Henry Cavill covers the June/July issue of Details and OMG, this is a beautiful shoot. Usually, I dislike the boringness of a men’s magazine photographing a male celebrity – they put the celebrity in a suit and put him against a blah background. But for Henry, he just seems to pop, right? At worst, he’s beautiful in a vanilla way. At best, he’s “throw me on the bed and just have your way with me” beautiful. I can’t find the Details interview on the Details site, but Henry has a really well-organized fan-site and they have the whole interview, which you can read here. I learned something new: his last name is supposed to be pronounced to rhyme with “travel”. Did not know that. Here are some highlights:

Amy Adams on Henry: “It takes a second to adjust, because Henry’s just so good-looking. He’s dashing with just a hint of danger, and it’s kinda great. It’s super-hidden. But you know there’s a steeliness within him that makes the gentlemanly qualities all the more interesting.”

Henry lives half the time in LA with Gina Carano: When not in London, Cavill makes his home here with his girlfriend. Her name, he says, “is Gina,” which comes out in a way that suggests he doesn’t want to answer any more questions about his girlfriend. “She’s amazing,” he says. “Gina” is known to everyone else as Gina Carano, the MMA fighter turned actress who is also conveniently rumored to be the next Wonder Woman. Cavill has chosen to walk up the street, leaving the car at home. “I’m not much of a schmoozer,” he says, “not much of an eventgoer. I’d rather stay close to here. This doesn’t feel like L.A. It doesn’t feel like work.”

Testing for James Bond: “I screen-tested for James Bond when l was 22,” he says. “But Daniel [Craig] was above and beyond the best choice.”

He loves Robert Jordan’s fantasy series Wheel Of Time: “The books are about the rise of a chosen one with great powers. I’d stay up until five, six in the morning reading. I couldn’t put them down.”

His youth, being homesick at boarding school: “I was fat,” he says. “I was Fat Cavill.” At boarding school, Cavill was prone to homesickness. “I bawled on the phone to my mom four times a day. I became an easy target.” Being Fat Cavill didn’t exactly boost the boy’s self-esteem, but it did help him form early understanding of his breakout character’s inner life. “My version of Superman,” he says, “is essentially of a guy who has spent his whole life alone.”

Finding out he was cast as Superman: “When I found out I got the part. I was home playing World of Warcraft. Zack called, and I thought he was calling to let me down easy. But then it dawned on me that he was giving me the part. I had to play it cool. Be appreciative, respectful, professional. But the second we hung up, I just sprinted up and down my stairs cheering and whooping like a madman. I kept looking in the mirror, going, ‘I don’t believe it. I’m Superman? I’m Superman!’”

His family: Cavill credits his early and unlikely confidence to his parents. “They taught me to believe in myself,” he says. “And as much as there were times where I really didn’t, you muscle through. You end up believing in yourself even more.” It’s also worth noting that Colin and Marianne Cavill, parents to five boys, are actually in the business of raising sons who look and act like heroes. Cavill’s oldest brother, Piers, spent a decade as an officer in the British Army. Nick, the second-oldest, is a highly decorated Royal Marine, having served in Sierra Leone and Iraq and as an infantry commander in Afghanistan.

Bulking up for Superman, then slimming down: “I’m not eating 5,000 calories a day anymore,” he says. He’s also cut back on the grueling Tabata workout methods employed by his trainer, Mark Twight, the record-breaking speed… Aside from his caloric intake, Cavill, showing both respect for trade secrets and a reasonable fear of Internet trolls, refuses to divulge any additional numbers. “I will say I was a lot bigger as Superman. A lot bigger. I’m not saying how much. It’s modesty about the weight — I’ve always been worried about my weight — but I also don’t want to invite that debate: Henry weighs this, so he’s the perfect Superman. Or, Henry doesn’t weigh this, and therefore he’s not believable in the role.”

He’s not afraid to watch his movies: “The hardest part of acting,” Cavill says, “is not being guaranteed work. Every job could be your last… But I cannot wait for this movie to come out. The studio just showed me the completed cut. I literally asked to watch it twice in a row. I’m so excited. I just want to show it to the world.”

The mythology and symbolism of Superman: “This character matters so much to so many people,” Cavill says. “I want to get that right. I want to do it justice. I want people to believe in the character and have faith in the character and kids to grow up wanting to be Superman. Or, God forbid, there’s people who are going through hardship and wishing that this character would turn up and save them.”

[From Details via Cavill’s fan-site]

I should note that the Details interview took place on the same day as the Boston Marathon Bombing – the beginning of the interview was normal and then as Henry and the interviewer were eating lunch, they stopped talking and just began watching the footage from the bombing. That’s why Henry’s last quote seems so bittersweet, about how the Superman character means so much to people and you can tell he was close to saying some cliché (but true) line about how first-responders are the true superheroes.

As for the discussion on Henry’s weight… I’m so glad he’s not giving numbers and making it into some huge deal, like Anne Hathaway’s “I won’t tell you what I did to lose weight, oh yes I will and I will keep talking about it until I win my Oscar” stuff.

Photos courtesy of Mark Seliger/Details via FSR.