The Witcher will be split into two parts. The first will premiere June 29th.

With awards season upon us, ELLE puts the new screen radicals in fashion’s established and next-gen rebel designers – a celebration of the talents pushing their worlds to a bolder place.

From a young age, Anya Chalotra realised that performing was a way that she could ‘change the moods of my family members’. Like any kid who stumbles on a foolproof way to influence their parents, she kept doing it, attending Guildhall School of Music and Drama school when she was 19. As a British-Indian youth, Bollywood influenced her, too: ‘I watched a lot of it growing up. I think that was a way for my dad to show me his culture.’

After graduating, she picked up parts in TV shows The ABC Murders and Wanderlust, but when she landed a leading role in the Netflix show The Witcher, she felt radically underprepared. ‘She was someone that was outside of myself that I initially couldn’t reach,’ says Chalotra of her character, Yennefer.

It’s a big, gruelling part: a struggling young woman with a curved spine and facial paralysis, who discovers she has magic powers. Not only does Yennefer hold the show, she faces a huge physical transformation.

‘Three weeks in, I called my mentor [actor Niamh Cusack] and said, “I can’t do this, can you help me?” I’m dyslexic and I found working with cameras difficult. I was so used to being free from that on stage.’ Cusack advised Chalotra to ‘forget about everything and play the moment’ and something shifted. ‘I learned to trust my instincts,’ she says. The Witcher became an instant hit. Watched by 76 million households, it was at the time Netflix’s most-viewed first season of television. Now, with two seasons under her belt, Chalotra is revelling in her newfound confidence.

‘I learned to feel comfortable with being uncomfortable. Acting changed the way I saw myself.’

A synopsis has also been released for this season:

As monarchs, mages, and beasts of the Continent compete to capture her, Geralt takes Ciri of Cintra into hiding, determined to protect his newly-reunited family against those who threaten to destroy it. Entrusted with Ciri’s magical training, Yennefer leads them to the protected fortress of Aretuza, where she hopes to discover more about the girl’s untapped powers; instead, they discover they’ve landed in a battlefield of political corruption, dark magic, and treachery. They must fight back, put everything on the line – or risk losing each other forever.

Hello, everyone! My name is Sarah, and I’m the new owner of Anya Chalotra Fan. You might be familiar with some of my other sites. I have a penchant for running sites for ladies who work in scifi, fantasy, and period dramas. I want to give a huge thank you to Kay for trusting me with her site, and I hope to do her proud! Keep an eye out because I have lots of pretty things to add to the gallery over the coming weeks. For now, enjoy some season 2 photos from the Witcher.

The gallery has been updated with pictures of Anya from some of her theatre productions/plays, two pictures of her at “The Witcher” Amsterdamn Premiere, and a new photoshoot have been added to the gallery. Thanks to my friend Sarah for the photoshoot and a few theatre pictures!

Last week Anya attended her first event of the year. The gallery has been updated with pictures of her at the Paul Smith AW20 50th Anniversary Show.