Henry Cavill

• 1. Introduction

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  Henry Cavill nearly missed the phone call that made him Superman, because he was busy playing World of Warcraft. The caller was director Zack Snyder, and the news was that the part was his. Cavill is a British actor whose path to that call was crowded with near misses. He was a final choice for James Bond. Fans campaigned for him in two other franchises. Yet the roles that slipped away shaped his career as much as the ones he kept. How does a rugby-playing schoolboy end up wearing the cape? Which famous parts went to someone else first? And what does an actor do once the cape is gone?

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• 2. Island Boyhood

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  On the 5th of May 1983, Henry William Dalgliesh Cavill was born in Saint Helier, Jersey, the fourth of five boys in a Catholic family. His mother, Marianne, was born on the island and worked as a secretary in a bank. Her heritage was Scottish, English and Irish. His father, Colin Cavill, came from Chester, England, and is a former stockbroker.

  St Michael's Preparatory School in Saint Saviour came first, followed by Stowe School in Buckinghamshire. At Stowe he split his energy between the stage and the sports field. In 1999 he played one of the T-Birds in a school production of Grease. He also took the lead in Dogg's Hamlet, which his Grafton house entered in an intra-school drama festival. On the pitch he played field hockey for the 1st XI and rugby for the 3rd XV.

  A rugby game in 2000 gave the sixteen-year-old an unexpected visitor. Russell Crowe was on location at Stowe shooting the film Proof of Life, and he met Cavill there. Crowe passed along some acting tips and later sent him a package. The two men would eventually work together on Man of Steel.

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• 3. Climbing the Credits

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  Laguna, in 2001, marked the start of Cavill's film career. The next year brought Kevin Reynolds' adaptation of The Count of Monte Cristo, where he played Albert Mondego. Television followed in 2002 with a single episode of The Inspector Lynley Mysteries, in which he played Chas Quilter. That year he also appeared in the television film Goodbye, Mr. Chips. In 2003 he turned up in Midsomer Murders, and he had a supporting role in I Capture the Castle.

  Supporting parts filled the next few years. Hellraiser: Hellworld arrived in 2005, and both Red Riding Hood and Tristan & Isolde came in 2006. Matthew Vaughn's Stardust, in 2007, gave him a minor role.

  From 2007 to 2010, Showtime's The Tudors handed him a lead as Charles Brandon, 1st Duke of Suffolk. Across 38 episodes he played the role as a main cast member. The series was a commercial success. It was nominated for a Golden Globe in 2007 and won an Emmy in 2008. Cavill gave it the credit for lifting him. He said, "It's done the most for me to date." He also explained the effect on his prospects. He said, "Now that there's an audience somewhere in America that's aware of who I am, I have more sell-ability, because of The Tudors." Entertainment Weekly named him the "Most Dashing Duke" and praised "charm, depth and a killer bod".

  Other work ran alongside the show. Joel Schumacher directed him in the horror film Blood Creek in 2008. Woody Allen's comedy Whatever Works gave him a supporting role in 2009. Tarsem Singh's mythological film Immortals, released on the 11th of November 2011, made him the lead as Theseus. In 2012 he starred alongside Bruce Willis in The Cold Light of Day.

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• 4. Roles That Got Away

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  Superman came calling first in 2004, long before the cape was his. Cavill was set to play the hero in McG's film Superman: Flyby. McG pulled out, and Bryan Singer took over the direction. Singer recast the lead with Brandon Routh for Superman Returns.

  Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire, released in 2005, stirred up a fan write-in effort on his behalf. Supporters wanted him cast as Cedric Diggory. The role went to Robert Pattinson.

  Pattinson beat him to another part too. Stephenie Meyer, the author of the Twilight series, spoke out in favour of Cavill playing Edward Cullen and called him her "perfect Edward". By the time the film began production, he was too old for the character. The role went to Pattinson again.

  Reports also linked him to Batman in Batman Begins. Cavill has said that he never auditioned for the role and was never offered it.

  The closest call came in 2005 over James Bond in Casino Royale. Cavill was a final choice. Director Martin Campbell and the producers were torn between him and Daniel Craig. Campbell reportedly backed Cavill, but the producers preferred an older Bond. Craig got the part. Cavill has since said he would be interested in taking over the role when Craig leaves it.

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• 5. The Cape

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  On the 30th of January 2011, it was announced that Cavill would play Clark Kent and Superman in Zack Snyder's Man of Steel. Snyder called him "the perfect choice to don the cape and S shield." Cavill described Superman as "the most recognized and revered character of all time". He said he was "honoured to be a part of his return to the big screen."

  In 2016 he returned for Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice, a sequel that brought in a crossover with Batman and Wonder Woman. At San Diego Comic-Con that year he attended in disguise to surprise the cast of Suicide Squad.

  Justice League reached cinemas in 2017 in a version reworked by director Joss Whedon. Snyder had left the project because of a family tragedy. Fans then mounted an intense campaign to see the Snyder cut. Zack Snyder's Justice League premiered on HBO Max in March 2021, with Cavill back in the role.

