He played supporting roles in several television series, including BBC's The Inspector Lynley Mysteries (2002) and ITV's Midsomer Murders (2003), and later appeared in other films, such as Tristan & Isolde (2006), Stardust (2007) and Immortals (2011).

He portrayed a member of the T-Birds in a 1999 school production of Grease and took the lead role in a performance of Dogg's Hamlet, which was made by his own Grafton house as their submission for an intra-school drama festival.

[8] In 2000, while playing rugby, 16-year-old Cavill met actor Russell Crowe, who was shooting on location at Stowe for the film Proof of Life.

"[13] Entertainment Weekly named him the "Most Dashing Duke" and praised his work on The Tudors for displaying "charm, depth and a killer bod".

McG pulled out of the project and direction was taken over by director Bryan Singer, who recast Brandon Routh as the lead in Superman Returns.

[25] On 30 January 2011, it was announced that Cavill had been cast in the role of Clark Kent / Superman in director Zack Snyder's Man of Steel.

[29][30] On being chosen for the role, Cavill commented, "In the pantheon of superheroes, Superman is the most recognized and revered character of all time, and I am honoured to be a part of his return to the big screen.

[35] Cavill returned as Superman in the 2017 theatrical version of Justice League, which had been reworked by director Joss Whedon after Snyder left the project due to a family tragedy.

[46] From 2019 to 2023, Cavill portrayed the mutant monster hunter Geralt of Rivia in the hit Netflix fantasy drama The Witcher, an adaptation of the book series of the same name by Polish author Andrzej Sapkowski.

[51] In late October 2022, Cavill and Netflix announced that he would exit from The Witcher after the third season released in 2023, and would be replaced by Liam Hemsworth.

[58][59] The same month, an article by Deadline reported that he would star in The Rosie Project, directed by Steve Falk and based on the book of the same name, written by Australian author Graeme Simsion.

[60] Cavill negotiated what was intended to be a one-time contract with Warner Bros. to return as Superman in Black Adam,[61] and appeared in a cameo in the mid-credit scene of the film.

[66] In April 2024, Cavill re-teamed with director Guy Ritchie on the World War II spy action film The Ministry of Ungentlemanly Warfare, with Jerry Bruckheimer producing.

After the acquisition of global rights to the Warhammer 40,000 franchise by Amazon Studios in December 2022, Cavill was attached to star in and executive produce projects related to it.

[87] He has been an avid gamer since childhood,[88][89] at one point missing a phone call from Zack Snyder telling him he got the role of Superman because he was too busy playing World of Warcraft.

[92][93][94] He credited his experience playing The Witcher video game series prior to the show's production with motivating him to seek out the role of Geralt.

[96] Cavill also enjoys the Warhammer 40,000 series of games and fiction, saying he "genuinely can't get enough of the lore they have built over the decades.