Henry Cavill Says #MeToo Makes Him Hesistant To Approach Women Because He’s “Going To Be Called A Rapist”

Generally speaking, Henry Cavill appears to be a charming individual. By all accounts, he seems like a funny, intelligent, and all-around charismatic guy. That shouldn’t be terribly shocking considering he’s one of the most famous people on the planet and is quite literally a superhero. Not just any superhero either, the guy is Superman.

That’s what makes his recent comments about the #MeToo movement raise so many eyebrows. You see, up until now, the actor hasn’t really been the source of any controversy. The biggest headlines about Cavill recently are about his facial hair. But when he was asked about #MeToo and how it affects men in Hollywood, courtesy of an interview with GQ, the actor made some comments that are making headlines…for the wrong reasons.

“I’ve been fortunate enough to not be around the kind of people who behave that way,” he says. “To my memory there’s been no moments where I look back and think, ‘Ooh, OK, maybe someone shouldn’t have gone through that’. I know there have been situations with people I’ve worked with being perhaps overfamiliar with some of the actresses. But, I’ve always walked up to them and said, ‘Hey, are you all right? That’s creepy.’”

“Stuff has to change, absolutely,” he continues. “It’s important to also retain the good things, which were a quality of the past, and get rid of the bad things. There’s something wonderful about a man chasing a woman. There’s a traditional approach to that, which is nice. I think a woman should be wooed and chased, but maybe I’m old-fashioned for thinking that.”

His next comments are where people are beginning to take issue:

“It’s very difficult to do that if there are certain rules in place. Because then it’s like: ‘Well, I don’t want to go up and talk to her, because I’m going to be called a rapist or something’. So you’re like, ‘Forget it, I’m going to call an ex-girlfriend instead, and then just go back to a relationship, which never really worked’. But it’s way safer than casting myself into the fires of hell because I’m someone in the public eye, and if I go and flirt with someone, then who knows what’s going to happen?

“Now? Now you really can’t pursue someone further than, ‘No’. It’s like, ‘OK, cool’. But then there’s the, ‘Oh why’d you give up?’ And it’s like, ‘Well, because I didn’t want to go to jail?’”

As you might imagine, there is now a bit of a social media backlash to those comments. Many are saying that Cavill’s comments are perpetrating a misconception that there are a lot of false accusations of rape or assault. There are others that take issue with the idea that Cavill presents that #MeToo is supposed to stop men from talking to women. Either way, Cavill has put himself in the middle of a social media conversation that’s a bit more serious than whether or not he should have shaved for “Justice League.”

Cavill will next be seen in “Mission: Impossible — Fallout,” which hits theaters July 27.