Henry Cavill had no idea Stephanie Meyer wanted to cast him in the 'Twilight Saga'.

The 39-year-old actor has since found out he was the author's choice to play Edward Cullen in the big screen adaptations of her vampire novels, with the part actually going to Robert Pattinson.

Appearing on the 'Happy Sad Confused' podcast, he said: "I didn’t know about them wanting to cast me and the internet wasn’t quite the tool that it is now.

“I only found out afterwards. I was like, ‘Oh okay, that would have been cool.’ "

However, Henry insisted he doesn't mind missing out on certain roles, and he insisted it can actually be "a good thing" rather than a negative for an actor's career.

He explained: "Essentially, I got close to a bunch of stuff and didn’t get it, but it’s funny that people think that’s a bad thing.

“In Hollywood — or in the acting industry — everyone’s trying to get a role and they’re not necessarily getting them.

"And so, to get an opportunity to be in the limelight by missing out on the big roles is actually a good thing as opposed to a bad thing.

"And I count my lucky stars for each one of those.”

Writing in a blog post back in 2007 - before casting had been decided - Stephanie insisted she had "no influence on what goes on with the movie", particularly in terms of who "should star" in the films.

However, she did offer some thoughts and named Hendry as her ideal male lead, writing at the time: "Indisputably the most difficult character to cast, Edward is also the one that I’m most passionately decided upon.

"The only actor I’ve ever seen who I think could come close to pulling off Edward Cullen is Henry Cavill."

She also included a list of popular suggestions from fans - including the likes of Hayden Christensen, Orlando Bloom, My Chemical Romance's Gerard Way and Robert Pattinson himself - but she didn't include the latter in her own top four.

However, after casting she said in a statement: "I am ecstatic with Summit’s choice for Edward.

"There are very few actors who can look both dangerous and beautiful at the same time, and even fewer who I can picture in my head as Edward.

"Robert Pattinson is going to be amazing."