Written by Emily on July 02

Chris Evans Always Reads Between the Lines

Before Chris Evans became Chris Evans, superhero and superstar, he made a habit of asking scene partners the question every starry-eyed artist wants to ask: “What’s your process?”

I’ve met some actors who are wildly self-aware, wildly self-possessed, incredibly intelligent people,” he says. “I’ve also met actors who have no idea what’s going on around them at any given moment. And both can turn in phenomenal performances. It really begs the question: What is going on in your head when you see a piece of paper with a bunch of words?

Somewhere on the journey from acting in school plays just outside Boston to a blockbuster career in indie flicks, on Broadway, and almost a dozen appearances in the Marvel Cinematic Universe as Captain America, and on to his recent impressive turn on the Apple TV+ limited series “Defending Jacob,” Evans stopped asking the question—but not because he’d settled on an answer.

The only conclusion I can draw is that there is no formula,” he says. “I think it’s meant to be in a constant state of rebirth. It’s this organic, living thing that you have to re-examine with every character.

Sorry if that made me sound pretentious; I’m hearing myself right now,” he adds with a groan.

Evans is too articulate about his 20-year love affair with acting and, frankly, too charming to ever come off as pretentious. In his conversation with Backstage, conducted remotely from his home in Los Angeles, he overflows with practical advice for his peers and fellow students of the craft.

Actors at the beginning of their careers could take a leaf out of Evans’ book: During the summer before his senior year of high school, he wrote to New York City casting offices about interning. “I figured I should probably have a job that brought me into contact with agents,” he remembers. While he was assisting with casting bit parts on the Michael J. Fox sitcom “Spin City,” he ended up “talking to agents every day and keeping a little book of the agents who were nice.” He then asked to read monologues for the agent who, after Evans finished school early to audition for pilot season, got him a role on 2000’s short-lived Fox comedy “Opposite Sex”—plus plenty of other auditions he did not book.

Oh, god,” he says when the subject of auditioning comes up. “Ninety-five percent of the work is rejection. Those first 10 years, you’ve got to put the gloves on for every job and you’ve got to get in the ring.” For the first half of his career, Evans emerged from most auditions convinced he not only wasn’t getting the part, but that he wasn’t getting any part ever again. “When all you hear in your head is that high-pitched buzzing sound and your palms are sweating and you feel like you can’t catch your breath,” he deadpans, “that’s the opposite of trying to drop into a moment.”

Read more at Backstage.com


Written by Emily on April 07

Chris Evans on His New Show ‘Defending Jacob’, Little Shop of Horrors, and His Family

ESQUIRE – The artist formerly known as Captain America is found in seclusion at his rambling farmhouse, set back from the road on a couple of sylvan acres in the Boston suburbs, not far from his childhood home. It’s a warm, late-winter afternoon. The trees are bare. The sky is clear. Patches of melting snow cover the ground.

With his fortieth birthday on the horizon, Chris Evans seems to have undertaken a retreat, returning to familiar ground to regroup. The Marvel Cinematic Universe now behind him, the actor has the time, money, and wherewithal to pursue anything he wants.

All he has to do is figure out what.

Evans is sitting in an armchair by an unlit fireplace in an area off the kitchen, an informal sort of room you might call a den. The furnishings appear to be mid-century modern, a style often seen in Los Angeles, where he has a house in the Hollywood Hills. Evans is welcoming but not warm, broish in a manner that bespeaks form over content. In person he seems very much like the guy onscreen; his upper torso is sculpted in a way that suggests he’s still wearing his Avengers uniform under his green tartan flannel shirt. His ball cap has a shamrock on the front panel.

Evans’s mutt is snoozing at my feet, letting out the occasional fart. His name is Dodger, after Evans’s favorite character in the Disney movie Oliver & Company—the roguish mongrel who leads Fagin’s gang of orphans. The pair met in 2016 at a Savannah rescue shelter where Evans was filming a scene for the feel-good movie Gifted.

You would never know it from the spotless condition of the premises, but last night Evans hosted friends for karaoke. I ask him his favorite song choice. “You can’t go wrong with Billy Joel,” he says. (Coincidentally, it was Joel who voiced Dodger in the animated film.) His lifelong crew includes a cardiologist, an engineer, a computer guy. Like Evans, they’ve made good but stuck around, rooted in their home soil, die-hard fans of the Red Sox, and the changing seasons.

