NEW YORK — Woody Allen has a knack for finding fresh faces.

The director cast Rebecca Hall as Cristina’s acerbic, conservative pal in last year’s Vicky Cristina Barcelona, and she earned a Golden Globe nomination. Mira Sorvino was no household name when she co-starred in Allen’s 1995 comedy Mighty Aphrodite, which won her a supporting-actress Oscar. And 1979’s Manhattan was only the third movie for Mariel Hemingway, who played Allen’s high school love.

Enter Allen’s latest find: Henry Cavill.

Allen had written Cavill’s part in Whatever Works for an American actor. But as soon as the director saw Cavill’s audition tape, “I thought I’d change it to an English boy. Why can’t he be British? I just loved him when I saw him. He’s so handsome, God,” Allen says. “I don’t think I did him justice in the picture. He’s 10,000 times more handsome in person.”

Cavill plays the flute-playing Randy, who lives on the water and woos Southern naif Melodie (Evan Rachel Wood) in Allen’s comedy, which expands to more theaters this week. “It’s a fairly simple character,” Cavill says. “There’s not much one can do. Woody wanted what he wanted, so I gave him that.”

In reality, Cavill’s life is more grounded. “I just hang out with my mates, really. We go to pubs. I do the whole drinks thing — I’m English, after all,” says the actor, 26. “I like my computer games. I’m a big PC gamer. I read. I read historical fiction or sci-fi and fantasy. I just finished the Robert Jordan Wheel of Time, which is an amazing series of books.”

But is Cavill, who’s single, anywhere near as romantic as Randy? “Yeah, yeah. But I wouldn’t pursue someone quite so much. I don’t play the flute,” he says.

And he draws the line firmly at meeting someone at a Soho clothing store, as Randy does with Melodie. “I’m not a big shopper,” Cavill says.

He’s also not big into hearsay and conjecture. After landing the role in Allen’s film, Cavill heard dozens of stories about the famously secretive director, many of them from people who had never actually met him — and he chose to disregard everything.

“The horror stories are untrue. His direction is accurate and precise,” Cavill says. “He’s a very, very nice person.”

Cavill’s new to working with Allen, but he has plenty of acting experience on his resume thanks to Showtime’s The Tudors. Cavill plays dashing courtier Charles Brandon, Henry VIII’s brother-in-law, on the steamy series, which returns for its fourth and final season of 10 episodes in spring 2010. Production starts at the end of June.

So far, Brandon’s life hasn’t been particularly stress-free, and it doesn’t appear to be getting any easier.

“My character has to make difficult decisions between duty and moral conscience — duty to Henry and what he honestly believes and feels in his heart,” Cavill says, summing up Brandon’s travails in the third season. “He’s torn, badly, and has to do some fairly difficult things. He has to put down a rebellion.” (c) Copyright 2009 USA TODAY, a division of Gannett Co. Inc.

source:  californiachronicle.com

Henry Cavill, who plays King Henry’s BFF Charles Brandon on The Tudors, has been named “Must Dashing Duke” by Entertainment Weekly, which this week released its double-issue “Must List” with all the top summertime movies, stars, gadgets and more.

Cavill, aka the Duke of Suffolk, made EW’s list because “the Brit displays charm, depth and a killer bod” on The Tudors. A bonus: His love-struck performance with Evan Rachel Wood in Woody Allen’s new comedy, Whatever Works (Cavill is shown here at the TriBeCa film fest’s premiere of the movie). The film drops this weekend in select markets, but you can get a preview of Cavill, Allen and Wood in the on-set photos after the jump.

Asked what he would include on his own “must” list, Cavill said he’d choose the video game World of Warcraft. Although the dapper 26-year-old doesn’t look like a hard-core gamer, he said WoW is “fairly addictive.

Henry Cavill is featured in yet another sexy photo shoot for the latest issue of Upstreet Magazine.

The 26-year-old British actor talked about why he decided to star as Theseus in the upcoming Tarsem Singh-directed movie War of Gods.

