Henry Cavill says there’s still hope that he'll play Superman again
The Witcher star says his big new Netflix role shouldn’t preclude him from donning the cape of Kal-El once more
New Netflix series The Witcher is a pretty time-consuming project for star Henry Cavill, with the British actor’s lead role as Geralt of Rivia – the titular monster-slaying hero – meaning he was shooting for around seven to eight months, likely to be repeated for the already-confirmed season two.
However, Cavill has been clear about one thing – this new time commitment doesn’t mean he’s giving up on playing iconic superhero Superman, even following rumours that Warner Bros are thinking of going in a new direction with the Man of Steel.
“You’ve got to keep in mind that regardless of what movies I’ll be doing over the next few years, you can fit two projects into one year,” Cavill told RadioTimes.com and other press.
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Asked whether that meant there was still "hope" for him to return to the role of Clark Kent/Superman, Cavill then referenced the “S” symbol on the character’s outfit, which in his first movie (2013’s Man of Steel) was revealed to actually be a Kryptonian symbol for hope.
“I mean, that’s what it stands for, right?” he teased.
For now, though, Cavill is in the thick of another dream role as Geralt, having personally lobbied for the role after "falling in love" with The Witcher videogames.
“This is very much my kind of thing, and a dream job to have,” he said. “I ended up falling in love with the books after the games, and after I had my first conversation with [showrunner] Lauren Schmidt Hissrich.
“I pursued it. I heard that Netflix was turning it into a show. And while playing the game, all I was thinking was: ‘How can I turn this into a TV show or movie?’
“I hear Netflix has picked it up, and so I called my agents, and said, ‘Guys, this is really, really important to me. I want to make sure that I at least get in the door. Obviously you can’t get me the role just by a conversation, but get me in the door so that I can at least speak to the right people and express my love for this and my passion for this.’
“And I did. They got me in the door first, and I got to meet Lauren. It was about seven weeks later, after the whole casting process had happened, and they hadn’t necessarily found anyone who was going to fit the role more precisely to whatever vision.
“Then they called upon me, and I came back, and did my audition. And I got it that afternoon.”
“You don’t cast someone just because they’re a huge fan of the material,” Hissrich added.
“So I met a bunch of other people, and realised very quickly that I couldn’t get Henry’s voice out of my head. And we invited him back, and he was willing to audition for it, which is very rare for an actor of his calibre to sit and read.”
“And I’m so glad that he did,” she concluded.
The Witcher is streaming on Netflix UK from Friday 20th December
Authors
Huw Fullerton is a Commissioning Editor for Radio Times magazine, covering Entertainment, Comedy and Specialist Drama.
