Discover Why Chris Evans First Turned Down His Role as Captain America
Chris Evans reveals how fear and anxiety almost cost him his place in the Marvel Cinematic Universe.
Once acting was no longer just a hobby, but a career after the grand slam of the Fantastic Four movies, Chris Evans’ relationship with acting took a major turn. The Boston raised actor openly discussed the subject on The Hollywood Reporter’s Awards Chatter podcast. “When it becomes your job, weird egoic strings become attached and precautions and plans, and all of a sudden it starts to feel a bit heavier,” he muses.
Actor @ChrisEvans reflects on playing #CaptainAmerican in seven movies over eight years, and what’s next for him https://t.co/gPMdmHkK8U
— The Hollywood Reporter (@THR) May 27, 2020
The Marvel hero plunges deeper into his experience: “And yeah, anxiety comes with that. Because it was also during the proliferation of the Internet Age where all of a sudden you can read people’s reactions online and all of a sudden your egoic story, your narrative, becomes entangled with what was once just this pure little ball of joy. And yeah, it manifested as anxiety and a little stress.”
When offered a screen test for the role, Evans’ initial response was shocking: “I hung up and I kind of thought about it. And I really, for some reason, looked at it as, ‘This is the temptation. This is it. This is the fork in the road. And I really want to kind of wake up to my life and take control of it. And I think this is where you say no,'” he reflects. “So, I called my team back and I said, ‘Listen, thank them very much but I think I’m going to say no thanks.'” Considering how accustomed we all are to seeing the actor don the iconic Captian America stars and stripes, it’s hard to imagine this being the case.
You’ll be relieved to hear that Evans now considers his agreement to finally take the role of Captain America as the “best decision” he’s ever made. The cherry on top is his relationship with his character: “I fell in love with Steve Rogers pretty quick.” Thank you Chris for standing up to your anxiety and stepping into your role as a true hero both on and off-screen.
You can listen to Chris Evans tell-all on The Hollywood Reporter’s Awards Chatter podcast here.
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