Henry Cavill is the current Superman hitting the big screens, but not a lot of people know that he's actually an English bloke from the channel islands (where he was born) and from Stowe in Buckinghamshire where he went to school.
Its hard to know what to make of old Henry, he is not it must be said the most naturally gifted of actors, he has “soap opera” acting skills you could assert, and his obvious privileged up-bringing can grate to read about, his Dad, a wealthy stock broker, his school was one of the “posh ones”, his rubbing shoulders with Russell Crowe as a cocky teenager and all that, but on the other hand Cavill was clearly a grafter and his success was not an overnight thing.
He was close to landing the role as Edward Cullen in the Twilight serious but got passed up as he was regarded as too old when the film went in to production, he was turned down in the Harry Potter franchise, he was down to the last two choices in 2006 as the new Bond but lost out to Daniel Craig as they regarded Cavill as too young. And yet he persevered. He did his stint in the unglamorous roles of the Tudors, Inspector Lynley and Midsummer Murders and all the pothers that seem to be stomping grounds for the not-quite-successful-yet league.
His obvious good looks finally landed him the role as Superman and this week he dons the cap for a second outing in the truly dreadful “Superman vs Batman” (don't bother it really is that terrible). It must be said Cavill looks the part but it is sadly a role that doesn't require him to do much more than look defiant and stony hard whenever on camera.
He is still hinted at as a future Bond when Craig finally hands in his Walter PPK - clearly this will happen in the next 6-12 months unless EON write a colossal cheque to Craig, but would Cavill actually be any good as Bond? He might be regarded as a little too “model handsome” for the role and thus a little bit boring in terms of looks, James Bond needs to have something different to his look and a Calvin Klein model look-alike will simply never do. That aside his current performances as Superman don't show much depth to pick up on the level that Craig has brought the role to. Time will tell but for now expect the Superman role to be his cash-cow for the next few years.