Henry shared, “I adore historic novels, especially when they speak about Rome, ancient Greece, Egypt or The Crusades. They naturally, without a doubt, pique my imagination.”

You can view the photos of the shoot at the source. I’ll add them to the gallery ASAP.

source: http://justjared.buzznet.com/2009/06/18/henry-cavill-upstreet-magazine/

Shooting is scheduled to begin in Dublin on Monday, 15 June, on the fourth and final series of ‘The Tudors’. Morgan O’Sullivan returns as executive producer, with Dearbhla Walsh (Little Dorrit), IFTA winner Ciaran Donnelly and Jeremy Podewsa (Fugitive Pieces) directing.

Ten episodes have been commissioned for the series which carries a budget of €20 million. Written by Michael Hirst, crew includes DOP Ousam Rawi and IFTA and Emmy winning costume designer Joan Bergin returning to work alongside Production Designer Tom Conroy. Editing will take place in Canada.

The shoot is anticipated to last six months and is scheduled to take place on various locations in Ireland including Ardmore Studios in Co. Wicklow, Kilruddery House and Powerscourt Gardens.

Returning cast for the series includes Jonathan Rhys Meyers, Sarah Bolger, Joss Stone, Max Brown, Henry Cavill and Tamzin Merchant – in addition to an anticipated reserve of thousands of extras.

Earlier this year the second series of ‘The Tudors’ picked up six IFTA’s including; Best Drama Series / Soap, Best Director of Television, Actor in a Supporting Role Television, Actress in a Supporting Role Television, Costume Design and Makeup and Hair.

TV3 is due to broadcast the final ten episodes of the series in 2010.

For the first time, an out gay man has topped AfterElton’s Hot 100 list, which allows gay and bi men to rank gentlemen in order of, well, hotness. Neil Patrick Harris unseated Jake Gyllenhaal for the title, which the Brokeback Mountain actor had held for the first two years of the list. Click here for the text-only countdown, which includes American Idol’s Adam Lambert at No. 16 and President Barack Obama at No. 39. (First Lady Michelle Obama came in at No. 97’s on sister site AfterEllen’s Hot 100, which was topped by Portia de Rossi this year.) And go here to view the list as it was intended (with pictures!). My notes as I clicked through:

• Dollhouse’s Tahmoh Penikett makes his countdown debut at 100. I concur. I, however, would’ve gone with a shirtless photo.

• American Idol’s Kris Allen at No. 98. Ah. That’s all I have to say when I see Kris — Ah.

• Ashton Kutcher dropped from No. 61 to No. 95. The song in my head, and no doubt, the voters: Janet Jackson’s “What Have You Done For Me Lately.” (See also: Ryan Phillippe’s drop from No. 21 to No. 91.)

• Zachary Quinto enters at No. 94. Annie Barrett’s next sexual fantasy about Spock should be very interesting.

• How has Patrick Wilson (No. 86) never been on this list before? Apparently newcomer Nathan Fillion (No. 85) wasn’t lying to me when he said men also like sex and tuxedos….

• The Mentalist’s Simon Baker enters at No. 79? That’s it? Well, damn. Maybe I’m not a gay man on the inside after all….

• Wait, I am a gay man inside. Or at least I share a type: George Clooney (No. 73), Clive Owen (No. 72), and Gerard Butler (No. 71).

• Naturally, Mario Lopez (No. 67) is shown shirtless.

• Hello! Who is this Ben Cohen (No. 64)? A rugby player, apparently. Song in my head: Johnny Gill’s “My My My.”

• I really needed to see the goofy photo of Joseph Gordon-Levitt (No. 61) after being scared by the bicep on No. 62, Nick Adams.

• Anger must not be sexy: Christian Bale dropped from No. 26 to No. 56 this year….

• Favorite photo so far has to be the shot of Noah’s Ark’s Jensen Atwood (No. 55): The cable-knit sweater he’s wearing is only covering the left half of his torso.

