Chris Evans has played two “super” men in tights. He was the fiery Johnny Storm/ The Human Torch in Fantastic Four, and its subsequent sequel. And now he reprises his role as Steve Rogers/Captain America in The Avengers, which opens May 4.
In other fantastical worlds, he’s played telekinetic protector Nick Gant in Push, and he had fun spoofing his superhero typecasting in Scott Pilgrim vs. The World, portraying jealous ex-boyfriend Lucas Lee from the League of Evil Exes.
He’s a super veteran, in other words. But the truth is his Captain America costume was giving him some sleepless nights – “I had some weird dreams about the suit” – as he went from filming Captain America: The First Avenger right into The Avengers with not much of a break in between.
“It gets to be a little old after a while,” says Evans of wearing the skin-tight Captain America getup. “It started to feel like the suit was wearing me.”
No matter. He survived the year of living Captain America style, and to make up for it, he was especially “excited” about filming, The Avengers, with the Marvel gang; Nick Fury (Samuel L. Jackson) Iron Man (Robert Downey Jr.), The Hulk (Mark Ruffalo), Thor (Chris Hemsworth), Hawkeye (Jeremy Renner), and Black Widow (Scarlett Johansson).
Occasionally, during the shoot, he would remember that he had balked, at first, when the Captain America part was offered to him, mainly because he already had a go with his Fantastic Four dude. Luckily, he came to his senses just in time to do the right Captain America thing.
“If I had turned Captain America down, I would be kicking my — right now with The Avengers coming out,” he says.
In fact, he has a six-picture deal with Marvel Studios to do his Captain America role. With the second Captain America movie set to begin filming early next year, it makes it three down and three to go.
He’s hopeful that one of those films will include Robert Downey Jr.’s Iron Man, again. “He’s such a presence,” says Evans of the actor, “on screen and off.”
bthompson@postmedia.com
blog: Canada.com/sceneandheard
