My mother is such an incredibly strong woman. She raised a family of five boys extremely well. She made us all strong, loving, caring people. We all support each other. I'm really thankful to her.
— Henry Cavill
I work out two, two and a half hours a day. For 'Immortals,' it was body-weight stuff: crunches, pullups, and martial arts-based cardio.
No matter what era we're in, we need hope.
I will say I was a lot bigger as Superman. A lot bigger. I'm not saying how much. It's modesty about the weight - I've always been worried about my weight - but I also don't want to invite that debate: 'Henry weighs this, so he's the perfect Superman.' Or, 'Henry doesn't weigh this, and therefore he's not believable in the role.'
'Immortals' was very much a martial arts based training program - a lot of body weight stuff, very little in the way of actually lifting heavy weights, and a very, very low calorie diet.
I was overweight when I went to school. In fact, I was overweight when I left, just taller. Fatty Cavill was the nickname. I mean, no one wants to be Fatty Cavill.
A lot of the stuff you do as an actor - or I do, because I can't speak for everyone - is not always consciously thought out. A lot of the time, for me, it's actually just feeling stuff, and it happens all in the moment and your body reacts.
I suppose that when I'm building a character, it's usually related to what their family is like and who their parents are, as well as how I grew up - that nurture side.
Some people thrive under pressure, but pressure can also ruin your performance, it can push you down angles which you don't want to go.
I don't think Americans look bad in spandex.
I didn't see a lot of comic books growing up.
It's difficult to judge other actors, because as an actor you're looking at different things than what an audience is looking at.
I like to go full bore into something. If you have a backup plan, then you've already admitted defeat.
This character matters so much to so many people. I want to get that right. I want to do it justice. I want people to believe in the character and have faith in the character and kids to grow up wanting to be Superman. Or, God forbid, there's people who are going through hardship and wishing that this character would turn up and save them.
My version of Superman is essentially of a guy who has spent his whole life alone.
I often find during a day of shooting I will speak in an American accent all day long when I'm doing dialogue. At the end of the day, it often takes an effort when I'm talking to my fiancee to bring my English back just because you're so used to speaking that way.
I never thought of myself as unlucky. When you aim high, it's tough to get there unless something really fortunate happens.
Certainly, for younger guys, Superman is this mythological character that they've thought about and explored in their imaginations... But one thing I really like about Superman fans is that they're so open-minded and excited and honest. There's something beautiful about their enjoyment of it - something very Superman-like.
You can train and train until you are blue in the face, but you've got to diet, you've got to have that leanness because if you are not lean, your abs won't show. Of course, the training has to be put in, but then you've to shed all the fat and keep the fat off. And that's how you get an eight pack.
I'm a giant softy, for sure, but I honestly think these days it's probably considered more masculine to be emotionally connected.
The point of acting is to pretend you're someone else and sell a story.
Not every job is a good job.
Regrets are something you can't really have as an actor, because ultimately you'll end up destroying yourself... there's a lot of disappointment in this business.
I'm from a family of six men, so I'm bound to be physical.
The hardest part of acting is not being guaranteed work. Every job could be your last.
A large amount of constant activity will get things going. For example, training in the morning will have everything, all the juices flowing by the time you actually get to work. So, when you're at work, you've been already up for an hour or so or two hours, and you're raring to go where everyone else is still wiping sleep out of their eyes.
There's an honesty to Clark, Kal-El - Kal-El's the better way of saying it because he is both Superman and Clark - there's an honesty to him which crosses over on both - I don't like to use the word 'identities,' but I will because I can't think of a better one. So, it is not that tough to make that swap and change.
My mother works in a bank, and my dad is the head of my management team and also works in finance.
As much as everyone says that Superman is good, a lot of other people might say that that's why they find him boring... A lot of Batman fans might say that.
As an outside; don't worry about failure, because failure will take care of itself. Focus on success.
I work out two, two and a half hours a day.
At boarding school there wasn't much time for much of anything except education.
People have this belief that actors are able to go out there and say, 'Oh I choose this job,' but most of the time we're just taking the job we can get. We don't just get offered thousands of jobs; we might earn one job a year and that's the one we'll take because we've got to pay the rent.
