Less than three weeks after Henry Cavill was tapped to be the latest actor to pull on Superman's tights in Warner Bros.' rebooted take on the iconic hero, the 27-year-old actor is stepping into the public eye as the face of the franchise.

Cavill graces the upcoming issue of Entertainment Weekly, not suited up like the Man of Steel but wearing a faded "S shield" T-shirt underneath a leather jacket. Of course, he did have to don Superman's duds to win the role. In fact, according to director Zack Snyder, the tights he tried on were a replica of the ones worn by former Superman Christopher Reeve.

"If you can put on that suit and pull it off, that's an awesome achievement," Snyder said.

While Cavill had packed on muscle for Tarsem Singh's action-fantasy, "Immortals," he had to shed the weight for his latest gig -- a starring role opposite Bruce Willis in "The Cold Light of Day" -- and the prospect of trying on Superman's costume had him feeling more than a little anxious.

"All I could think was: Oh, god. They're going to look at me and go, 'He's not Superman. Not a chance,' " Cavill admitted. "The actor inside me was going: 'You're not ready! You're not ready!' "

Cavill could certainly be excused for his apprehension. The Brit had numerous close calls with major franchises. He was previously attached to a role as Superman, but lost out after McG exited the project and Bryan Singer eventually signed on to direct. Cavill also was reportedly considered to play [article id="1656948"]Batman, James Bond and Green Lantern[/article], but was passed up each time.

This time, however, Snyder took one look at Cavill in the Super-suit and knew he could play the Man of Steel. "He walked out, and no one laughed," the director said. "Other actors put that suit on, and it's a joke, even if they're great actors. Henry put it on, and he exuded this kind of crazy-calm confidence that just made me go, 'Wow.' OK:

This was Superman."

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