Chris Evans is no stranger to the superhero genre. The star of Captain America: The First Avenger also played the Human Torch in 2005’s Fantastic Four and it’s 2007 sequel, as well as a parodied superhero actor in Scott Pilgrim vs. the World.
Here are 5 things you should know about the actor, whose red, white and blue superhero will hit movie screens Friday.
1. Evans grew up outside of Boston, Massachusetts. The star, who moved to Hollywood right after high school, comes from a working-class family. His dad is a dentist and his mom is the artistic director of the Concord Youth Theater in Massachusetts.
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2. He turned down the role of Captain America the first time. “I said no because I’m a big fan of my privacy,” he has said. “A flim like this, if it explodes…you don’t have the opportunity to kind of get your foot again. And that’s intimidating. You’re compromising a little bit of the freedom that you really enjoy.”
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3. After accepting the part, Evans went to therapy. “The second I agreed to do it, I was like, ‘All right, I’ll do this, but I’ve got to start working on my head,'” he told the New York Times of spending about a month working through his anxiety over taking on the massive role (he signed a six-film contract) with a professional “It’s not like I had any massive breakthrough, but for some reason, this feels more manageable.”
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4. He doesn’t mind the merchandise. And while he hasn’t copped to starting his own collection, the star told MTV News that he knows someone else who will be keeping all of his Captain America merch. “These are things my mother will collect and will fill our entire basement with,” he said.
5. Evans doesn’t want to be a big celebrity. Despite staring in what could be one of the summer’s biggest blockbusters, Evans says he’s not looking to join the ranks of globally-known celebs like Brad Pitt and Angelina Jolie. “I’ve been lucky enough to have been around people who are much further down the celebrity row than I am. And I’ve seen what it means to be constantly bombarded,” he’s revealed.
