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Big red PVC boots to fill

Henry Cavill recalls his journey from a childhood pretending to be Superman to ultimately starring as his hero in Man Of Steel.

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He plays Superman in Man of Steel and Henry Cavill is a man who now tops online lists of the best shirtless superheroes, but it wasn't long ago that the actor almost threw it all in to fight for a different cause, in the military.

“I was strongly considering leaving and joining the forces,” Cavill says. “I always figured I was OK acting-wise for the job, but I didn't figure the industry was for me, because I got so close to stuff, I'm ticking all the boxes, but it's not happening for whatever reason.

It's one of those jobs which you shouldn't chase forever, if it's not a job for you. People can waste their entire lives chasing this job. 

“They would say, 'You're the best guy in the room, [but the part is] already on offer to someone else. You're amazing, your absolutely amazing, but we just want to see what this person says.'

Blue steel: Henry Cavill as Superman in <em>Man of Steel</em>.

Blue steel: Henry Cavill as Superman in Man of Steel.

"Then the agent calls you a few days later and says, 'No, the other person got it. You were better than him but you're not a name at this stage.' ”

Cavill finally had to fail to succeed.

“It went on and on and on. I was thinking this is ridiculous. How am I supposed to get into a lead role if I'm not a name, yet you have to have one to get there? It was only after I got the [James] Bond screen test that my name went into Variety magazine and Hollywood Reporter and I got called 'the unluckiest man in Hollywood' by one of the magazines, and at that point it was actually helping me because my name was getting out there.”

Russell Crowe, who plays Cavill's father, Jor-El, in Man of Steel, now describes him as “the best actor who's ever played Superman”.

Crowe had something of a hand in that. As a 13-year-old, Cavill approached the star for advice when playing rugby in the background in Crowe's film Proof of Life. At the time Crowe told Cavill that the money for acting was good but sometimes the conditions were not.

He later sent him a package of goodies to inspire him. Cavill's advice for aspiring actors, is somewhat blunter.

“You have to have the belief in yourself and your ability, but you also have to have the ability. It's one of those jobs which you shouldn't chase forever, if it's not a job for you. People can waste their entire lives chasing this job.”

Yet he also tells a tale designed to inspire. Over the course of the promotional tour for Man of Steel, Cavill has spoken often of his tough time at school as a chubby child nicknamed "Fat Cavill" by the other students.

The image doesn't quite gel with the tale of a rugby playing youth confidently approaching Crowe, yet the now incredibly fit actor, who ran around the garden as a child on the British island of Jersey dreaming of fighting for truth, justice and the American way, insists this isn't a convenient self-deprecating story crafted to please talk show hosts.

“It's definitely not a made-up story. I was definitely fat and definitely the name was Cavill, so Fat Cavill was the nickname.”

It was one that lasted until he was cast in The Count of Monte Cristo when he was 18 and was told to lose weight for the role.

“I didn't transition to being a more popular kid between Fat Cavill and rugby. I was still Fat Cavill, just [in the] front row. We were only extras keep in mind, so it wasn't like I was a first team rugby player.”

If Cavill hasn't elaborated on the story, he is amused when he finds others have done so on his behalf.

“I'm not talking about obesity here. I read something hilarious recently which says that 'Cavill struggled with obesity' It's those kind of stories that ruin the reality of the story, which is a chubby kid who was chubby. A lot of kids are. It's what happens.”