  Talk of a solo film kept circling. His manager, Dany Garcia, said in 2016 that he was working on a new standalone Superman film. Directors Matthew Vaughn and Christopher McQuarrie were reportedly interested. Shortly after Justice League, Cavill revealed that he was under contract to play Superman in one more film.

  In 2022 he negotiated a "one-off deal" with Warner Bros. Discovery to return in a cameo for Black Adam. He appeared in the mid-credit scene. He then used Instagram to announce his resumed involvement in the DCEU and his long-term involvement in future films, after the studio told him to do so. An uncredited cameo in The Flash followed in 2023, closing out the span of years that the DCEU role covers.

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• 6. Geralt of Rivia

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  Warsaw's Służewiec Racetrack hosted an early premiere of The Witcher on the 18th of December 2019. Netflix released the series two days later, on the 20th of December 2019. Cavill starred as Geralt of Rivia, a mutant monster hunter drawn from the book series by Polish author Andrzej Sapkowski.

  The part grew out of his hobby. Cavill's interest in The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt led to his casting. Playing the video game series before the show existed motivated him to seek out the role of Geralt.

  He played Geralt for 24 episodes across the first three seasons, from 2019 to 2023. Awards lists took notice. The Saturn Awards in 2021 listed him for Best Actor on Television. In 2022 the Critics' Choice Super Awards and the HCA TV Awards listed him for the same series.

  In late October 2022, Cavill and Netflix announced that he would exit The Witcher after the third season, released in 2023. Liam Hemsworth would take over the role of Geralt.

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• 7. Spies, Sleuths and Cameos

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  Armie Hammer co-starred with Cavill in The Man from U.N.C.L.E. in 2015. Guy Ritchie directed the film version of the spy series, and Cavill played Napoleon Solo.

  In 2018 he played August Walker in the sixth Mission: Impossible film, Fallout. Later that year came the psychological thriller Night Hunter, originally titled Nomis, with Cavill as Det. Walter Marshall.

  Legendary Entertainment's adaptation of The Enola Holmes Mysteries, in 2020, cast him as Sherlock Holmes. Millie Bobby Brown played the title role of the detective's younger sister. He reprised the part in Enola Holmes 2 in 2022. On the 7th of November 2023, Collider reported that Netflix was developing a screenplay for Enola Holmes 3.

  In May 2021, it was announced that Cavill would portray Connor MacLeod in a reboot of Highlander. That July he joined the all-star cast of Matthew Vaughn's spy film Argylle, which arrived in 2024 with Cavill as Agent Aubrey Argylle. The same month, Deadline reported that he would star in The Rosie Project. Steve Falk directs that film, which is based on a book by Australian author Graeme Simsion.

  In April 2024, Cavill reunited with Guy Ritchie on The Ministry of Ungentlemanly Warfare, a World War II spy action film produced by Jerry Bruckheimer. It is based on a true story by British author Damien Lewis, and Cavill plays Gus March-Phillipps. In July 2024 he made a surprise cameo in Deadpool & Wolverine as a Wolverine variant dubbed "Cavillrine". He is also slated to work with Ritchie again on the action thriller In The Grey.

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• 8. Beyond the Screen

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  British Glamour magazine named Cavill the "World's Sexiest Man" in December 2013. That same year, Empire magazine placed him third on its list of The 100 Sexiest Movie Stars 2013. GQ had already listed him among its 50 best-dressed British men in 2012. In early 2008 he became the face of the British fragrance Dunhill and appeared in two television commercials for it. Media often called him a sex symbol, a label he resisted. He said, "I’m really just Henry."

  The Royal Marines Charity counts Cavill as an ambassador. It supports former Royal Marines and their families with financial help, mental health services and help with the transition to civilian life. He launched the running phase of the Royal Marines 1664 Challenge and took part in The Gibraltar Rock Run 2014. He has also supported the Durrell Wildlife Conservation Trust and joined Omaze fundraising campaigns for veteran and conservation causes. Charity runs and hospital visits, aimed at military veterans and children, round out that work.

  Cavill lives in South Kensington, London. From 2011 until 2012 he was engaged to English show jumper Ellen Whitaker. In May 2021 he announced a relationship with Natalie Viscuso, an American television executive. On the 15th of April 2024 it was announced that they were expecting their first child. In July 2025 he told British GQ that they had a daughter. He took up Brazilian jiu-jitsu in 2016 and was seen training at Roger Gracie's academy in London. He supports the Jersey Rugby Club and, since living in the United States, the Kansas City Chiefs. He also has sectoral heterochromia.

  His father introduced him to PC gaming when he was a young boy. Cavill still builds and maintains his own gaming computer and prefers it to consoles. The Total War series is among his favourites. In May 2020 it was announced that Total War: Warhammer II would add a new character, Cavill, Loremaster of Hoeth, as a tribute to him and to Geralt. He also loves Overwatch and Warhammer 40,000, saying he "genuinely can't get enough of the lore they have built over the decades." In December 2024, Games Workshop finalized its deal with Amazon Studios, which had acquired global rights to the franchise in December 2022. Cavill is now set to executive produce and star in projects set in that universe.

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