Michelle Yeoh's Fight On The Witcher: Blood Origin Was What Most Excited Francesca Mills
"The Witcher" quickly became a goldmine for Netflix, proving that audiences can't get enough of fantasy shows regardless of how bad the ending of "Game of Thrones" was. In typical fashion, Netflix went all in on the "Witcher" success, greenlighting spin-offs "The Witcher: Nightmare of the Wolf" and "The Witcher: Blood Origin." The latter served as a prequel to the world of "The Witcher," exploring the creation of the first witcher, the Conjunction of the Spheres, and the ancient elven civilization Xin'trea.
"Blood Origin" introduces many new characters to the "Witcher" universe, including Éile (Sophia Brown), a warrior-turned-musician; Fjall (Laurence O'Fuarain), the first witcher; and Chief Druid Balor (Lenny Henry), the mage who starts the Conjunction.
Keeping with the "Witcher" tradition, "Blood Origin" rounded out its cast with a big name to pique interest in the prequel. Michelle Yeoh ("Everything Everywhere All at Once") plays Scían, a badass elf and the last of the Ghost Clan. Yeoh is one of the biggest names that Netflix has attached to its franchise, and, as fans would expect, many of her fellow cast members couldn't wait to meet an actress of her caliber on the set of "Blood Origin." While many cast members praised Michelle Yeoh for using humor to relieve on-set tension, others couldn't wait for her to punch them in the face. To be fair, who wouldn't want to have that story to show off?
Michelle Yeoh is a legend of her craft
During an interview with Collider, "The Witcher: Blood Origin" stars Francesca Mills and Huw Novelli – who play Meldof and Brother Death, respectively – admitted that, of all the action-packed scenes in the show's script, their fight scene with Michelle Yeoh was hands down the scene that excited them most. When asked what day on set they were most excited for after reading the script, Mills responded quickly, "Fight scene with Michelle Yeoh."
Novelli agreed, saying, "Definitely. When you get the script, and you look ahead, and you see that you've got a fight with Michelle Yeoh, that's the one you circle and look forward to most, I think. It was watching a legend at work."
"It wasn't even that I was in a scene with Michelle, it was that I—," Mills continued before Novelli interjected, "It was just that she was doing it."
"[I] got to be on set watching Michelle Yeoh fight. That was what it was," Mills concluded. "It was just a bonus that we were in that."
The legendary actress rose to fame in the '90s, starring in action films and performing her own stunts. "Police Story 3: Supercop" (released as "Supercop" in the U.S.), "Holy Weapon," "Tomorrow Never Dies," and "Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon" are just a few films on her long list of action-packed performances.
While some would think that Yeoh would take a lot of convincing to sign on to a project like "Blood Origin," the actress revealed that wasn't the case. In an interview with IGN, Yeoh stated she was a massive fan of fantasy stories, including "The Witcher." The script, which followed the origin of witchers before the downfall of elvish society, fascinated her, so she couldn't say no to the project.