Henry William Dalgliesh Cavill is a British actor. He was born on the Bailiwick of Jersey, a British Crown dependency in the Channel Islands.
His mother, Marianne (Dalgliesh), a housewife, was also born on Jersey, and is of Irish, Scottish, and English ancestry. Henry's father, Colin Richard Cavill, a stockbroker, is of English origin (born in Chester, England). Henry is the second youngest son, with four brothers. He was privately educated at St. Michael's Preparatory School in Saint Saviour, Jersey before attending Stowe School in Buckinghamshire, England.
Henry's interest in acting started at an early age with school play renditions of Shakespeare's "A Midsummer Night's Dream", and Sonny in "Grease". He also starred and directed Hamlet in "40 Minutes".
It was at the age of seventeen when Henry was discovered by casting directors at school who were looking for a young boy to play Albert Mondego in La vengeance de Monte Cristo (2002). He went on to star in Laguna (2001), appear in BBC's "The Inspector Lynley Mysteries", TV film Goodbye, Mr. Chips (2002), and TV series Inspecteur Barnaby (1997).
When Henry was twenty years old, he gained starring roles in Rose & Cassandra (2003), Red Riding Hood (2006), Hellraiser: Hellworld (2005) (V)Tristan & Yseult (2006). He also had a minor role in Stardust, le mystère de l'étoile (2007) alongside Sienna Miller and Ben Barnes.
During 2007-2010, Henry had a leading role in TV series Les Tudors (2007) as Charles Brandon, 1st Duke of Suffolk. The series was a hit and was nominated for a Golden Globe in 2007 and won an Emmy in 2008. Entertainment Weekly named him 'Most Dashing Duke'.
He also starred in Blood Creek (2006) and Woody Allen's comedy film Whatever Works (2009). On January 30, 2011, it was announced that Henry Cavill had been cast as the next Superman in Man of Steel (2013), making him the first non-American actor to play Superman. Man of Steel (2013) was directed by Zach Snyder, produced by Christopher Nolan, and scripted by David S. Goyer.
On November 7, 2011, Henry starred in Tarsem Singh's mythological special effects film Immortals (2011) alongside Mickey Rourke, Freida Pinto, and Luke Evans. On September 7, 2012, Henry starred in action-thriller Cold Light of Day (2003) alongside Bruce Willis and Sigourney Weaver.
On June 10, 2013, Man of Steel (2013) kicked off its world premiere in New York City followed by London, Bailiwick of Jersey, Sicily, Madrid, Shanghai, Sydney, and Tokyo. Man of Steel (2013) became the highest-grossing Superman film to date, and the second-highest-grossing reboot of all time behind The Amazing Spider-Man (2012). Glamour magazine ranked him the #1 "Sexiest Man".
In August 2014, Henry became the Ambassador for Durrell Wildlife Park and created a website and social media called #CavillConservation to help raise funds and awareness for his love of animals and conservation.
On November 3, 2014, it was announced that Cavill, his brother Charlie, and London-based producer Rex Glensy, have formed their own British production company, Promethean Productions.
On August 7, 2015, The Man from U.N.C.L.E. began its premiere tour with a people's premiere at the famous Somerset House in London, followed by its world premiere in New York City, then Toronto, and Rio de Janeiro.