Evans’s latest acting project, Defending Jacob, is about to debut on Apple TV+. On the show, he plays an assistant district attorney in a small town who finds himself torn between his professional responsibilities and his love for his teenage son, who has been accused of a gruesome murder. As the episodes proceed, Evans’s character confronts his own secret past.

The limited series was shot in the Boston suburbs. “It felt like I had a regular nine-to-five job,” he says. “I’d sleep in my own bed; I’d see my family on weekends. A lot of times you have a bit of a nomadic lifestyle as an actor. You live out of suitcases and in cities you’re not familiar with. Doing Jacob made me feel like I was home but still doing what I love. It was incredibly comforting.” His real estate holdings notwithstanding, he considers this his home. He spends a lot of time with his brother, the actor Scott Evans (One Life to Live, Grace & Frankie); his younger sister, Shanna; and his older sister, Carly, and her children. He often calls his mom, Lisa, ten minutes before dinner to tell her he’s coming over to eat.

Read more at the source


Written by Emily on April 21

Talking with Chris Evans about Captain America

BOSTON GLOBE – Betrayed by the system. Cast out by his beloved country’s leadership. Suddenly, bitterly at odds with longtime friends. It sure has been a rough couple of movies for Chris Evans’s Captain America.

“Government and the military were always where he looked to find order and a sense of home,” says Sudbury native Evans, speaking by phone from New York. “In ‘The Winter Soldier,’ when those failed him, his chosen family became the thing he would set his watch to. Then, in ‘Civil War,’ that fell apart.”

Audiences looking for the old familiar Steve Rogers, super soldier, may have to sit tight for a bit in watching “Avengers: Infinity War.” “There’s been this period of sadness and disillusionment, where you go inside yourself for a while,” he continues. “But we’ll see him reemerging and reconnecting.”

Evans, 36, shared further thoughts on the new movie — and his seven-year tour of duty as Cap — during a day off from his Broadway debut, “Lobby Hero,” a revival of a drama by “Manchester by the Sea” writer-director Kenneth Lonergan.

Q. You’ve been playing Captain America since “The First Avenger,” back in 2011. Has the process of making these movies changed for you?

A. During the first couple of films, I was a little overwhelmed, I suppose. You’re grateful to be there, but also intimidated by the magnitude and the responsibility. But then as you get more and more comfortable with the process, everything kind of ascends in unison. The people that you’re working with start to become family, you become much more familiar with the way these things come to life, and you can start being more precise and involved.

Q. What’s been most fulfilling about the way you’ve been able to develop Cap over this many movies?

A. It’s exciting to actually get to grow with a character and find a more broad, long-term arc, versus having to accomplish something in an hour and a half. But to be honest, none of it would really work if it weren’t for the people at Marvel. They care so much about the characters because they’re fans themselves. You just do this one small thing, and then you get to stand on their shoulders.

Q. Which actors do you interact with most out of the sprawling “Infinity War” cast? And are Marvel’s pairings purely about the story, or does chemistry figure into it?

A. I think they factor in a lot of things — who the fans enjoy watching together; who the characters benefit from, based on their natures, where they’re trying to send each one. Without spoiling anything, I’d say I have a lot of stuff with Scarlett [Johansson] again this time. One of Cap’s through-lines has been his relationship with Black Widow. It’s an unlikely friendship, where they really depend on each other in a very specific way.

Q. Is the physical aspect of playing Cap and the toll it takes still comparable to when you started?

A. No, I definitely can feel myself aging a little. There were a couple of moments in the script where I read them and thought, “Wow, this is going to be a challenge.” It’s still fun to go to work and really throw yourself around, and it’s rewarding to go home on those days and feel you contributed and gave it everything you had. But it certainly is a bit harder to wake up the next morning [laughs].

Q. If there’s some part of Cap’s iconography that people now think of specifically as a Chris Evans touch, what would you hope it is?

A. Being selfless without being sanctimonious. It’s a danger — he’s a very magnanimous character, very noble, and I think that can slip into piety pretty easily. So trying to keep that sense of being a good man without, basically, being annoying [laughs].

Q. That’s quite a mustache you’re sporting for the cop character you play in “Lobby Hero.” Should fans be bracing themselves when they catch you on the “Avengers” publicity circuit?

A. Yeah, sadly, I can’t take that off [laughs]. That thing’s with me for the next month.


Written by Emily on March 27

Chris Evans Reveals First Celebrity Crushes, His Dream Role and the Future of Captain America

E ONLINE – Chris Evans’ plan to be a dad one day isn’t the only thing he revealed to E! News when we sat down with him last week to talk about his new movie Gifted.

