the1emilio: Chris Evans 'Can't Believe' He Almost Passed On 'Captain America'

Tuesday, April 26, 2011

Chris Evans 'Can't Believe' He Almost Passed On 'Captain America'

'Captain America just changes things and there's no 'off' switch,' he tells MTV News about playing Marvel war hero.
By Eric Ditzian, with reporting by Josh Horowitz

Chris Evans in "Captain America"
Photo: Marvel

Last year, in the run-up to casting the lead role in "Captain America: The First Avenger," actors rumored to be competing to play the Captain included Garrett Hedlund ("Tron: Legacy"), Wilson Bethel ("Generation Kill"), John Krasinski ("The Office"), Mike Vogel ("Cloverfield") and Chris Evans.

The part eventually went to Evans, despite serious trepidations he had about jumping into another superhero franchise following his turn as the Human Torch in two "Fantastic Four" films.

"I look back now and I can't believe I almost didn't do it," Evans told MTV News recently. "I can't believe I almost didn't do it! For better or worse, no matter what happens with the film, whether it's a good film or not, it was the right thing to do and I'm glad I did it."

And he's still doing it. Over the weekend, Evans was on location in Times Square putting the finishing touches on the production ahead of the flick's July 22 release date. As part of our ongoing Summer Movie Preview Week, we're debuting an exclusive photo of Evans in character as the World War II-era hero and we sat down for a chat with the star to discuss his thoughts about the Marvel film.

"I was pretty nervous. I remember the first time I went to a fitting and I put on the suit and I just was so terrified, so focused on the negatives, still," he said. "I'm not quite sure when it turned. I bet when I was at that Comic-Con [in August], I was probably still terrified, probably still apprehensive about whether or not this was right."

Indeed he was. Back at the Con in San Diego, he said of taking on the project, "It wasn't an easy 'yes.' I get nervous in things like this and Captain America just means a lot of this. I was in a really happy place in my life; kind of in a happy medium place in my career, and Captain America just changes things and there's no 'off' switch once you walk down that road."

Now, though, the production is nearly complete and the 29-year-old actor couldn't be happier with what he's seen of the Joe Johnston-directed movie. "I've seen quite a bit, but I haven't seen a full cut," Evans said. "Everything I've seen, I really like. I don't like jinxing things because I've made some films in the past that I've seen bits and pieces of that I liked and then you see the full film and get the full experience and the full pace and the journey and it might not be the same thing. Individual scenes in a vacuum can be misleading. I will say this: Every single individual scene that I've seen I've loved."

What do think of the latest look at Chris Evans as Captain America? Tell us in the comments!

Check out everything we've got on "Captain America: The First Avenger."

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