Henry Cavill says he has been preparing for his role in The Witcher for his whole life, and was “banging the door down” to get the part.
The Superman actor plays Geralt of Rivia in the fantasy series, which arrives on Netflix this month.
He became a fan after playing the video game adaptations of the Polish books that the series is based on.
“I’ve been prepping for this character unintentionally for my whole life,” he said.
“And then when playing the games and imagining how to make it into a TV show or a movie… you have a very close connection after playing the computer game of the character. Especially after you’ve played 200-plus hours of it.”
The actor, 36, went on: “I’ve been a fan of the fantasy genre since I was a boy – it’s kind of the stuff I really, really love. In my free time, it’s what I read.
“So when I heard they were making this into a TV show, I was banging the door down to try and get involved.
“Rarely does a role come along where I will think, ‘This is exactly the reason why I became an actor, this is why I want to do acting and these are the stories I want to tell’.”
Showrunner Lauren Schmidt said Cavill’s agents had been calling Netflix every other day.
They met with the star but went on to see 207 other potential Geralts.
She said: “I realised that I still had Henry’s voice in my head a little bit.
“We met in New York, he auditioned for the role which is very rare for an actor of his calibre to sit down and read for you, and he nailed it.
“When he left that day, we knew we’d found our guy.”
The Witcher airs on Netflix from December 20.