Henry Cavill in The Witcher: Hair inspiration, doing his own stunts, and more

Henry Cavill appeared on Jimmy Kimmel Live! and brought with him a sneak peak gem that featured the actor showing off his fighting skills as the highly anticipated Geralt of Rivia.

One of the most exciting series this year is finally upon us, just in time for glorious holiday binging, thanks to Netflix. Based on the books by Polish author, Andrzej Sapkowski, buzz has been huge for fantasy-realm drama The Witcher, most especially surrounding the excellent casting of star Henry Cavill.

As part of the press blitz surrounding the show’s impending December 20 release, the 36-year-old actor has been popping up everywhere in recent days: Stopping by Jimmy Kimmel’s late night talk show, headlining a fan screening in Los Angeles, and lots more.

Here are some of our favorite highlights from Cavill’s Witcher press tour so far.

On Jimmy Kimmel Live, the host didn’t miss a beat before comparing Geralt of Rivia’s very distinguished look, with those long white locks. He pointed out that it reminded him of another certain warrior leader, Daenerys Targaryen, from Game of Thrones.

“I modeled myself after Khaleesi,” Cavill joked to Kimmel. “I made people call me Khaleesi or Emilia on set. I want to be Emilia or Khaleesi. Call me Mother of Dragons, I’m fine.”

Both are badass fighters, too. Hopefully, though, in the case of Geralt, he won’t lose all reason like the Mother of Dragons did and do an abrupt shift in character.

The Superman actor also brought with him an exclusive clip that featured the powerful mutant Witcher demonstrating his sword-wielding skills in a banquet scene with Queen Calanthe.

Cavill said that he does not have a stunt double and from the clip, it’s clear that he’s mastered Geralt’s famous footwork and spinning style of fighting. And, if Twitter is anything to go by, fan reactions are mostly positive.

Several of the season one stills have been released and you can view all 46 of them here.

Cavill’s also apparently a huge fan of the Witcher game, and that’s how he came to the series.

"“I played the games—they released a game called Witcher 3 about five years ago now. Played that game to death,” Cavill said to Kimmel. “Then I heard it was coming out—I met the showrunner, and that’s when I learned there were books. Read the books and realized that I was missing out on a whole world of the stuff. Because I’d been into the fantasy genre since I was a kid—since before I could read, my dad was reading me fantasy books.”"

You may notice that his voice also sounds similar to The Witcher 3 Geralt voice actor, Doug Cockle, which served as an inspiration for Cavill in the television iteration.

"“I called upon Doug Cockle’s performance [in the Witcher games], which is fantastic because he’s not super verbose in the games. He can’t be, because you’re playing a game,” explained the actor in The Hollywood Reporter interview. “There are quests to go on and monsters to kill. So, I took an idea from him in the sense of adding that roughness to the voice. You can carry so much gravitas through so little dialogue and it helps. I didn’t want to imitate him; that’s his work. There’s a whisper to Geralt’s accent in the games, where for me it was more of a heavy gravel — and British as well.”"

The initial reactions out of the screening event, where the first episode was shown, were enthusiastic. It echoes the positive buzz from those who are reviewing the series.

You can read the rest of the raves here.

The Witcher season one drops on Netflix December 20. Even better: season two has already been green-lit! Stay tuned here for all your Witcher news.