The Witcher S3: Why The New Cast Members Look So Familiar

"The Witcher" Season 3 may feature the triumphant return of beloved major characters like Henry Cavill's Geralt, Anya Chalotra's Yennefer, and Freya Allan's Ciri, but it also introduces quite a few fresh faces to the series. All told, this latest season of Netflix's fantasy epic features more than 10 important new figures in the story, and many of them serve to make the tangled web of forces vying for power on the Continent that much more complicated.

Of course, there's also a heaping helping of new acting talent bringing all of these new characters to life on "The Witcher." The list of new actors includes names like Ryan Hayes as Artaud Terranova, Christelle Elwin as Mistle, and Steven Pereira as Lowborn. However, there are also some newcomers that audiences may find to look incredibly familiar, as their respective actors have previously held prominent roles in other TV and movie projects. Here's a round-up of the new cast members that viewers are most likely to recognize.

One of the biggest additions to the cast for "The Witcher" Season 3 isn't even playing a new character. Fans may notice that recurring antagonist Rience looks a little bit different in the new season compared to how he appears in previous installments. That's because the villain has actually been recast, with Chris Fulton exiting the role due to scheduling conflicts. His replacement is none other than Sam Woolf.

If fans find that Woolf looks familiar, it's probably not just because he bears a striking similarity to his predecessor in the role — he's also appeared in several other popular projects. Arguably his biggest role prior to "The Witcher" is his performance as Prince Edward in Season 5 of the British monarchy drama series "The Crown." Outside of that credit, the actor has made guest appearances on shows like "Humans," "Call the Midwife," "C.B. Strike," and "The Power."

In terms of brand-new characters for "The Witcher" Season 3, Gallatin is arguably the most intriguing of the bunch. While many of the newcomers are characters who are based on their versions from the original book series, Gallatin is a wholly original creation. Nonetheless, he has just as big a role to play, as he pledges loyalty to Nilfgaard and leads a group of forest-dwelling Scoia'tael into a bid for power against Francesca (Mecia Simson). He has an equally big actor bringing him to life as well, with none other than Robbie Amell in the role.

Amell has long been a major player in the TV space, with some of his larger roles including virtual consciousness Nathan Brown of Prime Video's "Upload," the superhero Firestorm in The CW's "The Flash," and the youthful Agent Miller in Fox's "The X-Files" revival. He has also had roles in a fair few films, such as playing Max in 2017's "The Babysitter" and Chris Redfield in 2021's "Resident Evil: Welcome to Raccoon City." Other notable credits from across his career include "How I Met Your Mother," "Revenge," and "The Tomorrow People."

"The Witcher" Season 3 features a bit of new royal blood in the form of Prince Radovid. The brother of Ed Birch's King Vizimir, Radovid becomes a key player in the narrative when he is appointed as the head of Redanian Intelligence for the crown. The character's laid-back attitude and appearance belie his skills as an expert tactician, and he enters an intriguingly antagonistic dynamic with both Sigismund Dijkstra (Graham McTavish) and Philippa Eilhart (Cassie Clare). This iteration of the character is portrayed by Hugh Skinner.

Skinner has a cavalcade of major credits that fans of both film and TV will recognize. Some of his most notable roles include playing the charming young medical student Joly in 2012's film adaptation of "Les Misérables," portraying a young version of Colin Firth's Harry in 2018's "Mamma Mia! Here We Go Again," and recurring as a separate yet equally notable Harry on the cast of "Fleabag." Other minor roles of his include a small part as the first officer of Vice-Admiral Holdo (Laura Dern) in "Star Wars: Episode VIII — The Last Jedi," and a recurring role as Sir George Howard in Hulu's series "Harlots."

Capping off this list of newcomers to "The Witcher" is a character whose role is set to really open up in the second half of Season 3: the expert hunter and archer Milva. A hardened survivalist to the very core, Milva is expected to become a valuable ally to Geralt in his plight to protect Ciri (Freya Allan) from those hunting her down. Based on early details, the character seems to be drawing a lot on her counterpart in the source material, and she's brought to life by Meng'er Zhang.

Zhang is a special case in the sense that she only has a single other credit to her name outside of "The Witcher," but it's quite a massive role that pop culture fans will no doubt recognize. Indeed, the actor starred as part of the cast of the 2021 Marvel movie "Shang-Chi and the Legend of the Ten Rings." In the film, she portrays Xu Xialing, an experienced fighter and the younger sister of Shang-Chi (Simu Liu) who initially finds herself at odds with her brother over their traumatic shared past. Zhang is expected to return for the yet-untitled "Shang-Chi" sequel, but it seems from her role on "The Witcher" that she's also expanding to new horizons in the film and TV space.