Henry Cavill suffered a significant leg injury (widely reported/reported as a ruptured Achilles tendon) during pre-production training for Highlander in 2025. The injury was first publicly reported around September, 2025. It happened while he was training/preparing for the role. It's not officially known if he underwent surgery but a lot speaks for it. It was serious enough to delay principal photography from fall 2025 to late January 2026. Henry had to bounce back and recover quickly, in January production finally started.
Henry Cavill's training for Highlander has been exceptionally intense, building on his prior sword experience from The Witcher but taken to a much higher level for the film's ambitious, "John Wick with swords"-style choreography under director Chad Stahelski.
Sword Fighting & Choreography (Core Focus): Extensive daily sword drills, precision work, speed training, and fight choreography. Cavill has described it as surpassing anything he's done before, emphasizing endurance and making movements look like a "dance" while realistic. Co-star Dave Bautista revealed he had to train 3 hours a day with swords just to keep up with Cavill's "terrifying speed and precision."
Physical Strength & Conditioning: Heavy emphasis on shoulder, arm, wrist, and core strength for handling prolonged sword fights. This includes compound lifts, endurance work, and functional training. He continued intense gym sessions (e.g., full-body workouts with presses, curls, etc.) even during injury recovery.
Stunt & Action Prep: Broader stunt training, including motorbike work, gun handling (seen in some footage), and overall athletic conditioning for immersive fight sequences. Training started years ago in pre-production
Cavill has treated the role with pro-athlete-level commitment — consistent, grueling sessions over months (and ongoing during production). His preparation draws from HEMA-inspired techniques and Witcher experience but is scaled up significantly for this reboot.
Overall, it's a mix of skill-specific sword mastery, brutal physical conditioning, and stunt integration to portray an immortal warrior convincingly. Production footage and cast comments highlight how his dedication has set a high bar for everyone involved.
Shooting kicked off in late January, but Henry had already been grinding hard for months beforehand to recover from his major leg injury. That means he's been pushing at an intense pace for nearly five months straight. The production demands are brutal: high-octane fight sequences, demanding stunt work, constant country-to-country travel, and frequent night shoots — including the recent ones in Poland. Reports say he's even putting in work on Sundays. And on top of all that, he's a father to a baby girl. So when people say "he looks tired" let's give the man some grace. He's not exhausted because of some "toxic PR relationship" like you trolls claim— that narrative is way off base and complete nonsense. The reality is far more straightforward: this is what non-stop commitment to a massive action film looks like while balancing new fatherhood. Anyone claiming otherwise doesn't have the full picture.
And on top of everything, the fact that he still makes time for fans after long, grueling night shoots — carving out moments from his insanely demanding schedule — is incredibly thoughtful and sweet. He's balancing all of this while still looking as strong and sharp as he does. That's seriously impressive 💖💪🏻
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