Henry Cavill became the latest actor to portray Sherlock Holmes with the release of Netflix’sEnola Holmes, a mystery film starring Millie Bobby Brown as the eponymousteenage sister of the world-famous private detective. Multiple actors have put their spin on Sherlock since the character debuted in the pages of author Sir Arthur Conan Doyle’s books, and Cavill noted the role is more freeing compared to the duties of playing DC’s Superman.
Cavill made his debut as the Last Son of Krypton in Warner Bros. and DC’sMan of Steel, a reboot of theSupermanfilm series from director Zack Snyder that launched the DC Extended Universe franchise in 2013. Two years later, Cavill reprised the role in Snyder’sBatman v Superman: Dawn of Justiceand then again in2017’sJustice League. While Cavill’s portrayal of Superman has earned acclaim from some fans, others have been less impressed by what is considered to be a relatively darker take on the traditionally hopeful hero.
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Cavill acknowledged that portraying iconic characters such as Superman andGeralt of Riviacomes with a certain amount of pressure. “It’s funny, I try not to focus on the pressure aspect. I make it more of a personal mission for myself rather than a pressure aspect. Whether that be Superman, whether that be The Witcher, whether that be Sherlock Holmes, I’m not feeling the external pressure,” he said of his approach to taking on roles with expectations from fans. “It’s more about me –certainly with Superman and The Witcher – those are characters I grew up with and I love and I really, really want to represent in the most source-accurate way possible. That for me was a massive thing and still is a massive thing.”
While Sherlock Holmes may be well-known to most people, Cavill wasn’t overly familiar with the source material and was, therefore, able to avoid feeling the pressure to deliver a perfect portrayal of the character. “When it comes to Sherlock Holmes, I wasn’t reading the books of Sherlock Holmes necessarily. So I managed to absolve myself of this duty which I put on myself which is being a law loyalist; it’s always about the details,” Cavill said before explaining that his usual familiarity with famous characters tends to make him an irritant on set. “I’m the most annoying guy on set, because I’m saying, ‘Excuse me, you do realize this should be happening and they wouldn’t do that and you haven’t read this then that means this would be impossible. Everyone’s just going, ‘Henry just shut up and do the thing.’ I’m like, ‘I don’t wanna do the thing. He wouldn’t do it this way but he can do this.’ With Sherlock, because I absolved myself of being that psychopathic law loyalist… we could craft a Sherlock that wassupportive of Enolaas a character.”
For Cavill’s sake, it’s nice to know that bringing Sherlock Holmes to life was free of the pressures that come with playing Superman, especially considering his future as the Man of Steel has been in question for some time. While it was reported that Cavill’s tenure as Superman would end withJustice Leagueand negotiations to reprise the role for a cameo inShazam!fell through, rumors claim the actor has signed a new deal to continue playing the Man of Steel, thoughhe has not confirmed or denied the reports.
Fortunately, Cavill will still have plenty of work ahead as the lead star of Netflix’sThe Witcher. Production on the second season had been temporarily suspended due to the COVID-19 pandemic, butfilming resumed in the summerwith an expected premiere date in 2021.
