Today, Henry Cavill turns 42 — an age when you can look back and realize which moments were truly defining. For him, that moment came in 2000: a 17-year-old boy from Jersey sitting in a movie theater, mesmerized by the screen where Russell Crowe, as Maximus, was crushing enemies and winning hearts. Gladiator didn't just impress young Cavill — it gave him a dream.
Then, almost like a mystical coincidence, Henry and his classmates were invited to be extras on the set of Proof of Life. There, among the crowd, he saw the very same Russell Crowe. Instead of asking for an autograph, Cavill approached him and asked:
"Hi! My name is Henry. I want to be an actor. What's it like to be one?"
Crowe didn't brush him off; he gave advice, sent a package to his school with a CD of his band and a signed photo from Gladiator. The inscription read:
"Dear Henry, the journey of a thousand miles begins with the first step."
Irony of fate? Years later, they would play father and son in Man of Steel.
Before donning Superman's cape, Henry became a hero in costume dramas (The Count of Monte Cristo), a charismatic duke in The Tudors (critics immediately dubbed him "the most charismatic aristocrat on screen").
But there were also failures: he almost became Edward Cullen in Twilight (but "grew out of" the role), almost played Superman in 2004 (the project was canceled), and almost landed the role of Cedric Diggory in Harry Potter (but it went to Robert Pattinson).
But Gladiator remained his benchmark. The film, where everything is present: the fury of battle, the depth of characters, the hypnotic villain Commodus (Joaquin Phoenix), and of course, the immortal line:
"Death smiles at us all. All a man can do is smile back."
Cavill has often said that this film is "the perfect balance of scale and human story." Who would disagree with him?
