Chris Evans is back as Captain America
Turns out Chris Evans wasnt too sure about taking on the role of Captain America when he was first offered the part. But after five years and five movies in which he has donned the famous blue suit, we cant imagine the character being played by anyone else. He spoke to alpha about the latest in the franchise, Captain America: Civil War, which stars a raft of Hollywoods finest
Chris Evans is an all round good guy, known around the world for his valiant rendition of the comic book superhero Steve Rogers, AKA Captain America. Evans first put on the costume back in 2011 in Marvels blockbuster hit Captain America: The First Avenger, which ended up grossing over $369 million (Dh1.35 billion) at the box office. His performance in the movie secured him a mainstay Captain America role in future Marvel films. Hes reprised the character in: The Avengers, Thor: The Dark World, Captain America: The Winter Soldier, Avengers: Age of Ultron, Ant-Man, and now Captain America: Civil War.
Nowadays, Evans can be spotted in full Captain America attire just about anywhere: on billboards, posters, in a video game as well as on backpacks, lunch boxes, and T-shirts. Though his schedule has been packed filling the shoes of the superhero for the Marvel universe, hes also managed to build up an impressive resume on other projects.
He played the lead role in the sci-fi thriller the Snowpiercer (2013) and the romantic comedy Playing It Cool (2014), and directed and starred in Before We Go (2014). Off the screen he lends his time to several charities such as The Make-A-Wish Foundation, Bostons Children Hospital, and Concord Youth Theatre. Last year he showed up at a Seattle Childrens hospital with actor buddy Chris Pratt in full Captain America attire lifting the spirits of several sick children in the hospital. We caught up with him for a chat about all things Captain America.
How did you get the Captain America role?
Initially they had asked me to audition. And I was thrilled about it, but then the more I kind of thought about it, I wasnt sure if that was what I was looking to do. And I ended up saying, No thanks. And its kind of a funny progression of events. The more I kind of said no thanks the more they kind of pursued me. And it kind of got to a point, were Kevin Feige just said look, if you want it, its yours.
What did you think about when you first read the scripts for the Captain Americas?
Well, its great! The scripts in the Marvel universe are kind of ever-evolving animals. So there is always a willingness to collaborate and make dialogue fit, the way the characters are looking to kind of make them fit, and [Christopher] Markus and [Stephen] McFeely are kind of real dynamos in that regard. Because no matter what you need out of them theyre able to do it on the day. Even if you thought you like something and on the day youre like for some reason, its not quite gelling for me, they can run off into a corner and come back 10 minutes later and have about 30 options. They really are special writers.
In the Captain America: Civil War trailer you and Bucky are fighting Tony Stark (Iron Man), whats that all about?
Well you know, I cant tell you that! You are gonna have to see the movie!
Captain America: Civil War gets a little bit political between Steve Rogers, the Avengers, and Tony Stark, can you explain a little bit about whats going on?
Man, I dont know how much I can tell you! I mean I can tell you that you know, Civil War kind of opens with the Avengers being held somewhat responsible; there are a lot of world governments who feel that the Avengers are operating as this kind of vigilante group. Doesnt sit well with a lot of different people, even though weve saved the world many different times, weve left quite a lot of collateral damage. So they present to us, the Sokovia Accords, which basically says the Avengers will have to report to the UN (United Nations) and kind of tell us when, where, and who well fight. And in a little bit of a role reversal Tony Stark, who has always kind of danced to the beat of his own drum, feels somewhat responsible and guilty for the wake weve left in NYC, DC, and Sokovia most recently, so hes on board with 
these Accords.
Steve Rogers who has always been a company man hes been a soldier really believes in the government and the structured hierarchy of orders. He is actually coming off of taking down S.H.I.E.LD and seeing the infiltration of HYDRA within an organisation he trusted, so he kind of feels that the safest hands are his own, and doesnt feel that the right thing to do is sign the Accord, so right then a little bit of a friction is born between Steve and Tony.
How much of your own stunts are you doing in these movies?
You try to do as much as you can. It really would be a slap in the face to some of these guys who are just absolutely amazing. Some of our stunt guys are just phenomenal! The things they do. The balls, really, that these guys come to work with every day is unbelievable. So again, you try to do as much as you can. I dont have the luxury of hiding behind, kind of a full face mask. Even when I have that Captain America helmet thing, you still see my face, so you try to do as much as you can. But obviously there are some things, whether its the studio feeling its not safe enough or I just simply dont have the ability sometimes
those stunt guys just step in and just really do their job so damn well! We wouldnt have these movies without them.
Can you explain your workout regimen?
I wish it was this cool, sexy thing that I could go into in an interesting fashion, but its really pretty simple. Everyone is trying to look for a unique workout, but you just go to the gym and you pick heavy stuff up and you put it back down, until you cant do it anymore... and thats really how simple it is. I dont really have much to say other than that. You know, I do the same workouts that you see every other guy at the gym doing. You get out what you put in, really. You know what I mean? If you really bust your butt in there youll see results.
How is it working with the Russo brothers? Are they different from one another?
Theyre fantastic! Theyre great! No theyre very similar to each other. You know, its very strange. Maybe they each have a different way of speaking with the actors. I get along with them both so phenomenally well! They really do share a brain. Its nice to see them balance ideas off of one another. You know, thats the trickiest thing with movies like this. There are so many balls in the air and so many bases to cover. Its really nice to see them say, Wait, wait, should we do that? No we dont need that. Wait we do need that. You know what we should do. You see each one of them kind of fact check the other. And it brings a sense of security, typically when you have more than one director.
And I gotta be honest, when I heard brothers; my initial reaction was OK, I hope that works. Sometimes too many cooks in that kitchen can get hairy, but with these guys, the more the merrier! They really do a wonderful job sharing the workload and getting everything they need out of every person on set.
Is there a lot of camaraderie with that big list of actors on set?
Yeah, sometimes too much fun! I mean we all get along so well now. You know, this is our third or fourth film some of us together. So these are good friends and family members. Its just people you love to be around doing the thing you love to do, having a ball. And theres plenty of good times to be had.