• Hmmm. This must be the cheesy photo section of the list: Skins star Mitch Hewer, who jumped 24 spots year-to-year to land at No. 53, is fully nude for no reason, while Chris Meloni (No. 52) lays shirtless on what could be a polar bear rug and Taye Diggs (No. 51) sits in an innertube.

• Major movement for The Tudors‘ Henry Cavill (up 33 spots to No. 49). He did an EW office meet-and-greet recently, and let me tell you, this photo does not do him justice. He’s going to age well, like Clooney well.

• David Boreanaz at No. 47. I would’ve gone with a shirt of a darker color. I’ve done extensive research on this.

• John Krasinski at No. 43, up 43 spots from last year. Another goofy photo, but that’s how we like him.

• Barack Obama beats Twilight’s Robert Pattinson (No. 40) by one spot. Incidentally, Kristen Stewart debuted at No. 16 on the ladies’ list.

• Wow, even a photo with a chocolate lab puppy couldn’t keep Queer as Folk’s Robert Gant from sliding 13 spots to No. 36.

• This in-the-pool-wearing-only-jeans shot of Milo Ventimiglia (No. 31) is almost a campaign photo, no?

• This is the only list that Johnny Depp (No. 29) would ever be sandwiched between Channing Tatum (No. 30) and Paul Walker (No. 28)

• Mandals on James Marsden (No. 27)! Automatic disqualification if I were a judge.

• Paul Rudd (up 43 spots to No. 23) is officially hotter than David Beckham (No. 24)!

• What is this German soap Forbidden Love?

• The shot of Adam Lambert (No. 16) sans guyliner feels like one of those People magazine “most beautiful”-without-makeup shoots. I might not have recognized him.

• Oh my…. Remember that gold-medal-winning Australian diver Matthew Mitcham, who was also a PopWatch Olympic Stud of the Day, from Beijing? He enters the countdown with a bullet — and a steamy towel shot — at No. 15. We liked his smile; we love his serious side.

• No wonder The CW’s Supernatural has done so well in the ratings this season: Jared Padalecki jumped 31 spots to No. 12, and Jensen Ackles rose eight spots to No. 5.

• James Franco can probably credit his role in Milk with scoring him the biggest jump on this year’s countdown — 89 spots up to No. 10.

• “Disproving the old adage that gay men are fickle, the staying power of Gale Harold is becoming legendary.” The former Queer as Folk star, who just recently returned to Desperate Housewives after a serious motorcycle accident, is still Top 10. He may only be No. 9, but I do believe that he’s the only man on this list with his own PopWatch category. (I told you I was a gay man inside.)

• Perhaps my colleague Tim Stack was right and X-Men Origins: Wolverine is the most homoerotic superhero movie ever. Hugh Jackman catapulted 20 spots to No. 8.

• Gyllenhaal lands at No. 4 this year. Still very respectable.

• Ooh, AfterElton thinks that if Brothers & Sisters were to give Luke MacFarlane (No. 3), who plays Kevin’s husband Scotty, more screen time next season, his dimples could come out at No. 1 next year.

• I really need to get DVDs of Doctor Who and Torchwood. This John Barrowman (again, No. 2) is like a younger, more chiseled Mark Harmon — at least in this photo.

• Last year, when Neil Patrick Harris came in at No. 5, he told AfterElton that he was “hoping the four men above me age rapidly in the next 12 months.” Can’t wait to read this year’s statement. Will he go for a “top” joke?

source:  http://popwatch.ew.com/popwatch/2009/05/neil-patrick-ha.html

Henry’s birthday was yesterday but I didn’t have time to post about it. So happy 26th birthday Henry! I hope your day was fantastic.

Henry attended several appearances over the last couple of days. You can view them below!

The 8th Annual Tribeca Film Festival was celebrated by Vanity Fair Tuesday night with an exclusive dinner at the New York State Supreme Court House.

