For decades, British actors have cornered the market in a certain kind of Hollywood villain, full of posh, foreign and often camp menace. But now they are being signed up to play the ultimate all-American good guys: superheroes.
Warner Bros announced today that 27-year-old Henry Cavill will take the lead role in the forthcoming Superman: Man of Steel movie, which means that British actors are now playing the three biggest US comic book legends.
Andrew Garfield, who was seen in Red Riding on Channel 4, is shooting a "reboot" of the Spider-Man franchise, while Christian Bale is preparing to reprise his role as Batman, after the worldwide success of Batman Begins and The Dark Knight.
Cavill, 27, is best known for playing the Duke of Suffolk in the recent TV series The Tudors. He was born and brought up on Jersey, before becoming a pupil at Stowe – the same school attended by another successful acting export, David Niven. He was described by the Man of Steel director, Zack Snyder, as the "perfect choice to don the cape and 'S' shield".
Charles Gant, film editor of Heat magazine, suggests it is no longer necessary to cast Americans for sound economic reasons. "Superman, Batman and Spiderman might be American icons, but the primary revenue streams for these films are outside America. People need to be able to relate to the actor, and on a global scale. British actors are just as good, if not better, to do the job.
"In fact, the success of the Batman films has been above and beyond what anyone would have expected from a superhero film, and if you look at it, it's clear that Bale was cast first and foremost because he's an actor – he's very well established in the industry, and very well respected by his peers. In contrast, audiences just didn't take to the last Superman film: Brandon Routh was bit of an empty vessel, a handsome young man in the Christopher Reeve mould."
In recent years, Hollywood has tried to battle the "empty vessel" problem by casting actors with an indie-flick "edge": most notably Robert Downey Jr as Iron Man, and Tobey Maguire in three Spider-Man films.
"The protagonist is often the least colourful figure in a superhero movie, so you need someone to hold the centre alongside the gallery of villains, who are traditionally vivid and charismatic," said Gant.
"You need someone who provides something interesting that's not necessarily in the screenplay."
Bale's qualifications are well known: before taking on Batman he starred in projects as varied as Empire of the Sun, American Psycho and The Machinist, losing more than 25kg (4st) in weight to play the emaciated character of the title. Garfield, though much younger, has already won a Bafta award for the TV film Boy A, playing the young perpetrator of a James Bulger-style murder.
Cavill has not made anything like the same impact, but industry gossip suggests he has come close in the past to securing high profile roles in Casino Royale, Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire, and Twilight.
As long ago as 2005, the Twilight author, Stephanie Meyer, was talking up Cavill's abilities: "I feel really passionately about him getting the role," she said, but the part eventually went to another English actor, Robert Pattinson.
"There's still a lot of respect for British actors in the US," adds Gant. "They've normally been to drama school, and have done a lot of theatre. American actors often take a different route – TV commercials, modelling, sitcoms. They've never done actual acting."
One possible factor is Christopher Nolan, a central figure in the successful reboot of the Batman movies, as the director of Batman Begins and The Dark Knight. Nolan holds dual UK/US citizenship, having been born in London and spent part of his youth in Chicago. Not only have his two Batman films taken more than $1.3bn at the worldwide box-office (with The Dark Knight at number seven on the all-time takings list), but also he has been charged with reviving the Superman franchise after the disappointing reception of Superman Returns.
But the truth may give less cause for jingoism. Bale, 37, may have been born in Haverfordwest in 1974, but had a peripatetic childhood, moving around England and Europe before relocating to Los Angeles when his acting career took off in the late 80s.
Garfield, like Nolan, holds dual citizenship as he was born in Los Angeles, before moving to England aged three.
Americans (and a Canadian) who have taken on famous fictional Britons
Renée Zellweger in Bridget Jones's Diary
Texas-born Zellweger's accent was pronounced as "excellent" by the Guardian's Peter Bradshaw, even if he considered that in the film version Bridget had been reinvented as "a lovable, infantile clown".
Keanu Reeves in Bram Stoker's Dracula
No one kept their original accent in Coppola's version of the vampire classic. Canadian Reeves' notorious woodenness meant he was virtually burnt to a crisp by acting heavyweights Gary Oldman and Anthony Hopkins. Not convincing.
Gwyneth Paltrow in Emma
The film that really established Paltrow as a leading actor also began her long-term relationship with the English accent. A very nice job as Jane Austen's heroine was followed by a somewhat more annoying one in Sliding Doors; but the main course was her Oscar-winning turn in Shakespeare in Love.
Uma Thurman in The Avengers
It probably seemed like a good idea at the time: Thurman, still hot from Pulp Fiction, as leather-clad, kung-fu-fighting Emma Peel. By the time it hit cinemas, the studio already knew it was a disaster.
Johnny Depp as Sweeney Todd
In another life, you suspect, Depp was British. As well as the demon barber (left), he has played Jack Sparrow in Pirates of the Caribbean, famously based on Keith Richards, the Mad Hatter, the Earl of Rochester, Willy Wonka, Inspector Abberline of Scotland Yard and JM Barrie. His accent, though, isn't quite as pitch-perfect as you might expect of someone who has gone back to the well so many times.
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