Henry Cavill’s hair loss has been the subject of speculation in recent years due to the appearance of a receding hairline in his more recent roles.
Fans have wondered whether the actor will eventually go fully bald, or whether his hairline has stopped receding altogether. To make things more confusing, Cavill’s hairline seems to be more obvious in certain roles, depending on the hairstyle of his character at the time.
2022 saw Cavill shave his head for a role in the Iraqi invasion movie Sand Castle, which shows his hairline more clearly than ever.
The idea of Henry Cavill balding when he plays Superman, of all characters, might seem hard to swallow. But in real life, the actor is as human as you or I, including his follicles.
So let’s take a closer look at Cavill’s hair loss journey over the years:
Is Henry Cavill’s hair receding?
Henry Cavill’s hair was slowly receding following his role in 2013’s Man of Steel. However, despite receding to around a stage 2 on the Norwood Scale, his hairline seems to have remained the same since he played Superman again in Justice League in 2017.
Cavill has never had thin hair, even as his hairline receded. It has always been thick and colored dark brown or black depending on the actor’s role.
To understand the timeline of Cavill’s receding hairline, it’s useful to look back over his TV and movie career.
Henry Cavill’s Hairline: Early career
As a younger man, Cavill’s first credited movie role was in 2001’s Laguna. Playing the role of Thomas, the dashing actor showed no signs of Male Pattern Baldness at the age of just 18.
Although plenty of people do start balding in their teens, Cavill’s dark brown hair is thick and full of life at this point.
Cavill went on to play Albert Mondego in The Count of Monte Cristo a year later when his hair seemed darker but no less full.
Fast-forward to 2005 and Cavill starred as Mike in Hellraiser: Hellworld. The hair-raising horror is a convenient marker for the Brit’s hair loss journey, as his hairstyle in the movie clearly showed no sign of receding just yet.
From 2007-2010 Cavill starred in the TV Series The Tudors, another period drama. Cavill’s hair still looked healthy and thick, and it was around this time his role as Superman was announced.
Man of Steel
In 2013, Cavill made his first appearance in the famous blue and red suit. Superman has always been known for his thick, black hair and Cavill’s look in Man of Steel kept faith with this image.
However, the lead actor was starting to develop a more mature hairline. While the thickness remained, Cavill’s hairline looked a little further back than in some of his earlier movies.
This didn’t go unnoticed, but Cavill was only receding at a normal rate for a man in his late 20s. At this stage, there was nothing to suggest that Cavill was losing his hair, only that he was experiencing the same changes to his hairline that any man his age could expect.
A receding hairline doesn’t necessarily mean that baldness is on the horizon. However, it was around this time that people were starting to question (sometimes unkindly) whether we’d see a bald Superman in future sequels.
Honestly. By the time Justice League comes out Henry Cavill will be so bald you’ll be able to see what he’s thinking
— BURNS (@TheSteveBurnio) February 20, 2015
2015: Henry Cavill’s receding hairline
However, it was his haircut for the 2015 Iraqi invasion movie Sand Castle that gave us the closest look yet at his hairline.
Cavill needed a shaved head for the role as a soldier in the US military. With none of his usual flowing curls covering the temples, it was clear that his hairline was receding.
Back in the suit
By the time he reprised the role in 2017’s Justice League, Cavill’s hairline had visibly changed since Man of Steel. The corners had receded into what was starting to look like a widow’s peak in the center of his forehead.
Now 33, Cavill was sporting a hairline that was completely normal for his age but clearly changing over time.
Your hairline (should you choose to accept it)
2018’s Mission Impossible: Fallout saw Cavill involved in some action sequences that highlighted how far his hair had receded. His character August Walker was involved in one particular fight scene where his normally perfectly-styled hair fell out of place.
This revealed significant receding at the temples, despite the hair on top remaining thick and healthy in appearance.
Here, Cavill looked like he was progressing towards stage 3 on the Norwood scale, where the hair recedes at the temples. At this stage, the bald spot at the crown that would be associated with Male Pattern Baldness hasn’t appeared (but may be in the post).
This is around where Heath Ledger’s hairline had progressed to when he played The Joker (what is it about the hairlines of actors playing characters from the DC Universe?).
Wearing a wig
Cavill’s next major role was Netflix’s epic series The Witcher, where he played the lead role of Geralt of Rivia.
This was a departure for the actor, who had to wear a wig for the role. This wasn’t due to his own hairline, but because the character has long white hair.
Summary
For Henry Cavill, hair loss may not be much more of an issue as he ages. Photos in 2022 would suggest that despite being at stage 2 on the Norwood scale almost a decade earlier, his hair hasn’t receded much further.
This has led to two theories. Firstly that the Hollywood star’s hairline has naturally stopped receding, and secondly that the actor is using medication to slow the progress of Male Pattern Baldness.
Lots of men recede in their 20s and 30s, only for the process to slow or stop altogether. Some people are genetically predisposed to have their hairline reach a certain stage, and maintain this for decades and even permanently. Others inherit the bald gene from their parents – don’t believe the old wives’ tale that baldness skips a generation!
Many actors struggle with hair loss, given the importance of their image. Some use hats and hairpieces to navigate hair loss throughout their career, such as Joe Pesci, whose career wasn’t affected by Male Pattern Baldness.
On the other hand, it makes sense that a good-looking young Hollywood actor would want to take matters into his own hands. Similarly, aging and balding rock star Bret Michaels even goes as far as to use what he calls ‘the finest hair extensions money can buy’.
When your image is so important for your earning potential, medication like finasteride is a tempting option.
Other actors, such as Sir Ben Kingsley and Jason Statham, specialize in the portrayal of bald characters in their movies.
The other option is a hair transplant, which Steve Carell may have opted for in 2006 (although this has never been confirmed or denied by the star of The Office). There have also been strong rumors that David Beckham had a hair transplant around 2018.
Hair loss drugs often delay Male Pattern Baldness considerably. While there are plenty of bald actors and celebrities whose career has continued to flourish, you can understand why some people would choose the medicinal route.
However, Cavill has never publicly stated that he uses any hair loss prevention medication, so we can’t say for sure why his hairline has stopped receding.
Either way, a man as handsome as Cavill is always going to look great. Sand Castle showed us that he can absolutely rock a shaved head, so he has nothing to worry about if his hairline recedes any further.
