The Witcher continues to unravel the secrets of the season 2. After having known the sensations of Freya Allan when embodying Ciri, now it is the turn of one of the colorful characters of the series: Levels. The boar man is played by Kristofer Hivju, known to all for his work on Game of Thrones. The actor has shared what was the creative process behind him. You can see the video at the top of this news.
Nivellen, one of the proper names of the second season of The Witcher
Hivju describes Nivellen as a “friendly, funny and a little reserved” character. This mix of wild boar, bear and human possesses magical qualities that he employs during his encounter with Geralt de Rivia and Ciri. Some may think that their presence was built entirely in digital form. Nothing is further from reality. The characterization team went through a great transformation process to make Hivju transform into the furry one.
“Treating the physical side of Nivellen was a long process. It took a lot of people’s work to do it. Since I had not worked with prosthetics, Barry Gower and his amazing team made a mold of my body to make the suit. It fit me like a glove, as if it had been made on me. I felt that I could express myself”Reveals Hivju.
Together with Paul, his movement coach, studied the behavior of bears and wild boars to transfer them to the performance. “We look for animal movements but gentle, because Nivellen is a gentleman”, he emphasizes.
Therefore, what his colleagues saw during filming was Nivellen’s body in great detail … except his face. That part was discovered to perform the facial capture of Hivju. Each grimace, look and gesture was reflected: “The only thing done by computer is the face because I could not put on the face of a wild boar. My face was exposed with a camera that captured my facial expressions. That gave him realism when interpreting with other actors, because there was eye contact, “he concludes.
Fountain: Netflix
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