Henry has blessed us with another gorgeous photo shoot as he graces the cover of this month’s issue of Square Mile magazine! He discussed a lot in this interview, including the much-awaited Mission: Impossible – Fallout, being Superman, some of his earlier projects, and much more. Check out the two covers and some outtakes in our gallery.
Cavill is bigger: north of 6ft, and with a build to make a wardrobe search for the nearest brick shithouse to cower behind. Your grandmother would describe him as a “strapping young fellow”, while your wife quietly slips her wedding ring into the nearest drawer. Never has a man looked quite so obviously Leading.
A cinematic star needs a cinematic setting – so we recruited the Shangri La penthouse at the Shard, and thus half of London sprawled out beyond gigantic panes of glass. We have gathered on the X floor of Europe’s tallest building to discuss Cavill’s role in Mission: Impossible – Fallout; or rather the little that Cavill can discuss about his role in Mission: Impossible – Fallout.
Refreshingly for a modern blockbuster – where spoilers are tossed into the first trailer, and the plot can be deciphered a month before general release – very little is known about the sixth installment of the M:I franchise. Naturally, it stars Tom Cruise as daredevil superspy Ethan Hunt, naturally there is a countdown to an imminent global catastrophe, and naturally a lot of vehicles will blow up.
Cavill is the headline addition to an ensemble cast that includes returning M:I alumni Simon Pegg, Rebecca Ferguson, Michelle Monaghan, and Ving Rhames – a veteran of the very first installment way back in 1996. (Cavill was 13.) Our man plays “primary antagonist” August Walker – a thrusting CIA agent whose methods clash with Hunt’s inexhaustible heroism. (Hunt can’t be much chill, although neither is Walker by the sound of things.)
“I’m forced upon Ethan’s team by the director of the CIA. August Walker is a sledgehammer to Ethan’s scalpel. He will get the job done no matter what. His MO is so different to Ethan’s that naturally they don’t get along at all. Walker has no problem with collateral damage,” notes Cavill with a certain fondness. “He’s fine with it.”
Which is fortunate, as the trailer promises plenty of collateral will be duly damaged. Including the leading man: Tom Cruise broke his ankle chasing Cavill across the rooftops of London. (Fortunately for on-set harmony, the men were filming at the time.) Cruise, the utter pro, finished the take, but production was halted for several weeks.
Cavill spent the hiatus developing the character of Walker – and enjoying a little downtime. Every cloud… “I didn’t break my ankle, so I got a holiday and my character got better!” he says cheerily. “Wasn’t even a cloud: just silver lining!”
After such a mishap, it might seem prudent to tackle the dialogue scenes and retire to the trailer for the heavy stuff. Cavill is made of sterner stuff, and insisted on performing the vast majority of his own stunts. (He can’t share much details about the lone outlier, except to warn: “If you have two actors involved in that stunt, it increases the risk tenfold. And when we’re talking about that kind of stunt, if the risk goes up just a little bit, people die.”)
Read the full interview over at Square Mile.
