The Film That Lit My Fuse is a Deadline video series that aims to provide an antidote to headlines about industry uncertainty by swinging the conversation back to the creative ambitions, formative influences and inspirations of some of today’s great screen artists.
Today’s subject is Henry Cavill, the British actor who burst through in the Showtime series The Tudors, and who has become a go-to guy for iconic leading-man roles. He got close but lost to Daniel Craig in the derby to play 007 in the last round, but remains a pole-position actor as the producers search for a new James Bond. He just reprised as Sherlock Holmes opposite Millie Bobby Brown in the Netflix sequel to Enola Holmes and starred in The Man From U.N.C.L.E., the series The Witcher, played Theseus in The Immortals and has been attached to a new version of the venerable immortal swordsman Highlander.
But it is his surprise reprise as Superman at the tail end of Black Adam that has the superhero crowd most excited. Cavill first played the role to high acclaim in 2013’s Man of Steel, and followed with Batman V Superman and Justice League before recently announcing that, at a moment when Warner Bros Discovery is hot for global franchises, his Superman will fly again soon.
Here, he describes how the Ridley Scott-directed Russell Crowe-starrer Gladiator showed him the possibilities that well-told brawny fare might hold for him.
