Saturday, January 26, 2013

Henry Cavill's early life and work led to iconic Superman role HENRY CAVILLJANUARY 21, 2013BY: ZACK MANDELL (EXAMINER)



Henry Cavill has had a lot of success in Hollywood in recent years, but he almost didn't become an actor. He was born May 5, 1983 on the English island of Jersey, the fourth of five sons. Cavill first attended St. Michael's Preparatory School but was later was sent to a Buckinghamshire boarding school. It was there that he took part in school plays and developed a love for acting. However, his first choice of career was to study Egyptology at a university and then join the military.

These plans changed when casting directors came to the school in search of a young man to play the role of Albert Mondego in 2002's "The Count of Monte Cristo." Cavill had been starring in some local plays and was gaining some acclaim. He would later appear in "Hellraiser: Hellworld" (2005), "Tristan & Isolde" (2006), and "Red Riding Hood" (2007). By late 2007, Cavill was tapped to play the part of Charles Brandon in the Emmy Award winning Showtime drama, "The Tudors." This was a tremendous break for the young actor, as he had just recently missed out on several iconic roles which could have made his career.

The list is striking. Cavill lost the role of Bruce Wayne to Christian Bale for "Batman Begins." James Bond went to Daniel Craig for "Casino Royale," and the role of Cedric Diggory in "Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire" was given to Robert Pattinson. One of the main issues concerning his loss of the Wayne and Bond roles was Cavill's age. After his "Tudors" success, many entertainment industry publications lauded him as the next big actor to watch. Since he had previously been dubbed one of the unluckiest men in Hollywood, this was a welcome change.

Cavill lost out to Robert Pattinson a second time for the role of Edward Cullen in the film adaptation of Stephanie Meyer's "Twilight." While Pattison became a global star, Cavill continued working steadily. Cavill had also been considered and even screen tested for the role of Superman in "Superman: Flyby," a project that was scrapped. Luck would have it that Warner Bros. selected the "Batman" reboot team of Christopher Nolan and David Goyer to head another Superman movie project in the hope that it would be more successful than Bryan Singer's 2008 "Superman Returns."

READ MORE: http://www.examiner.com/article/henry-cavill-s-early-life-and-work-led-to-iconic-superman-role

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