I’ve said before that I am a Team Iron Man kind of person, and I stand by that- but after seeing Captain America: Civil War, I can actually see both sides. I’ll be sharing my review of the movie soon but one of my favorite things about this movie is the major growth that I saw in Captain America {Steve Rogers} throughout the film.
When we had the chance to interview Chris Evans {who plays Captain America} during the #CaptainAmericaEvent, we got to ask our burning questions. Read on to learn about who terrifies Chris on set, how he feels when he sees the suit, and what he liked to do as a kid!
It looks like there’s a lot of fun on set. Do you guys play pranks?
Chris: It’s not so much pranks as just a camaraderie. When you’re on set, you’re a little tired, to be honest. You really are there to work.
On these movies there are people who are really there to work and so you don’t want to diminish their experience or disrespect their process. There are certain actors who really are austere in their approach and you really want to respect that. So for the most part on set, we still have fun, but off set is where the real disaster happens.
When you put the uniform back on and the costume back on, how do you feel?
Chris: I feel good now, I didn’t in the beginning. In the beginning it was terrifying.
Don’t all our brains just manage to go to the most negative thing possible? Whenever there’s something in front of us, you just focus on what the worst possible outcome could be. When I began the movie, it was just like all the things that could go wrong and how this could be a mistake.
Over the course of five or six movies now, it feels great. It really does, the Russo Brothers and Marvel and everyone has made it such a wonderful environment, and they’ve proven themselves time and time again to be great filmmakers.
Now, it’s like a point of pride. When you see the suit, you’re excited to get the suit on and you’re very honored and humbled that you get to have some sort of a connection to it, because it is bigger than you. Captain America will live on- there will be other Captain Americas. It will live on a lot longer than I will. So it’s just nice to kind of have a little place in its lineage.
This one is a little darker than the others have been, so how does that feel to transition into a darker role?
Chris: It was nice. I think for the most part with Cap, the trickiest thing about the character is that he’s just a selfless guy. He’s not one of these brooding characters where you can kind of as an audience member connect to his conflict and struggle. I think to some degree it can feel vanilla, I think it can feel boring. His goal has always been doing what other people need. I think in this movie it’s the first time he kind of did what he wants and that’s a little bit of a departure for him.
It’s the first time he’s really kind of said, “I’m choosing me. Over you.” It’s tough for him but I like that. It gives him a little bit of conflict because he can be a little boring.
What was the hardest scene to shoot? The flexing scene with the helicopter?
Chris: My arm to this day is not the same. It was a tricky scene, but those scenes- they’re good scenes.
I think it’s harder, to me, doing scenes with Downey, because he’s such a force. He’s so good and he owns the oxygen, and he comes in the room and he’s powerful.
The spine of the film is that conflict, so when you have those scenes… there’s a limited amount of scenes where it’s really just us, when we’re not fighting, just us talking. That’s the framework for the conflict, and if you don’t invest in those moments, the conflict is going to be sour and fall flat. So those few scenes that we have where it’s just him and I were really intimidating. He’s scary because he’s so good. He’s just good at anything he does. He changes things on the fly so you want to keep up sparring wise. So those scenes were the most terrifying.
What were your thoughts when Marvel threatened to boycott Georgia if they passed the Anti-Gay bill?
Chris: It was great. I really I thought that was great. I didn’t even know- my younger brother is gay and he was the one sending me these text messages being like, “Good for Disney,” and it was just a nice thing to read about. I’m proud of them. I was so proud of Disney for standing up to that and making a statement and saying, “Listen, this is what we feel, this is what we believe in.” I was proud to be a part of the Disney family during that.
Growing up who was your favorite superhero?
Chris: Oh, I didn’t have one. I had an older sister and whatever Carly wanted to do, we did. So we played My Little Pony and Care Bears- that was it. Just being in Carly’s room was a big deal. So comic books were not on my radar. I liked Star Wars, which was maybe the coolest thing about me, but that was my dad being like please, please like Han Solo and I was like, “But Tender Heart Bear!”
What superhero from Team Cap would be a good face off for Captain America?
Chris: Scarlet Witch would be trouble, wouldn’t she? She messes stuff up. She would be a problem, and you know what, we’re lucky we have her, because without her- when you look at Team Iron Man, just even having the Vision. Vision is so wonderful and so powerful. We’d be in trouble without Scarlet Witch, we really would.
Captain America: Civil War hits theaters next Friday, May 6th! Whatever team you side with, be sure to follow Captain America: Civil War on Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram for more updates! And don’t forget to tweet your allegiance using #TeamIronMan or #TeamCap– or if you aren’t into picking sides, you can just use #CaptainAmericaCivilWar!
Want more on Captain America: Civil War? Check out my interview with Jeremy Renner and Elizabeth Olsen {Hawkeye and Scarlet Witch} and my interview with Paul Bettany {Vision}! See more photos from the movie here and come back next week for interviews with Emily VanCamp {Agent 13} and The Russo Brothers-as well as my non-spoilery review. You can also download these free printable superhero birthday party invitations– keep an eye out next week for another special way to celebrate! {Hint: It’s delicious.}
