Why Henry Cavill enjoyed playing support, again, in Enola Holmes 2

MANILA, Philippines — Audiences may not be used to seeing Henry Cavill playing support on screen, but it was an “easy yes” for the British star to doing so, again, in Netflix’s Enola Holmes 2. Directed by Harry Bradbeer of Fleabag and Killing Eve series fame, the sequel stars Millie Bobby Brown in the titular role.

“It was an easy yes. In the sequel, yes. Because I had such a wonderful time on the first movie, and it was all the same faces coming back,” the actor best-known for playing lead roles in the likes of Superman and Netflix’s The Witcher, told The STAR during a virtual roundtable ahead of the film’s premiere on Nov. 4.

“For me, there was no doubt that it was a wonderful thing to do and a fun thing to do. And I enjoy playing support to Millie’s Enola. I think there’s some important messaging and I love being a part of that. And it’s great being next to Millie as I see her talent and her experience and her career evolve at such an incredible rate.”

He added, “I think it’s a lot of fun to continue to tell the story. And that I think is something that any actor relishes — that is to revisit a character and to get deeper into a character, especially in the world of TV, where you might have eight to 10 hours to explore. In a film, you have considerably less time. And so, to return to a character, it’s a lot of fun.”

In the sequel based on the Young Adult (YA) fiction series authored by Nancy Springer, Enola, who is buoyed by the success of solving her first-ever case, decides to follow in the footsteps of her famous brother, Sherlock Holmes, by starting her own detective agency.

But this is the 1880s and it’s double the trouble for the new business of Enola — her being both a young, female sleuth and the sister of the world’s greatest private detective.

No one seems confident enough to entrust their cases to her. And just as she is about to close shop, a poor matchstick girl enlists Enola’s help in searching for her missing sister.

Enola is thrown yet again into another treacherous world and elaborate conspiracy, which takes her from London’s factories, music halls, to 221B Baker Street itself, the home address of her brother, whom she seeks for help to get to the bottom of the mystery.

As seen in the first film, Henry veered from the “traditional” interpretation of Sherlock with his more “emotional” take on the iconic literary character created by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle. This is further explored in the sequel.

Henry (leftmost, with co-stars Millie Bobby Brown and Louis Partridge): ‘I enjoy playing support to Millie’s Enola.’

Photos courtesy of Netflix

“He’s definitely a warmer character than in the books where you see moments of true affection for Enola. You start to notice that maybe some of his emotion isn’t naturally distant, but potentially suppressed,” explained Henry in the press notes.

Helping create the “emotional reality” for Henry was staying so much on the set of 221B Baker Street.

“I literally did not leave when we were shooting on that set — even on our lunch break — just to soak it up, because there were details everywhere,” he recalled.

“It really helps with the emotional reality when the production design does part of the storytelling for you. This set (by Michael Carlin) told so much about the man behind the legend. It was truly impressive.”

In Enola Holmes 2, Sherlock also begins to show some signs of his darker aspects that readers are familiar with from the original canon.

But even with these darker sides to Sherlock, Henry pointed out that the character still had “wonderfully comedic moments.”

“We’re still allowing Sherlock to have comedy within the position where his character lies, which is a little sad and self-reflective at times. We see him becoming very aware that Enola has the capacity to turn into someone like him,” the actor added.

Indeed, the sequel presents Sherlock as no longer the estranged brother, but a caretaker and a teacher. And despite his unrivaled reputation and acknowledged greatness in the field, he proves to be the best partner and supporter of Enola.

“I think the important thing with this Sherlock is that he exists in the Enola universe and it is as a supporting character. And so the role of the show is to help sell the story and the message of what it is that Enola is going through. And while other Sherlocks are definitely fallible, they’re fallible in different ways, and maybe it’s not focused on it the same way,” Henry said during the interview.

“Whereas we find in Enola Holmes 2, Sherlock is struggling with a case and he has turned to drink and he is breaking down. And that’s not necessarily something which the other Sherlock doesn’t do. It’s just less of a focus in some mediums. And so with this, it’s just been fun to play Sherlock as a supporting character to another story.”

If Enola is presented as more grown-up in Enola Holmes 2, Henry said that Sherlock had his fair share of “growth” in the second installment.

“There was, yes. There’s definitely some growth in Sherlock’s character. Sherlock is the kind of person who thinks he’s the only person who can do anything and so he must do it by himself,” he noted.

“And when it comes to his relationship with Enola, we see them fighting against that. Enola helping and Enola’s advice, he doesn’t take it. But in time we see the growth of Sherlock and him realizing that there’s more to just doing things by oneself and that not only can things be done better, but maybe it’s better for you.”

Meanwhile, in a previous STAR interview for the first film, Henry had mentioned how he and Millie, who also co-produced Enola Holmes, were like siblings on the set. Obviously, this bond was carried over to the second film and only deepened.

“Certainly, the relationship Millie and I have off set is very similar to a sibling relationship. And so it’s fun to bring that to the screen. It’s honestly not that much different from how we are in real life, maybe with a bit of language differences, but yeah, it’s enormous fun, I enjoy it. It’s a natural place for me,” Henry said.

They became so close that the 18-year-old, who was first catapulted to fame via Netflix’s megahit supernatural series Stranger Things, would attempt to get him to do TikTok with her.

“She would try. But I think at this stage, she knows I’m never going to do it. So, she teases me about it. And she tries to get me to panic by suggesting we all do TikTok dancing or something,” Henry laughingly shared.

“And at this stage, she knows that I’m just going to sit there and very deadpan say, ‘No, I’m not doing Millie.’ I think she gets a kick out of that.”