Henry Cavill never refrains from pushing the boundaries to ensure his character portrayals are incredibly convincing. From taking charge of his action sequences to seamlessly switching accents, the actor makes sure his role glows brightly on the screen. One of his standout performances was in The Witcher, where he played the Geralt of Rivia. While for the role of Superman, Cavill had to switch his British accent to American, for The Witcher, he took an even more arduous challenge.

For his role in The Witcher, Cavill had to upkeep a specific physique. And attaining this goal required him to undergo an intense regime of “dehydration”.

Henry Cavill was on a water break for a particular scene in The Witcher

Henry Cavill appeared on The Graham Norton Show on December 23 to promote the first season of his Netflix show, The Witcher. When Norton asked Cavill about his practice of dehydrating himself for several days for his shirtless scenes in the series, Cavill shed light on the exact procedure of the three-day dehydration regime and why it was beneficial. He revealed that he did drink half a liter of water in the first two days, but completely avoided water on the third day.

It was not until the fourth day, when the shoot wrapped up, that Cavill drank water. The 40-year-old shared that towards the end of the third day, he was thirsty enough to “smell water nearby”. Cavill defended the extreme appearance-based regimen saying, it was “mostly for staying healthy”. It also enabled Cavill to tone his muscles and appear fit on screen, especially during the shirtless scenes. However, not many people know, once upon a time, Cavill was not comfortable performing shirtless scenes that required a perfect eight-pack.

Cavill once shared that filming shirtless scenes for a particular role at the start of his career made him anxious.

Cavill’s anxiety in filming shirtless scenes

Geralt was not the only role for which Henry Cavill undertook such a challenging fitness regime. Cavill had burnt 6% of his body fat to attain the level of Greek Gods for his role in Immortals. Cavill has been on record sharing his childhood experience of body shaming. While talking to IMDB during the shoot of Immortals, he opened up about his anxiety about filming shirtless scenes. Nevertheless, the actor refused make-up for his physique, which marked the beginning of his body-building journey.

The actor built eight-packs for his role as Theseus and also indulged in extreme physical training under Mark Twigh. The training comprised core-body exercises that aimed at burning calories and fats. Through his dedication to immersing himself completely in each role, Cavill has earned himself a special place in the hearts of his fans.

What do you think about Henry Cavill’s challenging fitness regimen? Let us know your thoughts in the comment below!