Henry Cavill made for a great movie villain in Mission: Impossible – Fallout as August Walker. He knew exactly how to make us know his character was complete slime. In the action movie, he’s part of some of the most memorable sequences, not least of which is the hard-knuckle brawl that takes place in a public bathroom.
A key moment from the scene has Cavill reloading his arms, as if needing to pumping them back up to keep doling out damage. Turns out, the DC movie star only did this out of necessity, and thought it might look silly on camera. “The connective tendons in my biceps were getting sore, so I had to warm them up before I threw punches,” he told the Happy Sad Confused podcast. “I would literally do that to warm them up, and I did it once, and I thought ‘oh, god that probably looked really stupid I can’t believe I did that’.”
Cavill was so insecure about it, he asked director Christopher McQuarrie to do another take. When he did, the arm-reloading was conspicuous by its absence. “Then I did another take without doing it,” Cavill recalled, “and he’s like, ‘why didn’t you do that thing? That was really good.’ And I was like, ‘that was good?’ And he said, ‘yes! Definitely do that.’ And we did.”
Lo, one of the most noteworthy moments of the entire thriller movie franchise was born. Well before the Tom Cruise movie hit theatres, fans were fixated on Cavill’s arms, and his seeming need to cock them like a shotgun.
Now we know he did indeed need to get them back in combat shape. Currently, Cavill is doing a victory lap to celebrate his return as Superman in Black Adam, as well as his supporting role in upcoming Netflix movie Enola Holmes 2. He may not be returning for Mission: Impossible 7, but since he’s also got The Witcher season 3 coming soon, we’d say he’s plenty busy.
Have a look at our guide to the Superman movies for more from the Man of Steel.