Over a decade ago, when the Twilight craze was beginning to take the world by storm, Henry Cavill was Stephenie Meyer’s first choice for the role of Edward Cullen in the film adaption. While some may find it hard to imagine anyone other than Robert Pattison playing the role, the author wrote the following on her blog:
“The most disappointing thing for me is losing my perfect Edward. Henry Cavill is now 24 years old. Let us have a moment of quiet in which to mourn…”
The first Twilight movie was released back in 2008. According to Variety, Meyer had already cast a potential lineup of actors in her head by the time the first film went into development. However, many of her top choices had aged out of the roles by then. A then-24-year-old Cavill would have been too old to play an immortal high school teen.
A similar thing occurred with Interview with the Vampire. Though he wasn’t the direct inspiration for the character, Anne Rice said that when she pictured Lestat, he looked like a young Rutger Hauer. Unfortunately for those who didn’t care for Tom Cruise’s performance, as Rice once did, Hauer was too old to play the part when they made the movie.
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Of course, what’s interesting about Cavill losing out on the role due to his age is that high schoolers in movies and TV shows are usually played by those well outside of high school age. Take The End of the F***ing World, both seasons of which you can find on Netflix. Alex Lawther and Jessica Barden starred as two characters who, at the start of the series, are both 17. In real life, Lawther was 22, and Barden was 25 when they made the first season.
Cavill’s Response to Losing Twilight Role
Warner Bros. Studios
During a recent Happy Sad Confused podcast interview, Cavill revealed that he had no idea that Meyer had viewed him as the “perfect Edward.” While he admits that playing the character would have been “cool,” he feels no rivalry with Patterson. You can read the actor’s exact words below:
“Not at all because I didn’t know about the movie. I didn’t know about them wanting to cast me and the internet wasn’t quite the tool that it is now and so I only found out afterwards. I was like, ‘Oh okay, that would have been cool.’”
In an interview on The Graham Norton Show, Cavill stated his belief that missing out on big parts is never bad. Cavill also said that getting an opportunity to be in the limelight by missing out on the big roles isn’t bad and that he counts his lucky stars for each one of those. There are quite a few different major roles that Cavill missed out on besides Edward, including James Bond, Cedric Diggory (also played by Patterson), and, funnily enough, Superman for two different projects.
Of course, times have changed for Cavill. Not only did he finally get to play Superman, but after a period of uncertainty, he will continue playing Superman. He also got to play Geralt of Rivia for a time in Netflix’s The Witcher. Cavill also got to play Sherlock Holmes in Enola Holmes, the sequel to which is due to come out on Netflix this Friday.
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