“Shoutout to Big AL!”

Henry Cavill has praised his co-star and Reacher actor Alan Ritchson in an Instagram post.

The pair are both starring in upcoming action film The Ministry of Ungentlemanly Warfare, which follows a secret combat organisation founded by Winston Churchill during World War II.

The movie, which is released next month, stars Cavill and Ritchson alongside Eiza González, Henry Golding, Alex Pettyfer and Cary Elwes.

The Argylle star posted a video on Instagram of some footage from the film, plus some interviews given by the pair.

Lionsgate

In the video, Ritchson is full of praise about Cavill, emphasising how he led the team during the filming process.

“Henry is a perfect number one,” he says. “He is the first one there, last to leave, always knows his stuff, he’s always positive. He leads by example, I’m so impressed.”

Ritchson’s sweet words are comedically interwoven with Cavill being, shall we say, less than complimentary about his co-star.

Cavill says: “Alan’s a terrible person to work with, he’s uncouth, eats too much, he’s out of shape, just has no dedication at all.”

It is clear that Cavill is joking, however, and he clarifies his feelings about Ritchson by saying: “In all seriousness, Alan’s wonderful to work with.”

Lionsgate

Cavill continued his praise in the caption of the Instagram post, where he wrote: “Shoutout to ‘Big AL’ which is something I’ve never called him, but in the vacuum that is Instagram it feels appropriate. Here’s to Big AL!

“He does some seriously cool stuff in this movie. And by this movies I mean [The] Ministry of Ungentlemanly Warfare.”

Ritchson replied to Cavill’s post and said: “Oh wow. Very kind of you. ***Deleting my post where I share my honest hate for you and disparage you and all your ancestors.”

Based on a true story and on Damien Lewis’ 2015 book of the same name, the film’s synopsis explains how the squad’s “unconventional fighting techniques against the Nazis helped change the course of the war and gave birth to the modern Black Ops unit”.

The Ministry of Ungentlemanly Warfare is scheduled to be released on April 19 in the US.