Here are five more things we learned about the hunky actor that ya gotta know.

1. Young Love: Evans said he had at least three celebrity crushes when he was a kid. “Elisabeth Shue from Adventures of Babysitting and Karate Kid!…Lori Loughlin was a big one. Come on, who didn’t love Lori Loughlin? She hasn’t aged at all. Sandra Bullock was a big one too…like when I was like in seventh or eight grade.”

2. Song & Dance: Evans not only knows how to tap dance (just ask any of his co-stars, who frequently comment on his awesome dancing skills), but he’d love to star in a musical. “I’m looking to find one,” he said, adding, “I love Gene Kelly, he was great. Wouldn’t it be great to do a [Gene Kelly] biopic or something like that?”

Or Guys & Dolls! “That would be great, too,” Evans said. “I did that in high school.”

3. Be Our Guest: Evans hasn’t seen the new Beauty and the Beast yet, but he will. “I am a Disney buff,” said Evans.

4. It’s Elementary: Evans’ favorite subject in school was math. “I probably didn’t like English too much,” he said. “I hate spelling and grammar.” (He stars in Gifted as a boat mechanic who is raising his six-year-old math prodigy niece.)

5. Super Power: Evans’ official reign as Captain America is set to end after the third and fourth Avengers movies. “After that my contract is done so it’s out of my hands,” he said. However, he may not be ready to put down that shield: “I have been doing this for so long, it’s tough to think about not doing it. For almost a decade now there has always been one around the corner. I would be open to it. I love playing that guy.”

Gifted is in theaters on April 7.


Written by Emily on September 12

Chris Evans for W Magazine

Chris Evans is featured on the cover of the October issue of W Magazine for The New Royals along with a few other celebs. You can check out the cover along with two outtakes in the gallery. A short video below and his interview can be read below!

W MAGAZINE – Chris Evans’ start in Hollywood wasn’t so auspicious. From his infamous scene in Not Another Teen Movie to playing “Harvard Hottie” in The Nanny Diaries, starring his future co-star Scarlett Johansson, he’s enjoyed a slow burn rise to the top. “I’m glad that I didn’t you know come out of the gates with the first thing being some huge critically-acclaimed success. It’s been very nice and educational,” he says. For the past five years, he’s been known to us as Captain America, one of the most classic roles in the Marvel universe, which is why it made sense to pair him with a new arrival to the superhero genre, Chiwetel Ejiofor, in our annuals Royals package. Here, he talks about his rise in Hollywood, from the his very first part in high school to his roles in the cult-favorite Snowpiercer and the upcoming Gifted.

Tell me the first thing you ever auditioned for. How old were you? I must have been 12 or something. Maybe my first audition ever was a school play, a play called Crazy Camp. And it was in sixth grade. And, well, I didn’t get the lead; I played the supporting lead, which was just as good. I ended up dating one of the more popular girls as a result, and then the second the play was over, she dumped me. And I learned then the power of getting a good role.

And did you get the bug as well, aside from the girl? I did. It was a lot of fun. It was something that I took to it very easily. It just felt very comfortable, very natural. My older sister did it, so seeing her do it, and anything she did, we wanted to copy. So it just felt natural, and there was a bunch of local community theaters so I just started doing plays year-round. At that point it was still a hobby. I still kind of had my sights set on being an artist. I was big into drawing, painting. I really liked animation. You know part of me kind of wanted to work for Disney or Pixar. Well I guess Pixar really hadn’t been flushed out at the time. You know I remember when Beauty and the Beast came out in theaters, it was the first time they had started to incorporate computers, and it was just a really cool thing, and I remember thinking ‘I’ll never not like cartoons’ [laughs], and this is just a great format for really unique storytelling. And I loved Fantasia. And so at the time it was much more about art. Then at some point in high school, it started to become a little more focused on acting, and by senior year I had committed. That’s the good thing about doing community theater. The ratio of guy to girl is drastically imbalanced, so you have a much greater chance of getting a good part.

Read more at the source


Written by Emily on May 07

Chris Evans on How He Chooses Roles: “I Try Not to Do Anything Based on What Other People Think of Me”

INSTYLE.COM – So this is a fashion story, huh?” asks Chris Evans, as he lies back on his sofa and kicks his red Timberland Earthkeepers onto the wooden coffee table in his Los Angeles home. “Well, it may be my last one. If I were the only man left on this earth, I’d be wearing sweatpants every day for the rest of my life.” The 34-year-old Boston native may not be a sartorial savant, but just a week before this interview, the scruffy Captain America stud attended the Academy Awards was looking dapper in a simple black Prada tuxedo, bow tie, and slicked-back hair.

