Cavill’s Long Road to “Superman”: Five Close Calls for Major Roles
Other than the millions of dollars, worldwide fame, eternal recognition and the acknowledgment that you are one of the few men on earth who looks attractive in blue spandex, we're not sure why someone would want to play Superman. It's not exactly the most thrilling role. It requires an actor who can be, by nature, bland, wholesome and All-American. Superman does not have the darkness of Batman, the swagger of Iron Man or the adolescent confusion of Spider-Man. He is simply the perfect, flawless hero. It does not lend itself for much actorly shading. And when you add the pressure of having to live up to the late Christopher Reeve, who was so perfect as Superman that everyone else is doomed to feel like simply his replacement, it's tough sledding. There's a reason you don't hear much from Brandon Routh anymore.
Yesterday, Warner Bros. announced the next actor to interpret the role Superman: It'll be British actor Henry Cavill, most well known by American audiences for his role as Charles Brandon on the Showtime series "The Tudors." As Indiewire pointed out,
Cavill has been a final candidate for just about every franchise lead
over the past five years. Since 2005, Cavill has
just missed out playing to following characters:
***
Cedric Diggory, from "Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire." (He
lost out to Robert Pattinson, who would be heard from again.)
*** Batman. (Christopher Nolan, who is a producer on the "Superman" film, chose Bale.)
*** Superman. (McG, who was originally directing this reboot, had actually cast Cavill, but the project fell through.)
*** James Bond. (MGM thought he was too young to play Bond, so they went with Daniel Craig.)
***
Edward Cullen. (Author Stephanie Meyer said, "I feel really
passionately about [Cavill] getting the role," but Pattinson beat him
again.)
He even went out for "Green Lantern," for cripes
sake. We're still far from convinced Superman is ultimately the best
opportunity for any actor -- other than his tiny role in "Scott Pilgrim
Vs. The World," Routh has essentially vanished -- but you can't say
Cavill hasn't put in his time.
Cavill will play Kal-El in director Zack Snyder's reboot, which is coming out in December 2012, along with "The Hobbit, Part One," the next James Bond movie, Ang Lee's "Life Of Pi" and the big Snow White movie (that might star Kristen Stewart). We're gonna be totally disappointed when the world ends before we get to see those. It is worth noting that Superman, Batman, Spider-Man are now all played by British actors (Cavill, Christian Bale and Andrew Garfield.) We'll get them back when Channing Tatum plays James Bond.
Cavill is hardly a household name, but he certainly has more on his resume when Routh was selected to play Superman in Bryan Singer's 2006 "Superman Returns." (Routh's major credit was two years on "One Life To Live.") He's had small roles in "Tristan + Isolde" and Woody Allen's "Whatever Works," and he's the lead role in the upcoming "Immortals," a Greek god actioner from director Tarsem that co-stars Mickey Rourke, John Hurt, Stephen Dorff and Freida Pinto. So he's not a nobody, particularly to fans of "The Tudors," whoever they are.
Cavill beat out fellow actors Matthew Goode, "True Blood" actor Joe Manganiello, Colin O'Donoghue (the appropriately bland young priest from "The Rite"), Armie Hammer (the Winkelvi from "The Social Network") and even Jon Hamm, who admitted he was probably too old for the part. (He's 12 years older than Cavill.) Cavill shouldn't feel guilty about their disappointment, though; he's been through this many times himself. What's perhaps most noteworthy about Cavill's casting is how close he has been to playing an iconic character already.
Below, you can see a clip of Cavill discussing his role in "The Tudors." We have to assume he'll shave the beard.
Henry Cavill Lands Superman; Macho British Actor To Play American Icon; Past Contender For Batman & James Bond [Deadline]
The Road To 'Superman': 6 Jobs Henry Cavill Lost Before Becoming Clark Kent [The Playlist]
