As it goes, Sherlock Holmes saved Henry Cavill from his ‘law loyalist’ need to pay attention to detail.
Actor Henry Cavill has become a household name in the past few years. Be it he assembling a new gaming rig to his upcoming projects fans have developed a knack for everything he does. Over the years he has played some iconic roles viz Superman for DC’s Man of Steel, Geralt for Netflix’s The Witcher and very recently Sherlock Holmes.
Cavill brings his charm to each character he plays and stays true to it. His acting and action chops keep him high on fan casting list for other iconic roles such as British spy James Bond. Cavill’s body of work made him research extensively for each character and well some were just close to his heart. The actor recently spoke to the Collider (video below) about his various roles including Sherlock Holmes that is more close to his heart now.
Watch: Henry Cavill on Enola Holmes and Getting His Muscles Into a Three-Piece Suit
Henry Cavill As Sherlock
Netflix’s recent release Enola Holmes is an interesting movie. Originally made by Legendary Pictures it was later sold to Netflix for worldwide distribution due to the outbreak of the pandemic. The movie stars Millie Bobby Brown in the titular role with Henry Cavill playing the iconic detective Sherlock Holmes, Sam Calflin as Mycroft and Helena Bonham Carter as their mother Eudoria.
Enola Holmes premiered to rave reviews leaving a lot of space for a sequel. As this movie is about Enola, Sherlock’s sister, Cavill took a backseat. With the feminist messaging of the movie and Brown set in the titular role, Sherlock as a character had a very different treatment. To start with, Sherlock in the movie is emotional at times he also smiles at times and isn’t so cynical – all these traits goes against Sir Arthur Conan Doyle’s original description.
While, Cavill definitely deserved more screen time he admits to Collider he makes it a personal mission to nail the character on set. Setting a contrast to his previous roles he said, “It’s funny, I try not to focus on the pressure aspect I make it more of a personal mission for myself rather than a pressure aspect. Whether that be Superman, whether that be The Witcher, whether that be Sherlock Holmes, I’m not feeling the external pressure.”
Superman Vs Witcher Vs Sherlock Holmes
According to Cavill he is a ‘law loyalist’ meaning he’d like to portray the character in its most source accurate way. He said, “With Superman and The Witcher, those are characters I grew up with and I love and I really, really want to represent in the most source-accurate way possible. That for me was a massive thing and still is a massive thing.”
Watch: Henry Cavill Talks Geralt VS Superman
However, Cavill managed to break free of his absolute need to go into the details. He explains, “I’m the most annoying guy on set, because I’m saying, ‘Excuse me, you do realize this should be happening and they wouldn’t do that and you haven’t read this then that means this would be impossible. Everyone’s just going, ‘Henry just shut up and do the thing.’ I’m like, ‘I don’t wanna do the thing. He wouldn’t do it this way but he can do this.’
Nonetheless, when it comes to Sherlock Holmes Cavill revealed he did not read the detective novels. He said,
With Sherlock, because I absolved myself of being that psychopathic law loyalist… we could craft a Sherlock that was supportive of Enola of a character.
Who knew out of all the character Harry nailed perfectly on-screen, Sherlock Holmes would be the one to free him. It will be interesting to see what Cavill bring to his Sherlock if ever a sequel is made. Cavill is rumoured to be donning the cape again for DC’s new Man of Steel movies. He is currently shooting for Netflix’s The Witcher season 2.
