Henry Cavill is an actor.
Henry William Dalgliesh Cavill ( [ ˈkævᵻl ] born 5 May 1983 ) is a British actor . Cavill began his career starring in the film adaptations of The Count of Monte Cristo ( 2002 ) and I Capture the Castle ( 2003 ) . He later appeared in minor and supporting roles in television shows such as BBC 's The Inspector Lynley Mysteries , ITV 's Midsomer Murders and Showtime 's The Tudors ( 2007-10 ) , then crossed to mainstream Hollywood films such as Tristan & Isolde ( 2006 ) , Stardust ( 2007 ) , Blood Creek ( 2009 ) and Immortals ( 2011 ) . Cavill starred as Charles Brandon , 1st Duke of Suffolk in the Showtime television series The Tudors ; and in 2008 became the official spokesman for the Dunhill fragrance collection for men . Cavill gained further prominence and international fame playing the titular superhero Superman in the DC Extended Universe starting with the 2013 reboot film Man of Steel , originally the highest-grossing Superman film of all time until it was surpassed by 2016 's Batman v Superman : Dawn of Justice , where he reprised his role as Superman ; making it his highest-grossing film to date .