The M Interview: Chris Evans on his Cap suit

Actor Chris Evans, who plays Captain America, says he's so used to his suit that he sometimes forgets he's wearing it after an hour

Apr 20, 2016 06:00 am

Chris Evans is yet another actor who covers up his gorgeous good looks with a beard.

"This is just me and this is just where I feel comfortable," he tells us at the London Hotel in West Hollywood, where he's promoting Captain America: Civil War, his fifth big-screen lead outing as the eponymous do-gooder.

At least the superhero bod - it takes him three months to bulk up - is intact.

But the hunky 34-year-old US actor can't stay off the sweets, especially ice cream, too long as he's a "big believer in cheat days".

He says: "When you are preparing for the film, you want to try to get as big as you can, just because the character in the comic books is impossibly big. While you are filming, you kind of slowly decline in your physique because of long hours. And you wear the suit every day so you are sweating an enormous amount. You take that suit off and it's pretty disgusting to be honest."

He adds: "It's made of things like canvas and very heavy material. But it does move well and it's one of the things that you put on at the beginning of the day and it feels suffocating, and then after about an hour of sweating a little bit, you forget you are even wearing it."

The film, starring Constance Wu, and Henry Golding, grossed US$239 million (S$325 million) globally.

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There was a lot of suit anxiety for Evans when he first started playing Steve Rogers/Captain America back in 2011's Captain America: The First Avenger, but the entire imaging has literally grown on him.

SHIELD

"But now it's mine, and there is a much more personal connection to it. I almost can't wait to put it on again. Now it's become something I have a bond with."

And then there's the shield.

"It begins to feel like an extension of your arm. Before I do a take, if I don't have it, (I feel like asking) where is my shield? At first it almost felt foreign, like I didn't deserve it or something. And to be completely candid, for the majority of times that I am actually throwing it, it's not there.

"For the most part, the actions involving throwing and catching, it's mostly CGI (computer-generated imagery). So what I have really mastered is the body motions of not throwing anything and what looks good when you are just throwing nothing at all. It's tricky."

What's new and challenging though, is delving into the inter-family fight between the Avengers in Civil War, which was shot at several locations around the globe, including Germany, Austria, Iceland, Puerto Rico, Indonesia, Brazil, England and Atlanta.

"It's tough to try and reinvent the genre," says Evans. "And it's exciting to think that Marvel found a way to somehow create a new enemy, which was from within. So in that regard, it was exciting to think this fight will now have a different outcome. This isn't just punching a faceless villain. This is punching a family member. So in a weird way, there was a lot more acting involved. It's not just the face of strain and struggle and aggression. Now there is regret."

Underneath the tough exterior, Cap is a softie who believes in true love, and in Civil War there is a potential romantic interest for him, Agent 13 Sharon Carter (Emily VanCamp).

Does Evans, who is single, believe in true love?

"You have to. If anyone here doesn't, sorry that your life sucks."

With his 35th birthday coming up in June, he also reflects on the real-life heroes that made him who he is - chief of whom is his dentist dad.

"I have a father who was very present and was an enormous impact in my life.

"An incredibly selfless man. And an unbelievable work ethic, patient and honest and noble. He lived by the code, when no one else was looking, he was the man that he was. That is what really defines a man, I think. I couldn't have asked for a better role model."

More than just Cap

It's hard to picture Chris Evans in other roles outside the Marvel universe, but he has played a variety of interesting characters. Here are some of his best.