Among those walking the red carpet were actors Robert DeNiro, Josh Lucas, Kanye West, Debra Messing, Spike Lee, Ivanka Trump and Harvey Keitel.

Festival co-founder Jane Rosenthal says that the theme of this year’s festival includes a lot of laughs.

“We’ve got Woody Allen. We’ve got Spike Lee’s movies,” she said. “We’ve got a lot of filmmakers that you haven’t heard of and a lighter fair of entertainment than you’ve ever heard of before. I think we all need a few laughs this year.”

Tennis star John McEnroy was happy to be coming to the courthouse by invitation.

“This is beautiful. I like coming here when I don’t have to come here,” he said.

Henry Cavill, one of the stars of Woody Allen’s opening-night film, “Whatever Works,” was at the party.

“It is fantastic. It’s my first time at Tribeca Film Festival and I’m loving it so far,” he said.

“Sopranos” star Edie Falco said she too was looking forward to the flicks.

“Being able to see more of the movies I want to see that I don’t have to,” she said. ‘Even just looking at the catalogue in the past was so intimidating and I know they’ve had to scale down a little bit, which actually works for me. You know, pop into stuff that I might not have expected to see, and be able to get a seat and be able to see movies that I may not get to see any place else.”

Jonathan Tisch of the Loews hotel group was looking forward to the festival.

“This event is so important for all New Yorkers and it allows us to remember the tragedy of September 11th, when the festival was founded,” he said. “But now we’re in another difficult moment and to offer New Yorkers a chance to relax to get out of their homes, to be with their neighbors and really come together to remind us all the time, what an amazing city this is!”

source: ny1.com

How close did 25-year-old British actor Henry Cavill come to playing Edward Cullen?

“Twilight” fans have long lingered over author Stephenie Meyer’s assertion that the actor would have been her “perfect Edward,” pre-Robert Pattinson of course. Nowadays, RPattz has become the hottest young star in Hollywood, and Cavill is instead starring in the Woody Allen comedy “Whatever Works,” opening July 1. And when we caught up with him recently, the actor revealed that his star-making “casting” never made it far beyond Meyer’s lips.

“I’ve heard this, but I haven’t heard from Stephenie,” Cavill insisted, saying he’s never had any contact with the best-selling writer. “I haven’t spoken to her personally, and I haven’t spoken to the producers.”

Flashback to the early days of the “Twilight” movie, when casting was about to begin and Meyer posted the following thoughts on the movie’s lead: “Indisputably the most difficult character to cast, Edward is also the one that I’m most passionately decided upon. The only actor I’ve ever seen who I think could come close to pulling off Edward Cullen is Henry Cavill. Henry was Albert, the young son in ‘The Count of Monte Cristo.’ Can you see it? I know I can!”

After some development delays, Meyer updated her thoughts and said that Cavill had grown too old: “The most disappointing thing for me is losing my perfect Edward. … I’m not willing to relinquish Henry completely. … I propose that Henry play Carlisle!”

But regardless of Meyer’s suggestions, Twilighters would eventually fall in love with Robert Pattinson as Edward Cullen and Peter Facinelli as his ageless father. “What I’ve heard, or pieced together from various sources, is that Stephenie had seen me in whatever jobs I had done previously, and I was probably perfect then,” grinned Cavill, remembering his near-casting. “But then, the ravages of time had taken their toll.”

Laughing, the good-natured actor added: “I hate myself.”

Ultimately, Cavill suspected, the three years between Pattinson and himself were the main obstacle that kept him from becoming Edward. “By the time the movie came around, I didn’t look right for the character,” he explained, adding: “No one even called me or my agent.”

But still, Cavill said he holds no ill will and that whenever he finds time between a busy schedule that includes “Whatever Works,” “The Tudors” and the upcoming Tarsem Singh flick “War of the Gods,” he’d like to watch Pattinson in action. “I haven’t seen it yet,” he said of the “Twilight” movie. “My brother saw it and said he loved it. I hope to check it out soon.”