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cap_ironman2011-07-10 02:51 pm
jazzypom) wrote in cap_ironman2011-07-10 02:51 pm
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Hello, I thought y'all might find this article of interest
WHEN some actors land a potentially life-altering role, they celebrate that success with exorbitant purchases: new homes, sports cars, plastic surgery. When Chris Evans agreed to play Captain America, he went into therapy.
For several weeks Mr. Evans, 30, had been wrestling with — and repeatedly turning down — the offer to play that star-spangled Marvel Comics superhero, and wondering why the anxiety he often feels about public scrutiny and momentous choices was hitting him harder than ever.
He wasn’t necessarily seeking opportunities to star in a comic-book movie franchise or to spend about a month’s worth of meetings talking to a professional about his feelings. But he concluded that these seemingly unrelated options were intertwined steps on a path he needed to follow.
“I wouldn’t have done it,” Mr. Evans said, discussing his therapy experience over a recent lunch at a Studio City delicatessen, “had I not agreed to do ‘Captain America’ and gone into panic mode.” He added, “The second I agreed to do it, I was like, ‘All right, I’ll do this, but I’ve got to start working on my head.’ ”
It may be difficult to summon up sympathy for Mr. Evans, a Massachusetts-born dude’s dude who has brought slyly self-aware performances to films like “Cellular,” “Fantastic Four” and “Scott Pilgrim vs. the World,” and who has had to navigate Hollywood with little more than his rugged good looks, piercing blue eyes and billowing forearms that threatened to topple the lunch table.
Yet beneath that enviable exterior Mr. Evans is an unexpectedly thoughtful guy — perhaps perilously so. His self-questioning, often humorously self-effacing nature has helped him build a distinctive résumé, but his lead role in “Captain America: The First Avenger” (which Paramount will release July 22) brings with it a whole new set of existential crises.
“The question is: What’s the endgame?” Mr. Evans said in a characteristic moment of self-analysis. “What’s the goal? If the goal is to be a giant movie star, then yeah, this is a great way to achieve that. That’s not necessarily what I’m trying to achieve.”
Mr. Evans, whose mother, Lisa, is artistic director of the Concord Youth Theater in Massachusetts, and whose uncle Michael E. Capuano is a Democratic congressman, was probably destined for a career in acting, or at least public speaking. (His father is a dentist.)
Fresh out of high school he landed roles in films like “Not Another Teen Movie” and “The Perfect Score.” In 2005 he played the Human Torch in “Fantastic Four” and repeated the role in a 2007 sequel based on the Marvel adventurers.
In these early, high-profile experiences, Mr. Evans said, he found acting to be “a very safe place to play, have fun and not feel judged or scrutinized.” The downside was having to give interviews to promote his work. “I feel fake,” he said. “And then I feel transparent. And I feel the other person can see that I’m fake.”
“Captain America” has required Mr. Evans to at least tolerate a certain amount of glad-handing and air-kissing; the night before this interview he taped an appearance for Spike TV’s Guys Choice Awards and appeared the night after on the MTV Movie Awards.
But during a European junket for a “Fantastic Four” movie, he said, he became so nervous that he fled a room full of reporters. “No one’s even speaking to me,” he said, “and in a matter of 60 seconds I went from being fine to full meltdown, just stood up and walked offstage.”
When Marvel Studios began casting “Captain America” in late 2009, it did not initially consider Mr. Evans for the title character, a virtuous World War II hero who eventually finds himself in the present day. The presumption was that Mr. Evans was too closely associated with the “Fantastic Four” movies, which performed well at the box office but were critically panned, and had been through the superhero wringer already.
Yet once the studio set its sights on him, persuaded by his performances in movies like Danny Boyle’s 2007 science-fiction film “Sunshine,” it may have come to wish it had forgotten the actor’s name.
Mr. Evans said he resisted a test audition, for which he would have had to sign a pre-emptive deal for as many as nine Marvel movies, including three “Captain America” films and three films for “The Avengers,” about the super group that includes Iron Man, Thor and the Hulk. When Marvel reduced the contract to at most six movies and “sweetened the pot a little bit,” Mr. Evans said no again.
Even after a meeting with the Marvel Studios president, Kevin Feige, and the director of “Captain America,” Joe Johnston, and being shown concept artwork and other designs, Mr. Evans said, he still turned down the offer.
He said his opposition stemmed from a fear of commitment — not just to publicizing a $140 million behemoth like “Captain America” but also to signing away, potentially, a decade of his life. “In a few years what if I don’t want to act anymore?” he said. “What if I just want to — I don’t know — do something else?”
