Chris Evans has had fans amazed with his performance as Captain America since the 2011 film Captain America: The First Avenger. His venture to portray the superhero came to an end with the 2019 film Avengers: Endgame. Although he had a pretty good career before joining the MCU, the American actor describes it as the best decision he has ever made.
While the Marvel Studios president Kevin Feige was persistent on casting him as Steve Rogers, Evans was not sure about taking on the role. The Marvel star talks about his struggles with anxiety and how featuring alongside Marvel superheroes helped him overcome the constant fear of what’s next for him.
Chris Evans’ Struggles With Severe Anxiety
Chris Evans did some of the best work of his career in the Marvel films as Steve Rogers, aka Captain America. However, Evans was not sure if he was the best choice for the film when he was approached by Marvel Studios to be the first Avenger. He even started doubting if acting was the right career choice for him.
Followed by multiple lower-rated and below-average projects, Evans started losing faith in himself. The Avengers Star shared during his appearance on The Hollywood Reporter’s Awards Chatter podcast that there was a time he started having thoughts like, “I can’t make a good movie.”
However, soon he was offered a major role as one of the Marvel characters. He landed the role of Johnny Storm, aka Human Torch, in the 2005 film Fantastic Four. Chris Evans reprised his role in the sequel of the film, which was released in 2007. However, by the time of its release, he started experiencing severe anxiety.
He also shared how he started thinking over the projects he lost and how almost no one was focusing on some of his best work while talking about his 2007 film Sunshine. “Nobody sees my good movies,” he said.
By the time he featured in the 2010 film Puncture, the Gifted star started having panic attacks on the set. Soon, he was approached by Marvel Studios with an offer to sign up for the role of Captain America for nine Marvel movies. However, followed by the reviews of some of his previous work, he was still unsure whether he could play the part and avoided screen tests for the role several times.
Chris Evans is Grateful to Kevin Feige
Chris Evans shared that the studio brought down the number of total films to six and even agreed to increase the payment. But he was still not confident enough to go in for screen tests. However, Kevin Feige was also firm on his decision and continued offering him the role.
The Gray Man star consulted with Robert Downey Jr. about the offer and eventually said yes to Marvel’s offer, which he now considers the “best decision” of his life. And during his interview, he credited it all to Marvel chief Kevin Feige.
“It was the best decision I’ve ever made, and I really owe that to Kevin Feige for being persistent and helping me avoid making a giant mistake.”
He shared that all his fears “never really came to fruition” after he took up the role. “I fell in love with Steve Rogers pretty quick,” he shared. He also shared how his Avengers co-star, Chris Hemsworth, was also going through something similar.
The Endgame star said that almost all his Avengers co-stars were doing great in their careers, except for him and the Thor star, and having him alongside them was comforting for him. And the commercial and critical success of the MCU films helped him boost his confidence.
All Captain America films are available to stream on Disney+.
Source: The Hollywood Reporter
