Chris Evans Turned Down Captain America
So, here’s an admission. Captain America: The First Avenger is NOT my favorite Chris Evans superhero movie. Push (2009) takes the cake for me (look it up, well worth a watch).
However, Evans re-told the story of how filming the 2010 film Puncture nearly had Cap calling it quits.
Evans told Hollywood Reporter:
“I’m at a point now where I have a little more room to breathe,” says Chris Evans, the actor best known for his work in seven of Hollywood’s biggest blockbusters of not only the past decade but ever, playing Steve Rogers, aka Captain America… “Sometimes I wake up and don’t have any appetite to make a film. And then other times I can’t wait to get on set because I have a new ‘strength,’ maybe, in risk-taking: I’m more excited to get to set and take some big swings and not be so concerned about, ‘Will this end it all for me?’ And I think that’s where the best work comes from, especially on Defending Jacob.”
Defending Jacob is his latest project, but the above quote wasn’t what got Evan’s interview on The Hollywood Reporter’s Awards Chatter podcast on CNN.
No, that was the re-revelation that Evans turned down the role of Captain America. The Massachusetts-native explained that something was amiss as he acted in 2007’s Fantastic Four.
Evans said he started having panic attacks while filming “Puncture” in 2010.
“It was the first time I started having mini panic attacks on set,” he said. “I really started to think, ‘I’m not sure if this [acting] is the right thing for me, I’m not sure if I’m feeling as healthy as I should be feeling.'”
By the time Marvel asked him to test for the role of “Captain America”… he turned them down.
Eventually, Robert Downey Jr. and Kevin Feige intervened. As did Evans’ family (and therapist).
“It was the best decision I’ve ever made,” said Evans.
Agreed.
Listen to the entire podcast, below: