Fifteen years ago today, Chris Evans donned the famous red, white, and blue combat uniform and a deep-blue mask-helmet embellished with the big white “A” on the front. Armed with an iconic, vibranium-made round shield, Evans marked the fourth actor to play Steve Rogers/Captain America after Matt Salinger, Reb Brown, and Dick Purcell. Back then, it was hard to believe that Evans would end up playing the star-spangled Marvel superhero, especially after he was already known for his Johnny Storm/The Human Torch role in Fox’s Fantastic Four (2005) and Fantastic Four: Rise of the Silver Surfer (2007).
It didn’t help either that Evans’s filmography consisted mostly of comedies such as Not Another Teen Movie, The Perfect Score, and Scott Pilgrim vs. the World, making him an odd choice to portray a stoic and dignified character like Steve Rogers/Captain America — let alone a costumed super-soldier fighting the Nazis during World War II.
Why Chris Evans Became the Heart and Soul of Captain America
And yet, the risky gamble of casting Evans paid off after Captain America: The First Avenger did well at the worldwide box office, grossing over $370 million on a $140 million budget, and even garnered positive responses. Directed by Joe Johnston — no stranger to the period-era superhero genre after 1991’s cult-classic The Rocketeer — the film brings an earnest quality to the 1940s-set Captain America: The First Avenger while efficiently navigating the origin story of Steve Rogers, a determined hopeful who dreams of joining the US Army, but his skinny build and physical ailments hinder him from being accepted.
But Steve refuses to give up, trying his luck again upon coming across a military recruitment center while visiting the Stark Expo with his best friend and army sergeant, Bucky (Sebastian Stan). From there, he meets Dr. Abraham Erskine (Stanley Tucci), a German scientist who finds Steve the right candidate for his super-soldier serum experiment. For the first 45 minutes, it’s hard not to root for Steve’s arc from a weakling to a selfless recruit who’s willing to throw himself on top of a grenade to protect others during a test from Colonel Chester Phillips (a perfectly grizzled Tommy Lee Jones), despite it being only a dummy explosive.
Johnston ratchets up the tension once Steve becomes taller and more muscular after the successful super-serum injection, beginning with an exhilarating barefoot chase to pursue a Hydra spy posing as a State Department official. The action has the stylized, pulpy energy that balances superhero thrills with an old-fashioned action-adventure vibe, even though the inconsistent CGI gets in the way in some scenes.
At the center of Captain America: The First Avenger is Chris Evans, bringing the much-needed heart and soul to his character without resulting in a corny portrayal of a flag-waving superhero. His respective on-screen dynamics with Hayley Atwell’s Peggy Carter and Stan’s Bucky Barnes help ground the movie with emotional and dramatic anchors that are both heartfelt and tragic.
Hugo Weaving, who has experience playing a role behind the mask (as seen in V for Vendetta), looks the part as the sinister villain Red Skull, bringing a deliberately theatrical style of acting under heavy prosthetic makeup and a thick German accent.
The Actors Marvel Considered Before Chris Evans
Although Evans has since become the ultimate poster boy of Steve Rogers/Captain America, so much so that not even Anthony Mackie’s Sam Wilson/Falcon taking over his mantle in the underwhelming Captain America: Brave New World could succeed, he wasn’t a shoo-in favorite during the wide casting search back in 2009. Marvel Studios executives were initially interested in Sam Worthington and Garrett Hedlund. Then came the open casting call, which included Chris Pratt (who would go on to play Peter Quill/Star-Lord in the Guardians of the Galaxy movies), Jensen Ackles, Chad Michael Murray, and John Krasinski.
The latter became the frontrunner for months and even did a screen test donning the full costume before he ultimately backed out after coming across a bulked-up Chris Hemsworth, who was officially cast as Thor at the time, walking past the dressing room. It was in that moment that he realized he wasn’t mentally or physically ready to play a superhero, not to mention the nine-movie commitment if he chose to sign the contract.
Interestingly, Sebastian Stan also did an extensive screen test before the studio eventually found him more suitable to play Bucky Barnes. After Marvel painstakingly went over the audition process, they initially finalized four candidates: Wilson Bethel, Scott Porter, Mike Vogel, and Patrick Flueger, only for Johnston and casting director Sarah Halley Finn to stop the whole process.
How Robert Downey Jr. Convinced Chris Evans to Say Yes
Instead, they went for Chris Evans, who never auditioned for the part, let alone read a single line of the script. But he refused the role, despite Marvel attempting to convince him on three separate occasions. Evans’s refusal was largely due to his past severe panic attacks and the overwhelming nine-movie commitment the role demanded. They made a compromise by trimming down to a six-movie commitment, even increasing his upfront salary, but Evans still rejected their offer for the second time.
It wasn’t until Evans’s mother, Lisa, talked him into accepting the role to avoid regretting the decision later in his life, coupled with Robert Downey Jr.’s personal phone call, telling him never to let fear determine his career path, that he finally agreed to the offer.
After the success of Captain America: The First Avenger, Evans returned to several more MCU movies, including four Avengers movies and two solo movies, Captain America: The Winter Soldier and Captain America: Civil War. This December, we get to see Evans again as Steve Rogers in Avengers: Doomsday after a seven-year hiatus since we last saw his character’s emotional sendoff in Avengers: Endgame.
RELATED: Chris Evans Almost Never Played Captain America – Here’s the Marvel Movie That Nearly Stopped Him
