We must be in heaven because we got two new photo shoots in one day! This time, it’s for GQ Australia, and the outtakes are very pretty. It reminds me of the Men’s Health shoot back in 2008. In the interview, Henry discussed his best life lessons, the #MeToo movement, the upcoming Mission: Impossible – Fallout, and more. Check out the outtakes in our gallery and a snippet of the interview below.
As I set my phone on record, it starts to feel as if I’m about to get Dorff’d. “It’s better to step away,” says Cavill when asked whether he reads his own interviews. “A lot of stuff, in the written word, sounds very different from the intention.”
Cavill is still a little reluctant to open up. When asked what a visit home to Jersey gives him, he says it acts as a chance to reflect on how he’s changed each year.
So, how has he changed this year?
“The usual things, that people change every year.”
Anything more specific?
“You start to reflect on the past and consider the future while enjoying the present.” (6. ‘Keep secrets’.)
Again, we are empathetic. Cavill is coming off a long run of work: Mission: Impossible – Fallout (the sixth instalment of the Tom Cruise-led action-film franchise in which he plays a moustachioed foil to Cruise’s eternal Ethan Hunt) – was a marathon shoot, and it’s about to enter a marathon publicity tour.
Cavill spent a year working with Tom Cruise, and says precisely what so many say about Cruise. “Tom has got this incredible energy. He’s very charming and very engaging. He will remember details of your first meeting which you don’t remember. You’re person number 600 that he met that day, but he’ll remember your dog’s name and that your brother was unwell that day.”
Suffice to say, when you’re managing a Mission: Impossible workload, and blockbuster-sized demand, you need to draw lines.
So, Henry Cavill has boundaries. He won’t pose for photos at airports because, in the event of a mob forming, he’d rather not hide in a toilet. He won’t pose for photos at the gym, either – in-between sets is ‘me’ time, and that’s fair. He won’t text at the dinner table – not unless he’s asked permission in advance. (21. ‘Don’t allow the phone to interrupt important moments. It’s there for our convenience, not the caller’s.’)
He has an extraordinarily tight circle of friends, and they’re tightly curated. He’s heard the, ‘You’ve changed’ thing before, and if you’re saying that, you already don’t get it, and you may not have really ever been friends.
His real friends? They get it. “They go, ‘Wow! He is worked to the bone. Poor guy. I wonder how we can support him.’ Rather than, ‘What’s wrong with you?’”
Read the full interview over at GQ Australia.
