DETROIT — Steve Rogers is a scrawny guy who is
transformed into a World War II super-soldier in “Captain America: The
First Avenger,” the latest comic book adaptation to invade theaters.
In a rather similar way, Chris Evans, the hunky actor
who plays the title role, underwent some super-scrutiny himself to fill
the shoes of the Marvel superhero in the 3-D film, which hits screens
Friday.
A big issue was the Captain America suit, which had
to retain its retro patriotic zeal and yet look plausible to modern
audiences.
“It was a little overwhelming,” recalls Evans, 30,
talking by phone a few days ago from New York during a publicity tour
that would include playing beer pong on “Late Night with Jimmy Fallon”
and ringing the New York Stock Exchange opening bell.
“The first couple of fittings you’d have, you’d go in
there and you’d put on the suit. And then they would file in about 20
people to take notes. You have three or four people dedicated just to
the gloves and three or four people just to the boots.”
And then there was the matter of the iconic shield, which required numerous prototypes and screen tests.
“It’s amazing how different shields changed the whole
look of the outfit, so that was another process,” says the actor, who
wields the bullet-stopping weapon in some dazzling action scenes.
Aside from the wardrobe, there was the challenge of
capturing Captain America’s personal qualities. Evans says he and Steve
Rogers have at least one aspect in common.
“I think I have a pretty unsilenceable conscience,”
says Evans, who sounds a bit guarded as he deals with the media blitz
for his biggest cinematic role yet.
“I think part of Captain America is that he does
things not for anybody else, not because he’s waiting for praise or
reward. He just does it because it’s right. It’s the type of thing that
if he didn’t do it, and the only person who knew about it was him, he
wouldn’t be able to live with that. It’s too much. In some ways,
sometimes my brain or my heart just won’t let me not do something. If
you know something is right, it just has to be done, then you have to do
it.”
Does that mean he can’t deal with something like
unpaid parking tickets? Evans relaxes with a laugh. “That, I’m not
sweating,” he says.
In a month dominated so far by “Transformers” mayhem,
“Captain America” could bring a welcome humanity back to the superhero
genre, much as “Super 8” did for sci-fi adventures.
Although the movie has all the requisite
state-of-the-art stunts and special effects, it’s driven by the earnest
goodness of Steve Rogers, a character who debuted in March 1941, before
America entered the war
In the movie, Rogers starts out as someone whose
heart and courage far outweigh his 98-pound frame. He is desperate to
enlist in the Army, but he has 4 F written all over him.
Then, in a stroke of fate that changes his life
forever, Rogers is spotted by a scientist (Stanley Tucci) and becomes
part of a top-secret project. Through a process involving a super-serum
that enhances the existing powers within a person, Rogers is turned into
the perfect human specimen that is Captain America and drawn into a
battle against the Red Skull (Hugo Weaving), a Nazi officer whose brush
with a serum prototype has made him even more vicious and evil.
In a feat of acting and computer magic, Evans is able
to portray both the skinny Steve and the super Steve. A variety of
visual effects were used to whittle him down to a slight, shorter man,
such as putting his head on a body double and thinning the size of his
face. To achieve the look of the bulked-up Steve, Evans worked out
intensively for about two hours a day for months with a trainer, “doing
things in the gym that I would never normally do,” as he puts it.
“When I work out on my own time, it’s a bit more standard and a bit more subdued,” he says. “I’m out of there in 45 minutes.”
As dazzling as the physical transformation is on-screen, it doesn’t change the essence of the character, stresses Evans.
“I’d love to believe that even in the last frame of
the film, you still kind of see the skinny Steve,” he says. “I think the
difference is, once he becomes big, he really experiences his first
taste of real loss and heartache on a personal level with, well, I don’t
want to give away spoilers.” Suffice it to say that the character’s
journey takes him down emotional paths as well as to the war zones.
Much has been written about how Evans hesitated to
accept the role, which comes with a commitment to appear in several more
movies, including Marvel’s upcoming “The Avengers” — the superhero
ensemble extravaganza starring Robert Downey Jr., Samuel L. Jackson and
Mark Ruffalo that could potentially lock him into the superhero mold for
years to come.
He says he’s proud of how the film turned out. “It
was a great experience as an actor. In that sense, it was rewarding and
certainly the right thing to do. The film hasn’t been released yet, so
the other leg of the fear was about the potential lifestyle changes if,
all of a sudden, the film was a success, the new challenges and hurdles
that come with that. That’s kind of yet to be seen.”
When asked if he was concerned about the “Captain
America” concept flying in the contemporary world, he quickly replies,
“I think I worry about that every movie, regardless of the genre,
regardless of what’s coming out, what the trends are. Every single movie
I make, there’s the fear that this might not stick, regardless of the
quality. That’s pretty much the status quo.”
Evans has been in other movies inspired by comic
books. But his latest part is quite a stretch from his high-profile role
as the wisecracking Johnny Storm in two “Fantastic Four” movies — a
character who couldn’t be more different from the sincere Captain
America.
He sounds a little wistful when asked if his new
situation means he won’t be able to do a crossover appearance as Johnny
in future “Avengers” movies. “I think it’s going to have to preclude
that, which would be too bad because I really loved playing that guy, I
really did. He’s a lot of fun,” says Evans.
A young actor who’s risen quickly through the
Hollywood ranks, Evans still has his fair share of modesty. He
enthusiastically credits director Joe Johnston, who helmed “The
Rocketeer” and “Hidalgo,” with creating a 1940s mood for the movie.
“It’s really a testament to him, to realistically take us back.”
And he can’t say enough about costars Tommy Lee
Jones, who plays a gruff Army officer, and British actress Hayley
Atwell, who portrays his feisty love interest.
Evans shrugs off the suggestion that his own
matinee-idol handsomeness in the film echoes a young Gary Cooper or
Gregory Peck. “That’s, like, the best thing I’ve ever heard in my life,”
he quips.
Like Captain America, he sticks to focusing on the job.
“You look good on film, that’s what happens,” he
says. “When you have the best professional hair and makeup people in the
world and these fantastic directors of photography taping you, you can
end up looking OK. Life is a bit harsher reality than that.”
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