Celeb scrutiny: Henry Cavill finds it funny (IANS Interview)

All their moves are followed, all their words are weighed and they practically lead their lives out in the open. But Henry Cavill doesn't mind that side of fame. The actor, popular as Superman from the "Man of Steel" franchise, says he understands the nature of his job, and believes in living with it rather than fretting over it.

Cavill saw a different side of showbiz when he found himself in a 'moustache' controversy for his films -- the sixth part of "Mission: Impossible" and "Justice League". He stirred a hornet's nest again over his comments about the widely lauded #MeToo movement -- for which he tendered an apology too.

Asked about how he is dealing with fame and the constant public scrutiny of his personal as well as professional life, Cavill told IANS here: "It is funny. The scrutiny has definitely intensified... This being the age of social media. It is just one of the things which you have to accept.

"It is something which we are used to and that is just the nature of it."

Coming from an island Jersey, Cavill was always inclined towards showbiz, and started acting early. He got a role in a film adaptation of "The Count of Monte Cristo" at 17. But he came into the limelight as Charles Brandon in the historical TV drama "The Tudors".

The actor followed up his act with roles in "Immortals" and "Blood Creek", before finding fame and prominence with his Superman avatar in "Man of Steel".

At the moment Cavill is enjoying his ride in showbiz, but there were many misses in his career initially. He auditioned for a role in the "Harry Potter" franchise which ultimately went to Robert Pattinson, and there are reports that he gave a screen test for James Bond, but it instead went to Daniel Craig.

Today, Cavill has big franchises added to his resume -- "Man of Steel", "Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice", "Justice League" and his forthcoming "Mission: Impossible Fallout".

The 35-year-old says treading his way to the top in Hollywood was not a 'mission impossible'.

"I always feel a deep sense of gratitude to be where I am and the opportunities that I have, to tell the stories that I can tell and travel to places that I can travel.

"But do I think it was a mission impossible? No, I don't want to give the message out that to get to a place like this where you can be in big movies and come from a tiny island like Jersey (is impossible).

"It is not a mission impossible. It just takes some really good hard work and dedication to do what you want and believe in yourself."

Cavill is looking forward to the sixth part of the "Mission Impossible" franchise, which narrates the adventures of Ethan Hunt, essayed by Tom Cruise, on several missions to save the world.

"Mission: Impossible Fallout" -- a Paramount Pictures movie -- will be distributed in India by Viacom18 Motion Pictures. It is set to release in India on July 27 in English, Hindi, Tamil and Telugu.

For Cavill, entering the "Mission Impossible" universe came with some pressures.

"I think if there was any pressure, it was just to do myself right. For me, coming onto this movie it was a wonderful opportunity to do a lot of stunts... In the movies (which I have done) in the past, they assumed that I was not going to do the stunts, and nobody gave me the opportunity to speak up about it or I never had the experience to say, 'Hey whatever stunts we have, I would like to do them'.

"On this one, I knew coming in that I will have the opportunity to say that 'I would like to do them'. And I think I put pressure on myself to do that to the best of my ability because it was an opportunity I didn't want to go waste."

And he loved every bit of it.

"It was so much fun. I got to do crazy stunts and do crazy stunts with Tom Cruise. It was fun," he said.

(The writer was in Paris at the invitation of Viacom18 Motion Pictures. She can be contacted at sugandha.r@ians.in)

--IANS

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