Director Zack Snyder shared a photo on his Vero True Social account this morning that he took of British actor Henry Cavill from his first screen test for Man of Steel. He can be seen wearing a duplicate copy of the Christopher Reeve spandex Superman suit. Snyder himself took the photo, saying “From the first test with Henry…I knew right away he was my Superman”. The director can be seen in the mirror taking the picture.
Henry has talked about this particular screen test in the past, but this is the first time a photo of him in the suit has been officially released. He came in in January of 2011 for the screen test and was given the casting news two weeks later.
From the HenryCavill.Org fansite:
To become Hollywood’s new Man of Steel, Henry Cavill had to pass the Laugh Test. To wit: Could he wear the Superman suit without anyone giggling? And not just any Superman suit. To shoot his screen test, Henry donned a replica of the costume Christopher Reeve wore in director Richard Donner’s classic 1978 film.
As an assistant helped him into the suit, Henry was feeling less than super. But he had recently lost the muscle tone he gained to play a loincloth warrior in the mythic fantasy Immortals. “All I could think was, Oh, God, they’re going to look at me and go, ‘He’s not Superman. Not a chance,’” Henry recalls. “The actor inside me was going, ‘You’re not ready! You’re not ready!’”
Zack Snyder saw something different. “He walked out and no one laughed,” says the director. “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. Okay, this is Superman.’”
Henry Cavill would go on to be cast as Superman in the Man of Steel movie and continues to play the character in both Batman V Superman: Dawn of Justice and the upcoming Justice League movie. Zack Snyder has been sharing behind-the-scenes photos and other goodies on the Vero platform and has been an advocate for it as of late.
(Originally published on Flickering Myth)