On further reflection Mr. Evans said: “The reason I kept saying no is because I was scared. Maybe this is exactly what I had to do. Maybe this is exactly what I had to face.”
Mr. Feige said Mr. Evans’s “internal debate” over the role did not diminish Marvel’s enthusiasm for him. “He passed to his agent more than his agent passed to us,” Mr. Feige said. “There was always a glimmer of an opening, and we pursued it.” (Mr. Evans ultimately agreed to the six-film contract.)
Mr. Johnston, who had directed “Jurassic Park III” and “Jumanji,” and contributed art design and special effects work to the original “Star Wars” films and “Raiders of the Lost Ark,” said Mr. Evans’s moral quandary showed he was perfectly suited to play Captain America and his alter ego, Steve Rogers.
“Steve Rogers is a guy who, at the heart of it, has a very simple mission,” Mr. Johnston said. “He just wants to serve his country and do the right thing. And Chris comes off as basically a really good human being. He can wear his heart on his sleeve when he needs to.”
After principal filming for “Captain America” wrapped in London in December, Mr. Evans took a short break. He shot some additional footage in New York in April and is spending his summer in Albuquerque making “The Avengers,” which is directed by Joss Whedon and planned for release next summer.
Mr. Evans said he was relieved that “The Avengers” did not rest solely on his shoulders yet felt nervous about working alongside Marvel veterans like Samuel L. Jackson, who plays the secret agent Nick Fury, and Robert Downey Jr., the star of the blockbuster “Iron Man” movies.
Mr. Downey was an early supporter of Mr. Evans, having quietly lobbied Mr. Evans’s agent to keep him from passing on “Captain America.”
“I did the Eastern medicine approach,” Mr. Downey explained. “Rather than apply direct pressure, I went to the furthest meridian point.”
read the rest here
WHEN some actors land a potentially life-altering role, they celebrate that success with exorbitant purchases: new homes, sports cars, plastic surgery. When Chris Evans agreed to play Captain America, he went into therapy.
For several weeks Mr. Evans, 30, had been wrestling with — and repeatedly turning down — the offer to play that star-spangled Marvel Comics superhero, and wondering why the anxiety he often feels about public scrutiny and momentous choices was hitting him harder than ever.
He wasn’t necessarily seeking opportunities to star in a comic-book movie franchise or to spend about a month’s worth of meetings talking to a professional about his feelings. But he concluded that these seemingly unrelated options were intertwined steps on a path he needed to follow.
“I wouldn’t have done it,” Mr. Evans said, discussing his therapy experience over a recent lunch at a Studio City delicatessen, “had I not agreed to do ‘Captain America’ and gone into panic mode.” He added, “The second I agreed to do it, I was like, ‘All right, I’ll do this, but I’ve got to start working on my head.’ ”
It may be difficult to summon up sympathy for Mr. Evans, a Massachusetts-born dude’s dude who has brought slyly self-aware performances to films like “Cellular,” “Fantastic Four” and “Scott Pilgrim vs. the World,” and who has had to navigate Hollywood with little more than his rugged good looks, piercing blue eyes and billowing forearms that threatened to topple the lunch table.
Yet beneath that enviable exterior Mr. Evans is an unexpectedly thoughtful guy — perhaps perilously so. His self-questioning, often humorously self-effacing nature has helped him build a distinctive résumé, but his lead role in “Captain America: The First Avenger” (which Paramount will release July 22) brings with it a whole new set of existential crises.
“The question is: What’s the endgame?” Mr. Evans said in a characteristic moment of self-analysis. “What’s the goal? If the goal is to be a giant movie star, then yeah, this is a great way to achieve that. That’s not necessarily what I’m trying to achieve.”
Mr. Evans, whose mother, Lisa, is artistic director of the Concord Youth Theater in Massachusetts, and whose uncle Michael E. Capuano is a Democratic congressman, was probably destined for a career in acting, or at least public speaking. (His father is a dentist.)
Fresh out of high school he landed roles in films like “Not Another Teen Movie” and “The Perfect Score.” In 2005 he played the Human Torch in “Fantastic Four” and repeated the role in a 2007 sequel based on the Marvel adventurers.
In these early, high-profile experiences, Mr. Evans said, he found acting to be “a very safe place to play, have fun and not feel judged or scrutinized.” The downside was having to give interviews to promote his work. “I feel fake,” he said. “And then I feel transparent. And I feel the other person can see that I’m fake.”
