‘The Witcher’s Anya Chalotra and Joey Batey Texted Each Other Insults to Prepare for Yennefer and Jaskier’s Reunion

You don’t really think of The Witcher as a comedy. Yet that’s exactly what it becomes in Episodes 4 and 5. “Redanian Intelligence” and “Turn Your Back” marks Yennefer’s (Anya Chalotra) chaotic reunion with her frenemy, Jaskier (Joey Batey). Decider spoke to both of these leads about all those insults and what it’s been like to fight over the same man, Geralt of Rivia.

“We were texting each other well before shooting. There was one text I sent Anya going, ‘What would be the most insulting thing to say to Yennefer?'” Batey revealed. “This list of stuff came back to me that would really hurt her.”

In fact, coming up with insults was a major part of preparing for their scenes together. “These characters are so good at hurting each other, and having that capacity to hurt each other often lends itself to more trust, ” Batey said. “When you know that we could end up even worse enemies than we already are, there’s a risk there. You’re putting yourself out there on the line. I loved doing all those scenes. They’re great fun.”

“They really complement each other well, I think,” Chalotra added. “You [Joey Batey] really do attack the worst, the heart… the most emotional points to Yennefer.”

But just because Yennefer and Jaskier have found some sort of peace with each other, that doesn’t mean Jaskier starts Season 2 on good terms with Geralt (Henry Cavill). Last season, the bard defined the series with his earworm of a bop, “Toss a Coin to Your Witcher.” In Season 2 he returns with a breakup song of sorts, the aptly titled “Burn, Butcher, Burn.”

“Joe Trapanese, the composer for Season 2, and myself wrote the music for Season 2 together, and it was such an amazing experience. He’s the nicest guy and the most incredible musician,” Batey said. “What we wanted to do was try and create something that was the polar opposite to ‘Toss a Coin,’ or to the kinds of songs that we visited in Season 1. We wanted it to be grittier, to be more emotionally driven, to drive the narrative, to be about character. We also wanted Jaskier to be able to, for the first time maybe, sing about himself, and protagonize it a little bit and become his own story, rather than telling the stories of others. That was the priority. It meant that we got to go to an emotionally vulnerable place with it, which was really fun.”

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