Henry Cavill was "an easy target" for playground bullies.
The 30-year-old actor hasn't always possessed the striking, chiselled good looks that won him the role of Superman in upcoming movie Man of Steel.
Henry was a chubby child who suffered from low self-esteem, which he believes helped him form an early understanding of his character's inner life.
"I was fat. I was Fat Cavill," Henry revealed to Details magazine. "[At boarding school I was prone to homesickness] I bawled on the phone to my mom four times a day, I became an easy target. My version of Superman is essentially of a guy who has spent his whole life alone."
Henry shared the turning point in his transformation. His father discouraged his acting ambitions at first. It was landing a role in a filmed adaptation of The Count of Monte Cristo when he was 17 that whipped him into shape.
"He wanted me to get a proper degree first, [but when I got the part] my dad, was like, 'Okay, you have a professional job now, so great, go for it.'" Henry shared. "I lost one-and-a-half stone - 21 pounds - and I wasn't Fat Cavill anymore."
The second moment in his life that decided his fate as an actor was an encounter with Russell Crowe during his school days. Henry reminded the actor of their first meeting when they reunited on Man of Steel, in which Russell plays his father, Jor-El.
"He was on campus filming Proof of Life. Everyone was standing in a semicircle, and I thought, 'We look ridiculous, staring like he's some kind of prize pony.' So I walked up and said, 'Hi, my name is Henry. I'm thinking of becoming an actor. What's the acting world like?' He said something like, 'Sometimes it's great. Sometimes it's not so great. It's fun acting. And they pay well.' Then everyone ran up and asked for autographs, and I turned to Russell and said, 'Run.' [Several days later I received a package from Russell] There was also a signed note. It said, 'Dear Henry, a journey of a thousand miles begins with a single step,'" Henry continued. "[On the set of Man of Steel] I told him, 'I was the fat one who didn't ask for your autograph.' He looked at me blankly, and then he actually remembered."
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source: newshub archive
