by Bryan Alexander

Henry Cavill wears blue jeans， 1）flip-flops and a T-shirt while walking through 2）a flock of diners at Fishbar restaurant.

Maybe its his 3）stride， 4）physique， deep blue eyes and dark hair， but the guy really does look like Superman， even while relaxing on the beach.

“When my hair was longer months ago， you wouldnt have said as much，” says Cavill， 30. “But at the moment， yeah， I guess theres a certain 5）resemblance.”

This “certain resemblance” was strong enough that director Zack Snyder chose the British actor to play the iconic comic-book character in Man of Steel. It was also enough that Cavill was 6）pursued for 2006s Superman Returns， though he lost out to Brandon Routh when the project 7）switched directors.

The experience of having come so close makes 8）capturing the Man of Steel role that much more rewarding.

“I guess you can say Henry was born to play Superman，” says Snyder， noting the actors physical similarities.“But all these life experiences have come together. Hes gone through a journey. In our movie， Clark Kent gets beaten down by life and then becomes Superman. Henry has done the same thing.”

Cavill has already had an impressive career， including roles in 2002s The Count of Monte Cristo， Showtimes The Tudors and 2011s Immortals.

But he has also 9）shrugged off 10）setbacks such as losing out to Daniel Craig for the role of James Bond.

“Having had all the ups and downs maybe made me want to work all the harder，” Cavill says. “Yeah， bad things will happen to you. And youll get kicked （down） a few times. Stand up.”

Snyder was 11）hooked on Cavill after his December， 2010 12）audition and became fully 13）convinced after a screen test with the actor wearing Christopher Reeves注 14）Lycra Superman outfit. Even though Cavill was out of shape after being directed to eat pizza to appear like a regular guy for 2012s The Cold Light of Day， Snyder knew he had his man.

“When he came out in the suit， it was like， ‘OK， thats our Superman，” Snyder says.

Cavill recalls the phone conversation when he found out he got the part. He was 15）ignoring calls while playing video games before he noticed his 16）potential employer was trying to reach him. When they finally connected， Snyder was too polite.

“Im thinking， ‘Hes letting me down easy，” Cavill says. “And then he said， ‘I was also wondering if you wanted to do a little movie with me. Inside there were fireworks going off. But I played it extremely cool.”

The “l(fā)ittle movie called for the supersuit to be updated with an “alien” look. A cast was 17）assembled that includes Russell Crowe as his father， Jor-El， Kevin Costner and Diane Lane as 18）adoptive parents Jonathan and Martha Kent and Amy Adams as Lois Lane. Meanwhile， Cavill immediately underwent a four-month physical 19）regimen 20）supervised by 300 trainer Mark Twight.

Cavill says he avoided using 21）performance-enhancing drugs and computer-graphic tricks to make his body look bigger on-screen.

“I wanted it to be me，” he says. “It helped me get into character. And also because its my name. I wanted to provide that image （of Superman） and make it reality.”

在魚(yú)吧餐廳，穿著藍(lán)色牛仔褲、人字拖和一件T恤的亨利·卡維爾穿過(guò)一群用餐者。

也許是因?yàn)樗牟秸{(diào)、體格、深藍(lán)色的雙眼和黑發(fā)，總之這個(gè)男人真的長(zhǎng)得很像超人——即使是在沙灘放松的狀態(tài)下。

“幾個(gè)月前我的頭發(fā)比現(xiàn)在長(zhǎng)一點(diǎn)，你肯定不會(huì)說(shuō)我像，”30歲的卡維爾說(shuō)道?！暗F(xiàn)在，是的，我想確實(shí)是有某個(gè)相似之處?！?/p>

這個(gè)“相似之處”足以讓導(dǎo)演扎克·施奈德選擇這名英國(guó)演員扮演《超人：鋼鐵之軀》里這個(gè)標(biāo)志性的漫畫(huà)角色。這個(gè)相似之處也曾令卡維爾入圍角逐2006年的《超人歸來(lái)》，但是電影后來(lái)?yè)Q了導(dǎo)演，他最終敗給了布蘭登·羅斯。

那次失之交臂的經(jīng)歷令這次斬獲《鋼鐵之軀》的角色更顯珍貴。

“我想，你可以說(shuō)亨利天生就是演超人的料，”施奈德說(shuō)。他注意到這位演員在體格上的相似點(diǎn)?！暗羞@些經(jīng)歷也要加在一起。他走過(guò)了一段歷程。在我們這部電影里，克拉克·肯特備受生活的打擊，而后成為超人。亨利經(jīng)歷過(guò)同樣的事情?！?/p>

卡維爾之前的履歷足夠令人印象深刻：他演過(guò)2002年的《新基督山伯爵》、“Showtime”電視臺(tái)的《都鐸王朝》以及2011年的《驚天戰(zhàn)神》。

然而，他也曾對(duì)數(shù)次挫折一笑置之，其中一次就是敗給丹尼爾·克雷格而失去了扮演詹姆斯·邦德的機(jī)會(huì)。

“所有這些起伏也許讓我想更努力工作，”卡維爾說(shuō)?！笆堑?，壞事會(huì)發(fā)生在你身上，你也會(huì)嘗過(guò)種種打擊。勇敢站起來(lái)吧?！?/p>

在2010年12月的試鏡之后，卡維爾就引起了施奈德的密切關(guān)注。當(dāng)這位演員穿著克里斯托弗·里夫的萊卡超人服試演了一幕之后，施奈德就認(rèn)定了卡維爾。由于當(dāng)時(shí)要出演2012年的《白晝冷光》，為了看起來(lái)和普通人一樣，卡維爾要大吃比薩餅，導(dǎo)致身材走樣。即使是這樣，施奈德知道卡維爾就是自己要找的人。

“當(dāng)他穿著超人服走出來(lái)，那就像：‘好的，那就是我們的超人，”施奈德說(shuō)。

卡維爾回憶起得到角色的那通電話。他當(dāng)時(shí)正在打游戲機(jī)，沒(méi)有理睬打來(lái)的那些電話，一直到他留意到未來(lái)的老板正在找他。兩人終于說(shuō)上話，施奈德卻表現(xiàn)得太有禮貌了。

“我在想：‘他是要讓我輕松一點(diǎn)去接受事實(shí)吧，”卡維爾說(shuō)。“然后他說(shuō)；‘我想，不知道你愿不愿意和我合作一部小電影。我的內(nèi)心可是激動(dòng)澎湃啊，但我表現(xiàn)得非常冷靜。”

這部“小電影”要求超人服升級(jí)為“外星人”的樣子。演員陣容包括羅素·克洛（飾演超人生父喬-艾爾）、凱文·科斯特納和戴安·萊恩（分別飾演超人養(yǎng)父母喬納森·肯特和瑪莎·肯特），以及艾米·亞當(dāng)斯（飾演露易絲·萊恩）。與此同時(shí)，卡維爾馬上投入到為期4個(gè)月的體能訓(xùn)練當(dāng)中，指導(dǎo)人是《300勇士》的訓(xùn)練員馬克·特維特。

卡維爾說(shuō)自己避免使用興奮劑和電腦圖形特技令自己在大屏幕上看起來(lái)更大塊頭。

“我希望那是真正的我，”他說(shuō)。“這幫助我進(jìn)入角色。而且因?yàn)樯厦鎸?xiě)的是我的名字，我希望塑造出（超人的）形象，并讓他真實(shí)可信。”