Henry William Dalgliesh Cavill, born May 5, 1983, is a British actor. Cavil began his career with roles in the film adaptions of The Count of Monte Carlo and I Capture the Castle. He has appeared in minor and supporting roles in several television series, including BBC’s The Inspector Lynley Mysteries, ITV’s Midsomer Murders, and Showtime’s The Tudors. Take a look below for 28 more interesting and awesome facts about Henry Cavill.

1. He appeared in Hollywood movies such as Tristan & Isolde, Stardust, Blood Creek, and Immortals.

2. He co-starred with Armie Hammer in the spy movie The Man from U.N.C.L.E. and the Netflix war drama Sand Castle.

3. Cavill gained further prominence and international fame for playing Superman in the DC Extended Universe, starting with the reboot Man of Steel, and reprising the role in Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice and Justice League.

4. Cavill was born the fourth of five boys, on Jersey in the Channel Islands.

5. His mother, Marianne, was a secretary in a bank, and his father, Colin Cavill, was a stockbroker.

6. He was educated at St. Michael’s Preparatory School in Saint Saviour, Jersey, before attending Stowe School in Stowe, Buckinghamshire, England.

7. His dream role is to play Alexander the Great.

8. Cavill likes rugby, but no longer plays due to injuries.

9. Author Stephanie Meyer based the description of Edward Cullen in her Twilight novels on Henry and even lobbied for him to play the role before Robert Pattinson was cast, but he was considered too old to play a 17 year old by the time the movie was produced.

10. He says that if he hadn’t picked up acting, he would have joined the armed forces to fulfill his “patriotic pride.”

11. He has an interest in Ancient History, especially in Egyptology, Greek, and Ancient Rome.

12. For his role as Superman in Man of Steel, Cavill became the third British actor to play the lead role in a reboot of a successful screen adaption of an American comic book series. Before him, Christian Bale was cast as Batman, and Andrew Garfield as Spider-Man.

13. He’s the first non-American actor to play Superman.

14. His favorite movie is the epic drama Gladiator.

15. Cavill’s favorite actor is Russell Crowe. He played the son of Crowe’s character Jor-El in Man of Steel.

16. He has a knack for languages. He’s already fluent in French, has conversational skills in Italian and German, and can order a beer in Czech.

17. He started a tradition in 2012 for giving out commemorative coins as a token of appreciation to people he has worked with. They include Gym Jones, who helped him get physically fit for Superman, and crew members of Man of Steel, The Man from U.N.C.L.E. and Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice.

18. His older brother, Major Niki Richard Dalgliesh Cavill, received an MBE as a heroic Royal Marine for keeping the vulnerable safe in a hostile environment in Afghanistan.

19. He has worked with actor Bill Nighty twice, once in I Capture the Castle, and also The Inspector Lynley Mysteries.

20. He’s a huge fan of comic books although he says he didn’t get to read them growing up due to his time at boarding school.

21. Cavill’s favorite Superman storylines and the ones he used for inspiration are “Death of Superman,” Return of Superman,” “Superman: Red Son” and “Earth-One.” He’s also a huge fan of Grant Morrison’s “New 52” work.

22. He didn’t watch any previous Superman movies or television series while making Man of Steel, using the comics solely as a reference for his portrayal of Superman.

23. He achieved 6% body fay for Immortals and then went even further for Man of Steel, where he achieved a body fat percentage of 3%, which is what bodybuilders reach during competitions.

24. During his childhood, he was bullied a lot at school for his chubbiness and was known as “Fat Cavill.” He started to turn things around when he landed a role in the movie The Count of Monte Cristo, where he had to lose a lot of weight to get the part. The biggest turning point came when he landed the lead role in Immortals. Cavill went shirtless for half the movie and sported extremely chiseled eight pack abs that vowed the audience.

25. He was engaged to British Showjumper Ellen Whitaker in May 2011, but separated later that same year. They met at the 2009 Olympia International Horse Show in London.

26. Cavill bought an American Akita dog in January 2014 from Big Bear Akitas breeders in Arkansas, United States. Henry named him Kal, after his role as Superman. Fans have nicknamed his dog, Super Puppy.

27. He participated in the Combined Cadet Force training program during his time as a student at Stowe School.

28. He traditionally wears a signet “gentleman’s” ring featuring his family coat of arms on the small finger of his left hand.