Henry Cavill praises Dua Lipa’s work on Argylle

Henry Cavill has heaped praise on Dua Lipa after working with the singer on the new spy movie Argylle.

While we saw Dua Lipa as Mermaid Barbie in Barbie, Argylle was filmed before that mega-hit, so it technically marked her first movie role. It sees her play LaGrange in the fictional world of Argylle, where she shares scenes with Cavill as Argylle.

“She was marvellous to work with, good fun and game for it as well. I didn’t know what to expect with Dua Lipa, she’s one of the biggest pop stars in the world and you don’t know whether that person is going to come on with a sense of grandeur to them,” Cavill told Digital Spy.

Peter Mountain/Universal Pictures

“But she was there on time, gave 100% and was game for anything. Like the Whirly Bird for example, that’s not something which your average person would be like, ‘Yep, let’s do it, go on’.

“She was there during rehearsals, she was there for the shooting, obviously, and giving it her all. I was really, really impressed and she was wonderful to work with.”

Cavill playing a suave spy feels like an obvious fit, given he’s been linked to the James Bond role countless times. However, Argylle brought its own challenges as it’s not a conventional spy thriller.

Argylle is the creation of author Elly Conway (Bryce Dallas Howard) and the movie cuts between the real world and the fictional world that Argylle lives in, which is more in line with classic spy movies.

Peter Mountain//Apple

“That’s the trick with this one. Argylle is playing it very straight while also keeping in mind that it’s not straight, it’s ridiculous. Its spy tropes turned up to 11,” Cavill explained.

“There was a fine line to tread, but because as an actor, you’re not taking yourself too seriously even though your character is, which leads to a whole bunch of fun performance options.”

We’ll have to wait and see if the movie sheds any light on who the real Elly Conway is, because it’s apparently not Taylor Swift as some fans believe.

Argylle is released in UK cinemas on February 1 and in US cinemas on February 2.

Ian Sandwell

Movies Editor, Digital Spy 

Ian has more than 10 years of movies journalism experience as a writer and editor.  Starting out as an intern at trade bible Screen International, he was promoted to report and analyse UK box-office results, as well as carving his own niche with horror movies, attending genre festivals around the world.   After moving to Digital Spy, initially as a TV writer, he was nominated for New Digital Talent of the Year at the PPA Digital Awards.   He became Movies Editor in 2019, in which role he has interviewed 100s of stars, including Chris Hemsworth, Florence Pugh, Keanu Reeves, Idris Elba and Olivia Colman, become a human encyclopedia for Marvel and appeared as an expert guest on BBC News and on-stage at MCM Comic-Con. Where he can, he continues to push his horror agenda – whether his editor likes it or not.