Henry Cavill Talks Career Reflection, DC Departure, and Potential Bond Role at ‘The Ministry of Ungentlemanly Warfare’ Premiere

Henry Cavill is finding clarity and purpose in his life and career as he gets older. Talking with ET’s Rachel Smith from the New York City premiere of The Ministry of Ungentlemanly Warfare on Monday, the actor, 40, shared that this current phase he’s in is providing him with both joy and direction. ‘I’m enjoying this stage of my life very much so,’ the Man of Steel star shared. ‘I’m turning 41 in May and I have a real sense of approaching everything with more — more direction now.’ He added, ‘One of the advantages of getting older is that you have the beauty of hindsight. And now with my career especially, I’ve got a lot of direction. I’ve got my hands on the steering wheel a lot more.’

Without naming anyone, the actor is seemingly referencing his powerless position in James Gunn and Peter Safran‘s rebooted DC Universe, from which he was exited. Just weeks prior to that announcement, the British actor had appeared in a Black Adam post-credit scene alongside Dwayne Johnson. ‘I will, after all, not be returning as Superman,’ Cavill wrote in an Instagram post at the time. ‘After being told by the studio to announce my return back in October, prior to their hire, this news isn’t the easiest, but that’s life. The changing of the guard is something that happens. I respect that.’

The move to reboot the franchise was especially controversial due in no small part to Cavill also juggling the Netflix show, The Witcher, days after announcing his return to the role of Clark Kent. In the same post announcing his departure from the show, he also shared that Ellie Monahan would be taking over the role from him. In the year-and-a-half since, Cavill has certainly reclaimed the narrative and devoted his time and effort to projects — and relationships, including with girlfriend Ellie Monahan — that have fulfilled him creatively and allowed him to grow as an actor and a person. On top of his new film, he starred in Argylle earlier this year alongside Samuel L. Jackson, Dua Lipa, John Cena and more.

For the more recent of the two movies, Cavill told ET from the NYC premiere that he found it thrilling to work with director Matthew Vaughn, who encouraged him to ‘go crazy’ and ‘have a wild time’ while filming. The actor stars as Gus March-Phillips in the movie, which is based on the true story of an elite combat team formed during World War II to infiltrate Nazi Germany and take down the Third Reich. To become the ‘ungentlemanly’ secret agent, Cavill and Vaughn decided to lean into having his character live a little bit on the wilder side and play up the antics as a soldier who is blood-thirsty for Nazis. ‘I was like, ‘OK, I guess I’m going to be slightly unhinged for the rest of this sequence,” he told ET. ‘Unhinged is a strong word, not quite unhinged but maybe relishing… It does work with this character and it works for the tone of the movie as well.’

Before he could scurry off into the film’s premiere, ET asked Cavill about one more project that he could potentially dive head-first into: Bond, James Bond. As the hunt for the next 007 continues — although speculation says that the job is locked up by Regé-Jean Page — Cavill said he would be honored to take up the part and even acknowledged the passionate fans who have made edits of what a Bond film with Cavill at the helm might look like. ‘I think it’s wonderful that people say that,’ he shared of fans pleading with producers to give him the role. ‘I don’t know if it’s necessarily up to me — I did see a rather interesting video on YouTube, though.’

One video on YouTube went viral over the weekend and stars Cavill as the iconic secret agent and Margot Robbie as his Bond girl for what would be the 26th film in the franchise. In response, the actor told ET that he’s open to the opportunity. ‘I might have to give Margot a call,’ Cavill joked. The Ministry of Ungentlemanly Warfare is in theaters now.