Why Chris Evans Turned Down the Role of 'Captain America'
by: Matt McDaniel
'Captain America: The First Avenger'Paramount/MarvelWhen Chris Evans was approached to star in a big-budget movie adaptation of one of the most iconic characters in comic book history, he said "No." Repeatedly.In a profile of the 30-year-old actor in the current GQ Magazine, Evans revealed that when he was offered the title role in this summer's "Captain America: The First Avenger," he turned it down more than once. And what's even more surprising is that he didn't feel bad about it.
Evans told GQ, "I said no a bunch, and every time I said no, I woke up the next morning so happy and content." But the creative team at Marvel Studios kept hounding the actor. Eventually, he did relent to meet with the studio and the director Joe Johnston ("The Rocketeer"), and after they impressed him with their plans for the movie, he realized the source of his hesitation.
"I was scared," Evans said in Entertainment Weekly. He says he felt like the role could be a no-win situation: if the movie failed, he'd be blamed, and if it succeeded, he could be pigeonholed as the star-spangled superhero. Plus, taking the role meant he would be under contract for both the highly-anticipated Marvel team movie "The Avengers" and several potential "Captain America" sequels.
His fears weren't exactly unfounded, either. He had already played another Marvel character, Johnny Storm (aka the Human Torch) in two "Fantastic Four" movies. And while the films were the biggest financial hits in his career so far, they weren't embraced by either the critics or the hardcore fans of the comics. Last year, Evans also appeared in two movies based on lower-profile graphic novels -- "The Losers" and "Scott Pilgrim vs. the World" -- but neither hit it big at the box office.
Eventually, Evans made a choice to confront his apprehension head on. "I realized my whole decision making process was fear based," he told EW, "and you never want to make a decision out of fear." He signed on to play Steve Rogers, the scrawny but scrappy Army enlistee in World War II who volunteers to be injected with the "Super Soldier Serum" that turns him into the tall, strapping Captain America.
Even though "Captain America: The First Avenger" won't hit theaters for another month, Evans is already back at work for "The Avengers" alongside Robert Downey Jr. ("Iron Man"), Chris Hemsworth ("Thor") and Samuel L. Jackson. He told MTV, "When we did 'Captain America,' you're the only superhero on set," but when he saw the other stars in their costumes it was "the first time I really kind of geeked out."
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