Henry Cavill came close to becoming the face of the Twilight franchise. Stephenie Meyer, the author of the series, originally wanted Cavill to play Edward Cullen before Robert Pattinson ultimately secured the role.
According to Meyer, Cavill was her “perfect Edward,” but there was one significant issue—at 24 years old, Cavill was considered too old to convincingly portray a high school-aged vampire.
This was revealed when Summit Entertainment acquired the film rights to Meyer’s book. She even wrote on her 2017 blog, “Let us have a moment of quiet in which to mourn.”
Despite missing out on what became an iconic role, Cavill harbors no resentment. In fact, he didn’t even know that Meyer had envisioned him as Edward until after the first film was already in production.
“I didn’t know about them wanting to cast me,” Cavill said during an episode of the Happy Sad Confused podcast. “I was like, ‘Oh okay, that would have been cool.'”
However, Cavill’s career didn’t suffer from missing out on Twilight. He went on to land major roles, including Mission: Impossible and, most notably, becoming Superman in the DC Universe.
Reflecting on the roles he didn’t get, Cavill shared on The Graham Norton Show that sometimes missing out on a part can be a blessing.
“I count my lucky stars for each one of those,” he said, expressing gratitude for the opportunities that followed.
Would Henry Cavill have made a great Edward Cullen? Perhaps, but it seems everything worked out as it should in the end.
Must Read: Blink Twice Box Office (Worldwide): Channing Tatum’s Thriller Nears $50 Million Milestone