Yes, who knew that there would be rules to being the Man of Steel. Superman himself has rules that he sets for himself, like no killing and whatnot.
But nobody knew that there would be rules for the actor who played Superman...
Although, come to think of it, that "no killing" rule still applies... probably.
Before he became the Man Of Steel, Cavill had to... well, get the part.
Cavill was nervous because in order to get the part you had to put on Christopher Reeves' old suit and walk out in front of the producers, and Cavill thought he would look ridiculous.
"He walked out, and no one laughed. Other actors put that suit on, and it's a joke, even if they're great actors. Henry put it on, and he exuded this kind of crazy-calm confidence that just made me go, "Wow.' Ok. This was Superman."
You have to be shredded to play Superman. So before he could get the role, Henry had to visit a really intense gym. Here is an excerpt from their site:
"Gym Jones is not a cozy place. There are no televisions, no machines, no comfortable spot to sit. Effort and pain may not be avoided. Physical and psychological breakdowns occur."
It wasn't just Gym Jones that required mental preparation, but the act of playing the Kryptonian also took a lot of thought.
Cavill didn't watch any of the movies but instead read all the original comics.
Getting a Superman ready body isn't just about working out, abs are in fact made in the kitchen.
At one point, Cavill was eating 5000 calories a day. What did he think of this diet?
"You've got to eat protein first, then a little bit of carbs... you've gotta keep your hunger levels going. The leaning down phase is the hardest because although you're looking great, you're always in a bad mood because you're so hungry."
Henry Cavill not only had to work hard, eat hard, and read hard to play Superman, but he had to sleep hard too.
His trainer recommended he get 9-10 hours a night.
Deciding on a Superman suit for a new movie isn't as easy as you'd think.
Apparently, Henry Cavill had to sit there for four hours while they tried on different versions of the suit... and never complained once!
This was actually a rule Cavill made for himself when he set out to play the Man Of Steel: no CGI would be used to enhance his body.
He wanted it to be all-natural.
Whether it was to make Superman's fighting more realistic or just to be more in shape we'll never know.
But what we do know is that Henry Cavill took Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu in order to prepare for his role.
Even when he was already Superman, he still had to keep up with his training, although instead of going 7 hours a day he only had to do 2 to 3.
When being Superman was done. Once the scenes were done, Henry says this happened:
"Zack Snyder bought me an amazing apple pie and a tub of ice cream. I ordered a pizza as well and didn't even go home. I just sat in a trailer afterward and ate it. I passed out into a food coma after that."
Another rule while playing Superman was that he couldn't drop the American accent until he was off set.
According to Henry, it takes a warmup and everything, so to drop it would be to lose all your preparation.
One rule while playing the Man Of Steel is how to interact with children when they see you outside of the movies.
Henry Cavill always remembers that they're not meeting the actor, they're meeting Superman.
Superman himself said:
"Once you get to the level of being fit, there are days when you go, “You know what? Today I just want to dig a very deep hole and jump into it.”
He was required by the studio to keep his physique for the movies.
He couldn't get fat in between the movies unless, of course, they needed a fat Superman.
Even though sometimes it sucks:
"Sometimes your energy is really high and you think, “I’m going to hurt myself today. Let’s see if I still bleed.” And you will bleed!"
Through all the training, all the filming and all the let's face it, suffering he had to go through, Henry Cavill had to be a bastion of hope to all those around him.
Just like Superman.
You can get down on yourself as an actor, especially when you're playing a huge role like Superman.
However, luckily, Cavill had one of his greatest inspirations with him on set.
Yes, he wasn't just Kal-El's father, he was also Henry Cavill's motivator throughout the movie... and throughout most of his life.
Years ago, when Henry Cavill was young, he met Russell Crowe (who was already a big actor at the time).
Crowe was shooting a movie at Cavill's school when Superman was about 16 years old.
Henry went up to the superstar, introduced himself and said that he wanted to be an actor.
Because two days later, the young man got a package from the Hollywood superstar.
As the story goes, it contained Vegemite, a CD of Crowe's band, an Aussie rugby jersey...
The note read:
"Dear Henry, a journey of 1,000 miles begins with a single step. Russell."
Ever since Cavill has kept the photo on him, and even had it with him during Man of Steel.
Even when he was working at his most intense, the Man Of Steel needed to push himself to the very limits while working out.
There is one story that was shared by Cavill's trainer...
He was doing way more weight than he was used to and after the fourth rep his muscles straight up collapsed on him.
His trainer told him to dump the weight...
"Instead, Cavill did something that Twight—a man not easily impressed—would remember forever. He drove his heels into the ground and pushed, his face twisting into an expression showing supreme effort, his body working harder than at any time during his entire year of training for the role."
"And slowly he began to rise out of the hole, grinding his way back up, until he completed the rep. He racked the bar, lifted his head, and opened his eyes... and everything seemed different."
Obviously, if you want to get as ripped as Superman you have to do a wee bit of weight training.
Henry Cavill is no stranger to this, as he could tell you.
He was doing everything from squats, deadlifts, clean lifts, presses to bench presses. It was a similar exercise regimen to 300, but with a little more added on.
He was training 2-3 hours a day... Just with weights!
This is one of the worst workouts that Henry Cavill had to do, and apparently he had to do it a lot to become Kal-El.
The workout is called... The Tailpipe.
It's designed to "smoke calories, torch fat, and leave you exhausted."
We don't know the exact details, but we know it's a 100 rep workout where you take very small breaks.
It's a workout where you "fight the urge to gasp, throw yourself around, or change songs on your iPod."
It's a two-man workout that involves kettlebells and rowing 250 meters. That just sounds awful.
