The following excerpts are from a lengthy and detailed interview with Chris Evans on the UK set of Captain America: The First Avenger last year courtesy of SuperHeroHype. To read it in its entirety, be sure to click on the link below to head on over to the site where the actor reveals even more about his time working on the highly anticipated movie from Marvel Studios.
On How The Suit Affected His Performance:
I think wardrobe in general's a pretty big deal for any character. Not to knock the magnitude of the suit down to any other film, but whenever you put on the clothes of the character, it certainly helps bring the character to life. Of all the characters I've played, superhero or not, I was most excited about putting this one on. It absolutely lends itself to the role. There was a lot of build up for me to do this, more so than anything else I've done, and deciding to do it was a big thing, and nerve wracking, lots of sleepless nights, and then finally putting it on, I was like, "am I going to feel good about this, or is my body going to reject this? Too late," but it felt fantastic. I love it. I never want to take it off. I have trouble with the fly though.
On Wielding The Shield As Captain America:
It's good, it's tricky. They had a bunch of different shields. Some of them are the real heavy, legit shields that look fantastic on film, some of them are, if you guys have seen, a bit rubbery, when you're doing dangerous stuff, and you don't want to get hit in the face with it. So each one has a different weight to it. It's always strange, but it's always great sliding it on, it just feels cool. It's strange seeing a stuntman dressed up and thinking, "is that what I look like? Alright! That's fantastic!" you forget. But the shield is kind of the icing on the cake.
On The Action Scenes And Fighting Style Of The Character:
When I came into it I was interested about, "what are the extent of his abilities. Can the guy jump over mountains? What can he actually do?" because I think that will affect how cool the movie looks in the end. You want him to be someone who is obviously superior, obviously able, but you don't want the guy punching through brick walls. They basically equated it to, he would crush the Olympics. Any Olympic sport he's gonna dominate. He can jump higher, run faster, lift stronger weight, but he can be injured. He could roll an ankle and be out for the season. He's not perfect, he's not untouchable. So a lot of the effects, if I'm going to punch someone they're not going to put them on a cable and fly them back 50 feet, but he's going to go down, probably not getting back up, which I think humanizes it. It makes it something that, again, I think everyone can relate to a little bit more, which I really like.
On The Relationship Between Steve And Bucky:
It's been great. I really like it actually. It's a little bit different from, at least, the original Captain America comic books. The original comic books, Bucky was a young guy, kind of a sidekick, kind of the one Steve had to look out for. We do it a little differently, but the relationship is still very well developed. I think it's one of the best ones in the film, you really care about these two guys. They're friends before Steve gets this injection. I don't want to give too much away, I think I'll get murdered by Kevin Feige.
On Captain America's Transition Into The Present Day:
Well, Ed Brubaker had that great quote where he said, in modern comic books you have those left-wing people who want Captain America to be speaking out against George Bush, and against Washington, and you have right-wing people wanting Captain America to be in Afghanistan, fighting the war. Obviously I think, in the '40s, it was pretty clear-cut who the enemy was. Does that mean that the morals, and the man you have to be as Captain America is a little bit less black and white, more grey? Probably. I'm sure it's a lot easier to say "Nazis are bad" than it is to say "Republicans are bad." It's just not that clear cut anymore. But again, like my friend Charlie, he lives in a world of grey. I think that's what makes people morally sad, there isn't a harsh black and white, there's an understanding – his name's Charlie, by the way. He's going to love this – I can't see him coming down on either side of any situation quick and easily. I think he would weigh the options and listen, and I think that translates, at least currently to a whole different type of climate.
On Whether He's Looking Forward To Giving Orders To Robert Downey Jr:
I don't know. I've been asked that a couple of times. I just met all those guys for the first time at Comic-Con, and they all seem so fantastic. I don't know what Joss [Whedon] is going to do with the script, I don't know what level of leader they're going to make him right away. I know in a lot of the Avengers comic books he's sort of the quarterback in those scenarios, but that's up to Joss. That's out of my hands.
With an all star cast which includes Chris Evans as Captain America, Sebastian Stan as Bucky, Hugo Weaving as Red Skull, Hayley Atwell as Peggy Carter, Tommy Lee Jones as Col. Chester Phillips, Stanley Tucci as Abraham Erskine and Dominic Cooper as Howard Stark,
Captain America: The First Avenger will be released in 3D on July 22, later this year!