Henry Cavill in "Immortals"
Relativity MediaHenry: I think the same thing that’s in any man or woman. It’s that opportunity to be that hero when you were a kid and swing your stick around playing knights, soldiers or cowboys. We want to do right. We want to save the world and to be good at what you’re doing. We want to be turned to, to be relied upon – all of those things.TeenHollywood: Is all the attention you are starting to get going to change your personal life?
Henry: You can’t spend your life worrying about what might be. You just get on with it and deal as it comes. You’ve got to enjoy it. The other day, I went to see Real Steel and I saw a poster. I told [my friend], “It’s Immortals! Look!”. He said, “Go and stand over there and I’ll take a picture”. “I’m not gonna go stand over there. What if someone sees you taking a photo of me in front of the Immortals poster!?” [we laugh]. It’s incredibly exciting. It really is.
TeenHollywood: People have called our comic books the modern mythology. Do you think there is a connection between things like Immortals and superhero films like your upcoming Man of Steel and will kids and teens see that?
Henry: It depends on the individual of course. What mythology is and the tales of heroes are is a set of ideals represented by individuals. In Superman it’s a very clear ideal. With the Greek myth characters, it’s a bit more circumspect. They have a lot more in the way of flaws. There are obviously similarities because these characters are representatives of what the ideals are. Hopefully kids will see that and take the good messages from it rather than just going around stabbing people with a spear.
Henry Cavill (with Stephen Dorff) in "Immortals."
TeenHollywood: Your co-star Freida Pinto said you were an inspiration on the set and that she was really impressed with your work. What is your mindset when you embarked on this role? She said you were first person on the set, the last person to leave…Henry: Ah that is a wonderful thing to say. How do I prepare for a role? It’s the same way I prepare for any job and for anything I do in any walk of life. If you’re going to do it, do it properly and do it with everything you’ve got, otherwise go home and that was the polite version of what I was going to say. Commit and enjoy, no matter how difficult it is you can always find something in it which is enjoyable.
I knew it was going to be physically taxing going in and I took that as an opportunity to enjoy getting in to great shape. To take that into my life after the fact. The pain only lasts for a short while but the benefits you gain during pain will last you forever.
TeenHollywood: Can you talk about bulking up for this film?
Henry: It was a martial arts base training and tabata training (high repetition circuit training) which tends to be hard repetitions of body weight exercises with 25 repetitions of say press ups, followed by eight deep breaths, followed by 25 ab exercises, followed by something else and was one round. And then you have to do four rounds of that. Your recovery is eight breaths. It was [going for] a very lean as opposed to a bulky ripped, physique. Very low on carbs. A lot of meat and fish but no starchy carbs.
TeenHollywood: So you leave the set of Immortals and you look like a swimmer and now you go to the Superman set and they say, “We need a completely different guy”. Do you they tell you to change your diet and work out regime?
Henry: I finished with Immortals, then I got a job on Cold Light of Day where the director said “I need you to look like a normal person.” So no more press ups, no more sit ups, eat drink and be merry and I did, right up until I looked into the mirror again and I was eating and drinking again but I certainly wasn’t merry.
Henry Cavill in "The Tudors"
I then went onto Superman and it was obvious how they wanted me to look. It’s in comic books around the world. It was going to be a weight-based training regime and it was obvious from the comics that I needed to put on a good size.
TeenHollywood: Is there a way an actor can buy into playing a pure fantasy character that is just so far from real human experience? Is it the story?
Henry: Yeah, and someone like Tarsem (Singh, the director) has such an incredible imagination and a creative side. He can make you see what it is he is seeing in his head through artwork and models so once you’ve seen it physically, it’s very easy to buy into. Plus, we all have the imagination and creativity in our head. It’s just a matter of letting it bleed out into the real world.
TeenHollywood: Were you a fan of Greek Mythology?
Henry: Yeah, I’ve always been a fan of stories from mythology and history. As a kid, I enjoyed reading it and growing up with it.
TeenHollywood: Henry, when you are playing a hero, how much depends on the flaws and doubts of that hero?
Henry: To play a hero effectively, I think you have to depend entirely on the flaws and doubts of that hero because in modern and past society, heroes are prevalent and it’s sort of become a little boring to be “too good”, too great at everything you do. So, to focus on all the things which make life so difficult for that individual, makes them more heroic when they overcome them and overcome everything else bearing down on them. But, the personal difficulties, faults and problems they have, are, I think what make heroes interesting.
TeenHollywood: So I assume you’ve incorporated that into playing Superman?
Henry: [laughs]. Gosh. Who knows? You’ll have to wait and see.
TeenHollywood: I would think that the character’s costumes help you create him but a lot of your costume in this is skimpy and you are just oiled up. How does that help?
Henry: [laughs] Well, it really helps because when you’re covered in oil and you are sticky and stuck to stuff on the set, you’re a pretty miserable individual. At that particular moment, Theseus was a miserable individual so it helped enormously. I’m a big fan of costume to help get into character. I think it does a wonderful job and I embrace it entirely even though it was an uncomfortable experience certainly, you’ve gotta use it.
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