Henry Cavill stands today as one of the most well-recognized faces on the planet. The British actor stays famed for memorable roles as DCEU’s Superman, Netflix’s The Witcher, and alongside Tom Cruise in Mission: Impossible – Fallout. However, his foray into acting received a boost after he viewed a Russel Crowe starrer action adventure, released a year before his mainstream acting debut with Laguna in 2001.

A glaring aspect of that movie resonated with him, making him fall in love with his passion.

The movie that made Henry Cavill fall in love with making them

Henry Cavill has amassed a whopping $50 million from movie-making but this wasn’t his only career choice until 2000. In November 2022, Speaking to Deadline’s The Film That Lit My Fuse, the actor revealed that though he remained a regular in school plays with an interest in drama, Russel Crowe’s 2000-released historical action flick, Gladiator, helped him choose from “one of my two goals” to make a living out of movie-making.

Cavill also opened up that “I love that period of history” and Gladiator, also his favorite film, presenting it in an “engaging and fun manner” made him realize “that’s the kind of stuff I want to do”. The movie had Russel Crowe star as a Roman general named Maximus Decimus Meridius, who gets betrayed by the emperor’s son. Thereafter, an act of revenge unfolds that puts the spotlight on a magnificent and creative retelling of history.

Remarkably, around those very same times, the two actors also had a conversation that changed one of their lives forever.

Russel Crowe’s advice to Cavill led the latter to share the stage years later

During the shooting for Crowe’s 2000 film, Proof of Life, Henry Cavill played an extra on a football field. At one point, a drizzle stopped the shoot, prompting the lead actor to stand soaking in the views. Among the many, The Witcher star happened to be the only one to walk up to the actor for tips on cracking into showbiz.

A word of advice in the form of “Commit” came from Russel Crowe to Henry Cavill which not only set the latter on a determined path to Hollywood but also to star opposite The Pope’s Exorcist actor a decade later in 2013’s Man of Steel. The rest was history for Cavill since his career flourished following the DC film and he will have Crowe to thank for the initial spark and push.

Did you know Henry Cavill found his acting call from Russel Crowe’s Gladiator? Let us know in the comments below.