‘Captain America’ star initially balked at the part

‘Captain America’ star initially balked at the part

By Julie Hinds

Detroit Free Press

DETROIT

Steve Rogers is a scrawny guy who is transformed into a World War II super-soldier in “Captain America: The First Avenger,” the latest comic book adaptation to invade theaters.

In a rather similar way, Chris Evans, the hunky actor who plays the title role, underwent some super-scrutiny himself to fill the shoes of the Marvel superhero in the 3-D film, which hits screens Friday.

A big issue was the Captain America suit, which had to retain its retro patriotic zeal and yet look plausible to modern audiences.

“It was a little overwhelming,” recalls Evans, 30, talking by phone from New York during a publicity tour that would include playing beer pong on “Late Night with Jimmy Fallon” and ringing the New York Stock Exchange opening bell.

“The first couple of fittings you’d have, you’d go in there and you’d put on the suit. And then they would file in about 20 people to take notes. You have three or four people dedicated just to the gloves and three or four people just to the boots.”

And then there was the matter of the iconic shield, which required numerous prototypes and screen tests.

“It’s amazing how different shields changed the whole look of the outfit, so that was another process,” says the actor, who wields the bullet-stopping weapon in some dazzling action scenes.

Aside from the wardrobe, there was the challenge of capturing Captain America’s personal qualities. Evans says he and Steve Rogers have at least one aspect in common.

“I think I have a pretty unsilenceable conscience,” says Evans, who sounds a bit guarded as he deals with the media blitz for his biggest cinematic role yet.

“I think part of Captain America is that he does things not for anybody else, not because he’s waiting for praise or reward. He just does it because it’s right. It’s the type of thing that if he didn’t do it, and the only person who knew about it was him, he wouldn’t be able to live with that. It’s too much. In some ways, sometimes my brain or my heart just won’t let me not do something. If you know something is right, it just has to be done, then you have to do it.”

Does that mean he can’t deal with something like unpaid parking tickets? Evans relaxes with a laugh. “That, I’m not sweating,” he says.

In a month dominated so far by “Transformers” mayhem, “Captain America” could bring a welcome humanity back to the superhero genre.

Although the movie has all the requisite state-of-the-art stunts and special effects, it’s driven by the earnest goodness of Steve Rogers, a character who debuted in March 1941, before America entered the war

In the movie, Rogers starts out as someone whose heart and courage far outweigh his 98-pound frame.

He is desperate to enlist in the Army, but he has 4 F written all over him.

Then, in a stroke of fate that changes his life forever, Rogers is spotted by a scientist (Stanley Tucci) and becomes part of a top-secret project. Through a process involving a super-serum that enhances the existing powers within a person, Rogers is turned into the perfect human specimen that is Captain America and drawn into a battle against the Red Skull (Hugo Weaving), a Nazi officer whose brush with a serum prototype has made him even more vicious and evil.

In a feat of acting and computer magic, Evans is able to portray both the skinny Steve and the super Steve.

A variety of visual effects were used to whittle him down to a slight, shorter man, such as putting his head on a body double and thinning the size of his face.

To achieve the look of the bulked-up Steve, Evans worked out intensively for about two hours a day for months with a trainer, “doing things in the gym that I would never normally do,” as he puts it.

“When I work out on my own time, it’s a bit more standard and a bit more subdued,” he says.

“I’m out of there in 45 minutes.”

As dazzling as the physical transformation is on-screen, it doesn’t change the essence of the character, stresses Evans.

“I’d love to believe that even in the last frame of the film, you still kind of see the skinny Steve,” he says. “I think the difference is, once he becomes big, he really experiences his first taste of real loss and heartache on a personal level with, well, I don’t want to give away spoilers.” Suffice it to say that the character’s journey takes him down emotional paths as well as to the war zones.