5 Surprising Facts About New Superman Henry Cavill

1. He screen-tested for James Bond role in Casino Royale – and was overlooked for the last Superman movie. The British-born actor was up for Bruce Wayne in 2005’s Batman Begins (Christian Bale got the part); lost out to Daniel Craig for the James Bond role in 2006’s Casino Royale and was overlooked in the 2006 Superman flick thanks to Brandon Routh. Empire magazine dubbed him the "most unlucky man in Hollywood."

2. He played opposite Jonathan Rhys Meyers in Showtime's The Tudors. Though he mostly starred in low-profile films (direct-to-video Hellraiser: Hellworld being one of them), he eventually got his big break opposite Jonathan Rhys Meyers' Henry VIII - - in the Showtime series The Tudors.
  3. He was eyed for Robert Pattinson's role in Twilight. He reportedly was author Stephenie Meyer's top pick to play Edward Cullen. By the time shooting was to began, he was 25 - hardly resembling the part of a 17-year old. He downplayed rumors to MTV News: "I've heard this, but I haven't heard from Stephenie. I haven't spoken to her personally, and I haven't spoken to the producers."   4. He's fluent in four languages! The actor - who can next be seen opposite Mickey Rourke, Freida Pinto and Kellan Lutz in November’s The Immortals -- can speak English, Spanish, French and Italian.   5. He didn’t know he landed Superman role until hours before it was announced. Neither Cavill - nor his CAA agents - knew he had nabbed the role in Warner Bros.' Zack Snyder-directed, Christopher Nolan-produced movie until Sunday morning - the casting process was that secretive. He was in the top three or four contenders since Day 1; Cavill's closest competitor: British actor Matthew Goode, one of the stars of Snyder and Warners' Watchmen comic book movie.