“It was an out-of-body experience,” he says. “I grew up watching the Oscars, so being there makes me appreciate how far I’ve come.” In the early ’90s, Evans started his career as one of the dreamy guys you could romance in the board game Mystery Date. He went on an open casting call and booked the “role” of Tyler. Fast forward 20 years and the actor is headlining two major new movies: the third installment of his blockbuster Marvel series Captain America: Civil War, in theaters now, and the Marc Webb–directed family drama Gifted. The latter is a departure from his superhero filmography, but Evans, who says he practiced Buddhism since his early 20s, believes in taking on projects he connects with. “I want everything I do to come from a pure place so that I don’t become soured by the experience. I just like things to be easy in my everyday life,” he admits. “I don’t even like shaving.”

Clearly, you’re not a huge fashion guy. How would you describe your approach to style?
I try to be simple, classic, and clean. I don’t like my jeans to be too frilly, so I go with basic Levi’s and a fitted white T-shirt. I appreciate a retro vibe—a nice James Dean or Paul Newman look. It takes me about two minutes to get dressed, but then I’ll get photographed sometimes and think, Oh, s—. I look like a bum.

Do you ever accessorize?
I always prioritize function. I like Barton Perreira sunglasses because I have very weak eyes, so I’m always squinting—there you go, that’s fashiony! You can’t really go wrong with Ray-Bans either. If I’m going to get all dressed up and go to the nines, an IWC watch is nice.

How about shoes?
My favorite article of clothing is a good pair of sneakers. Solid footwear makes me feel more secure, athletic, and mobile. I’m not into labels, so I don’t care what kind of sneakers they are, as long as they’re comfortable and the laces tie. I’m not the barefoot type of guy.
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Written by Emily on May 05

Chris Evans for Rolling Stones

ROLLING STONES – There are black helicopters buzzing over Hollywood Boulevard. The LAPD has shut down traffic in both directions. Thousands of civilians are amassed on the sidewalk. If this were a comic- book movie, now would be the time when the sky opens up and the alien mothership comes swooping in, space guns blazing. But because it’s just the premiere of a comic-book movie – Marvel’s Captain America: Civil War, opening this month – all the hubbub merely presages the arrival of the man of the hour, the leader of the Avengers, Cap himself: 34-year-old Chris Evans, flashing an action figure smile as he steps out of a blue Audi sports car and onto the red carpet.

The sports car was not Evans’ idea. Audi is a big sponsor of Captain America: Civil War, and the product placement apparently extends to the premiere, where he and his co-star/antagonist in the film, Robert Downey Jr., have been asked to arrive in matching Audi R8s – red for Downey’s Iron Man, blue for Evans’ Cap. Up until then, Evans was having a stress-free evening, pre-partying at his home in the Hollywood Hills with his mom and brother and some buddies from back home in Boston, getting loose before his big night. But when he got to the theater and had to do the car thing – that’s when the anxiety kicked in.

“It’s a little nerve-racking,” Evans says two days later. “You’re in the SUV with your family, your people. And then you have to pull over in some weird parking lot and do the swap. There’s security and all these people. All of a sudden you’re out of your comfort zone. It’s strange. The little things that can tip you over.”

“It’s funny,” says Scarlett Johansson, a frequent Captain America and Avengers co-star who’s known Evans since she was 17. “He’s extremely easygoing, he loves to hang out, he loves to be around people. But whenever we do a premiere, or he has to be in the fray in some work-related context, he’s terrified.” Downey told something similar to Jimmy Kimmel the night after the premiere: “Chris Evans is such a nervous Nellie,” he said. “We’re supposed to drive in in the Audis, and he’s like, ‘Bro, I don’t know – should you go first, or I should go first?’ I was like, ‘Man up, dude!'” (Later, to Rolling Stone, he also says Evans had to excuse himself for a cigarette.)

You’d think this stuff would be easy for Evans by now. He’s one of the biggest names in the Marvel Cinematic Universe, the sprawling, $8 billion Disney-owned enterprise that includes his three Captain America films; the Iron Man, Thor and Hulk franchises; and the all-star Avengers team-ups, two of the top-grossing movies of all time. Shouldn’t he be comfortable with a few cameras and fans? But to hear Evans tell it, he’s one of the least-comfortable movie stars around. The acting part is fine; it’s everything else he can’t handle.

Read the rest at the source

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