Sunday, January 30, 2011

British actor Henry Cavill chosen to play the new Superman.


I’ll make an observation you won’t anywhere else. I think its no coincidence that the major super hero roles are going to British actors.
We in the United States have a shortage of “manly men” looking men actors in the tradition of John Wayne, Gary Cooper, Grocery Peck, and Robert Mitchum just to name a few. Those type of actors used to be the normative appearance of rugged, tough, individualistic American male. The “strong and silent” and “tall dark and handsome” types filled the movie screens from the 1930s up until the mid 70s.

The came the women’s movement in the 1970s and since then the definition of what is manly has eroded from tough and rugged John Wayne
type to the soft, sensitive, non physical
John Cusack mode.

The rugged actors are still around but they rarely paly the hero anymore and most likely play the dumb muscle head.

The UK Telegraph reports Henry Cavill, a former public schoolboy, will star in the sixth instalment of the Hollywood franchise.

His casting as the Man of Steel means that America's greatest superheroes are played by a triumvirate of British talent. Andrew Garfield has taken on the role of Spider-Man, while Christian Bale is currently filming his third Batman movie.

It has been a long audition process for Cavill, 27.

In 2004, he screen-tested for the lead in Superman Returns, but the producers chose Brandon Routh. He was also considered for Bale's role in Batman Begins and was considered for James Bond before Daniel Craig landed the part. The near-misses led Empire magazine to dub him "the most unlucky man in Hollywood".

One of five brothers, Cavill attended prep school in his native Jersey before boarding at Stowe School, Bucks, where he appeared in several productions. "As a young boy I appeared in my first play at prep school. Afterwards all the parents came up and said, 'You were great', and it was totally unexpected. I really learned to love the stage," he said.

His most high profile role to date is Charles Brandon in The Tudors, the historical mini-series. He has also modelled for Dunhill.

The new film will be directed by Zack Snyder and released in December 2012 - 34 years after the first Superman film made a star of Christopher Reeve.

More details here

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