Playing a superhero isn't just laughing your way to the bank. Henry Cavill spoke to USA Weekend in detail about the immense physical effort and discipline that goes into a role like this, specially Superman, the biggest, buffest and greatest Superhero of them all.
On why it was important to him to transform his body
It was a big responsibility. It was very important to represent the character’s physicality in the right way. I was living and breathing Superman. I just wanted to do this right.
On being impressed with his own transformation
I have shrunk down to a more normal size now. You should have seen me then. I was considerably bigger. There are a couple of shots of me that I think, ‘My goodness. I was definitely a large chap.'
On avoiding steroids to achieve his physique
(Mark Twight) asked, ‘Would you like to use steroids or HGH (human growth hormone) to get to where you want to go?’ I immediately said no. And he said, ‘Good. Because if you did, I wouldn’t train you.’ To take a shortcut to get to that place is not what Superman represents. That was important to me.
On would he be ready to again train so hard for the sequel
Absolutely. Yes, it was hard work. Yes, there were points I thought I couldn’t do it. But you can do it. And I did.