It\u2019s a dream for plenty of young actors \u2013 but for the now 20-year-old Allan, there\u2019s a definite sense of ambivalence about becoming a star, especially during a period where she was only just working out who she was as a young adult.<\/p>\n
\u201cMeeting new people, there\u2019s always that new thing of: how are they going to take it when they find out?\u201d she tells me. \u201cYou know, are they going to be just chill about it? Or are they going to be weird about it?<\/p>\n
\u201cSo that\u2019s something that I definitely have to navigate that\u2019s different. I think if you\u2019re around intelligent people, they sort of don\u2019t see you differently, as they\u2026\u201d<\/p>\n
She pauses.<\/p>\n
\u201cYou know, I understand it is a very intriguing industry, and people think it\u2019s very cool if you say you\u2019re in a series or whatever. But ultimately, we\u2019re still human beings. There shouldn\u2019t be some sort of pedestal you\u2019re put on.<\/p>\n
\u201cI just say to people: \u2018This is my job, and that\u2019s it, really. I\u2019m a normal person other than that.\u2019\u201d<\/p>\n
Forget the fame \u2013 the biggest change in her life, she notes, is just that she\u2019s able to work and earn money while her peers are at uni, with Allan maintaining her life back home in Oxford, keeping in touch with friends and family and largely avoiding being recognised on the street. Well, mostly.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt happened a few times on nights out in Berlin,\u201d she says. \u201cI didn\u2019t expect it. I don\u2019t know what\u2019s going on in that town, but there are a lot of Witcher fans there. It was actually very funny in that sort of situation, to be like, \u2018Oh, there\u2019s Ciri, drinking a cocktail\u2019 \u2013 after me looking like an eight-year-old in season one.\u201d<\/p>\n
![\""The\"](\""https:\/\/images.immediate.co.uk\/production\/volatile\/sites\/3\/2021\/12\/The-Witcher-Ciri-Geralt-7c7c867.jpg?quality=90&resize=620%2C413"\" "\\"\"The\\"\/")
<\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/picture><\/div>She admits a certain self-consciousness about her season one look more than once during our interview, with her appearance \u2013 styled younger, with bleached eyebrows and plenty of makeup \u2013 affecting her sense of self-image more than she\u2019d anticipated.<\/p>\n
\u201cI think before season one came out, I got very harsh on myself,\u201d she tells me. \u201cI was growing into a sort of woman, basically, and I think that I wasn\u2019t very confident. You know, in the series, I\u2019d been made to look like a 12-year-old. They bleached my eyebrows. They covered my face in white paste every day.<\/p>\n
\u201cI didn\u2019t feel great about myself. I think when you\u2019re sort of turning into an adult, and you\u2019ve got that, and everyone\u2019s about to see it \u2013 I think that did knock me a little bit beforehand. I think I felt very anxious about it all of a sudden, because I was like, \u2018People are going to see me like that, but I\u2019m sort of growing up now.\u2019<\/p>\n
\u201cIf I could give myself some advice back then, it would be to talk to people about that more than I did. I think I wasn\u2019t in the best mind-set before it came out.\u201d<\/p>\n
Still, that\u2019s all changed for season two. In the new episodes Ciri is closer to Allan\u2019s appearance \u2013 you\u2019ll notice her eyebrows have changed colour \u2013 and generally speaking, as with the woman playing her it\u2019s a season where Ciri has to grow up.<\/p>
\u201cSeason one was a disguise,\u201d Allan says. \u201cI don\u2019t really look like that anymore. I looked so much younger then. Which is why I don\u2019t know what the repercussion of season two will be [with fans], because I look a lot more like me than in season one. So we\u2019ll see.<\/p>\n
\u201cI\u2019d say that Ciri obviously has the repercussion of what she\u2019s experienced through season one, in terms of the brutality of The Continent, and also having discovered that she clearly possesses some kind of power that she\u2019s very afraid of. She definitely has a bit of a wall up, in terms of opening up.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cIt\u2019s really exciting,\u201d she adds. \u201cI\u2019ve been waiting for people to see this season for so long.\u201d<\/p>\n
Allan also has more action and stunts to deal with this time around, and like her on-screen counterpart it was hard for the stunt team to drag her away from the swordplay and obstacle courses.<\/p>\n
\u201cA month before filming started, I went into the stunt department, and would learn the basic sword work, and also, you know, just do other physical things to get fitter. And I absolutely loved it,\u201d she laughs.<\/p>\n
\u201cThe stunt coordinator was like, \u2018Are you ever going to leave?\u2019 Because I was just so obsessed with it. I found it so fun, and very similar to Ciri in that way, that I wanted to sort of do it all.\u201d<\/p>\n
![\""The\"](\""https:\/\/images.immediate.co.uk\/production\/volatile\/sites\/3\/2021\/12\/Ciri-Lambert-Witcher-b369317.jpg?quality=90&resize=620%2C413"\" "\\"\"Lambert\\"")
<\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/picture><\/div>Further ahead, Allan is hoping she gets even more action \u2013 she wants Ciri to become \u201can insane fighter,\u201d as happens to the character in Andrzej Sapkowski\u2019s original books and the fan-favourite spin-off videogames \u2013 and with season three of The Witcher already confirmed, there\u2019s no sign of her journey in the series stopping any time soon.<\/p>\n
\u201cI might have actually seen some scripts, you know? Just putting it out there,\u201d she tells me.<\/p>\n
\u201cI don\u2019t know exactly, but [filming] will be not too long away. Yeah, it\u2019s very exciting. I think it\u2019s going to be a great season.\u201d<\/p>\n
But beyond that? Allan might already be eyeing up her exit from the glare of Netflix<\/a> notoriety, and a potential typecast as the little girl both she and Ciri no longer are.<\/p>\n \u201cI think I sort of am a bit resentful about going on too long, to be totally honest with you,\u201d she admits. \u201cI have a number in my head as to how long I would want to go. I think I want to finish the story, but, yeah, not do anything too much more.<\/p>\n \u201cBecause for me, I find that\u2014 you know, I\u2019ve just played another character since season one, and that is what I want to do. I love playing Ciri. I think it\u2019s so cool that I\u2019ll be able to \u2013 if I do more series \u2013 look back and be like, \u2018I\u2019ve got this whole documentation of me growing up.\u2019<\/p>\n \u201cBut at the same time, I want to be able to, you know, be an actor, and play other roles, and not like as Ciri my entire life.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cSo I think I have a sort of set thing in my mind about how long I really want to go. But, yeah, for now it\u2019s still exciting. There\u2019s so much story left to tell.\u201d<\/p>\n Read more about The Witcher:<\/strong><\/p>\n The Witcher season two is now streaming on Netflix. For more, check out our dedicated Fantasy<\/a> page, our guide to the best series on Netflix<\/a> or our full TV Guide<\/a>. Visit our\u00a0Big RT Interview<\/a>\u00a0hub for more conversations with the biggest stars in TV and film.<\/strong><\/p>\n![\""The\"](\""https:\/\/images.immediate.co.uk\/production\/volatile\/sites\/3\/2021\/09\/the_witcher_season_2_ciri-7941f8c.jpg?quality=90&resize=620%2C413"\" "\\"\"the_witcher_season_2_ciri\"\\"\/")
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