“Captain America” has required Mr. Evans to at least tolerate a certain amount of glad-handing and air-kissing; the night before this interview he taped an appearance for Spike TV’s Guys Choice Awards and appeared the night after on the MTV Movie Awards.
But during a European junket for a “Fantastic Four” movie, he said, he became so nervous that he fled a room full of reporters. “No one’s even speaking to me,” he said, “and in a matter of 60 seconds I went from being fine to full meltdown, just stood up and walked offstage.”
When Marvel Studios began casting “Captain America” in late 2009, it did not initially consider Mr. Evans for the title character, a virtuous World War II hero who eventually finds himself in the present day. The presumption was that Mr. Evans was too closely associated with the “Fantastic Four” movies, which performed well at the box office but were critically panned, and had been through the superhero wringer already.
Yet once the studio set its sights on him, persuaded by his performances in movies like Danny Boyle’s 2007 science-fiction film “Sunshine,” it may have come to wish it had forgotten the actor’s name.
Mr. Evans said he resisted a test audition, for which he would have had to sign a pre-emptive deal for as many as nine Marvel movies, including three “Captain America” films and three films for “The Avengers,” about the super group that includes Iron Man, Thor and the Hulk. When Marvel reduced the contract to at most six movies and “sweetened the pot a little bit,” Mr. Evans said no again.
Even after a meeting with the Marvel Studios president, Kevin Feige, and the director of “Captain America,” Joe Johnston, and being shown concept artwork and other designs, Mr. Evans said, he still turned down the offer.
He said his opposition stemmed from a fear of commitment — not just to publicizing a $140 million behemoth like “Captain America” but also to signing away, potentially, a decade of his life. “In a few years what if I don’t want to act anymore?” he said. “What if I just want to — I don’t know — do something else?”
On further reflection Mr. Evans said: “The reason I kept saying no is because I was scared. Maybe this is exactly what I had to do. Maybe this is exactly what I had to face.”
Mr. Feige said Mr. Evans’s “internal debate” over the role did not diminish Marvel’s enthusiasm for him. “He passed to his agent more than his agent passed to us,” Mr. Feige said. “There was always a glimmer of an opening, and we pursued it.” (Mr. Evans ultimately agreed to the six-film contract.)
Mr. Johnston, who had directed “Jurassic Park III” and “Jumanji,” and contributed art design and special effects work to the original “Star Wars” films and “Raiders of the Lost Ark,” said Mr. Evans’s moral quandary showed he was perfectly suited to play Captain America and his alter ego, Steve Rogers.
“Steve Rogers is a guy who, at the heart of it, has a very simple mission,” Mr. Johnston said. “He just wants to serve his country and do the right thing. And Chris comes off as basically a really good human being. He can wear his heart on his sleeve when he needs to.”
After principal filming for “Captain America” wrapped in London in December, Mr. Evans took a short break. He shot some additional footage in New York in April and is spending his summer in Albuquerque making “The Avengers,” which is directed by Joss Whedon and planned for release next summer.
Mr. Evans said he was relieved that “The Avengers” did not rest solely on his shoulders yet felt nervous about working alongside Marvel veterans like Samuel L. Jackson, who plays the secret agent Nick Fury, and Robert Downey Jr., the star of the blockbuster “Iron Man” movies.
Mr. Downey was an early supporter of Mr. Evans, having quietly lobbied Mr. Evans’s agent to keep him from passing on “Captain America.”
“I did the Eastern medicine approach,” Mr. Downey explained. “Rather than apply direct pressure, I went to the furthest meridian point.”
read the rest here
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(A needlessly navel-gazing aside: And this is why I really, really like Evans- he seems willing to be very honest that he's a little freaked out by the responsibility he's taking on with the role and the franchise. He's rapidly becoming one of my favorite folks.)
I've always like Evans
*Reynolds' arsey attitude towards his fans is well documented.
Re: I've always like Evans
Yeah, Evans just seems very down to earth- he seems very self-aware, which isn't ever a bad thing but is particularly good in his line of work. Cool guy.
(Also, as someone else mentioned in the LJ post, it delights me to see therapy being brought up so casually and matter-of-fact. It's just something you might do if you're having a little trouble, like you'd see a doc for a bad knee. Hooray for destigmatization!)
Re: I've always like Evans
I think Reynolds started getting better during the promotional push for Green Lantern (like, last year?), but he hasn't always been so gracious. Whereas I've always heard about Evans being nothing but.
Yeah, good on Evans for doing therapy and just taking about it. Him signing on to do Captain America was a big step, because it's a big tent movie, and all on his shoulders. I hope the movie does well for his sake, but it looks good so far. The trailers have been quality.