher Season 2. She looked very different when she returned to portray the princess of Cintra in the second season, prompting some to speculate that the character was recast. However, it turned out that the same actress played the role, she just looked different because she had eyebrows in the second season. To reduce the element of surprise in the upcoming season, Allan warned that Ciri would have new hair and makeup in Season 4.

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Allan spoke with Collider’s Perri Nemiroff at the Sand Diego Comic-Con. The 22-year-old actress opened up about her striking transformation in The Witcher Season 4 after several reports claimed that her hair, makeup and costume were noticeably new on set. Allan confirmed the changes in Ciri’s appearance and teased that her looks were parallel to the character in the game and books. She explained. “You actually also haven’t seen that she gets new hair and makeup, as well, which I think when you see that, it’s a lot of paralleling the game. So, I think that will tie it all together, as well. But I think it was basically about getting a mixture between the books and the game. I was very heavily involved with the costume, and I really wanted it to be a bit of a mixture of both, just so that fans had that.” Allan admitted that she found her new look very different from her previous appearances, hinting about a massive change in Ciri’s look.

Allan said:

The minute I’m in that costume and the new hair and makeup, it feels like a different Ciri. It’s so much fun. We’ve just never seen her like this, and so I’m really excited for people to see what happens. It’s fun.

As mentioned, this isn’t the first time Ciri’s appearance has changed in the series. When Allan reprised the role in the second season, she got tongues wagging because viewers felt that Ciri looked very different, prompting some to speculate that another actress was playing the role. One of the reasons was her eyebrows, which were bleached in the first season but not in Season 2. Allan admitted that she requested the change, fearing that she would lose her eyebrows if they were bleached daily while filming the action-adventure fantasy drama.

She explained:

I was the one who said, ‘I’m so sorry, but if we are’ — which hopefully we will — ‘get to do many more seasons, I am not going to have any eyebrows left if they are bleached every day of The Witcher. They won’t be there anymore.’ And also it requires you spending however many months walking around in the streets looking like you are off Mars. I genuinely had people stop me when I had the bleached eyebrows being like, ‘Where are you from,’ and they were so curious because I literally looked like a little alien wondering around. It was my choice. I said, ‘I think we’re done with the bleached eyebrows. I think that was a bad idea.’ So yeah, ditched the eyebrows. I mean, just got my own usual eyebrows back!

The changes in Ciri’s appearance in The Witcher Season 4 are crucial as they find the balance between the character’s evolution in the books and games. Also, her transformation may be necessary because the third season marked a major shift in her character’s personality. In Season 3, Ciri used the forbidden fire magic to heal the wounded white unicorn she befriended in a barren desert, which only proved that her magical abilities were more advanced than a mortal mage. Also, Ciri made her first kill during a duel with the man who took her hostage before joining the group of young rogues known as the Rats. When she was asked for her name, she told them, “Call me Falka.”

Ciri probably gave an alias when asked for her name to conceal her identity because the entire Continent was looking for her. However, another possible reason was that she didn’t feel like Ciri anymore after killing someone. She had been through a lot and killing someone probably made her feel that she was no different from Falka, who was also known as “Bloody Falka,” an ancient Redanian princess and rebel leader who became synonymous with dark prophecy. Her experiences in Season 3 showed Ciri in a different light. The Witcher showrunner Lauren Schmidt Hissrich also previously said that Ciri joining the Rats will get her into all sorts of fun and trouble, so the viewers will get to see a “completely different side of Ciri that we’ve never seen before.”

The Witcher Season 4 is expected to premiere in 2025.