'Captain America': Chris Evans Talks Body Transformation, Indie Films

Chris Evans goes from 98-pound weakling to buff superhero in a matter of moments in the upcoming summer smash "Captain America," but luckily for him, film studios have computers to do the heavy lifting these days. Or at least most of it.

Playing scrawny Army reject Steve Rogers in the film adaptation of the beloved comic book, Evans comes out of an experimental chamber all hopped up on a secret serum that would make Barry Bonds blush. It helps him become the US Army's ultimate super soldier, and while the early reviews rave about the transformation, Evans had to fight to make it happen.

"They went back and forth on the type of technology they were going to use. Initially, they were just going to do body shrinking, and then they thought, 'Well, maybe we can get another skinny actor and put Chris' head on it,' and I really, really was against that," Evans told USA Weekend. "I said to Joe [Johnston, director], "Look, I know we want this to look good and this effect to not be distracting from the film, but it has to be my performance. I don't want to share this. Your body is a huge piece of the acting puzzle, and I don't want to have somebody else's body tell the story that I'm trying to tell.' So they did some tweaking and they did a bunch of tests and we went back to the initial plan to shrink my body."

The results speak for themselves -- Evans goes from looking like a weak child to revealing a cut physique. Beyond the body, though, this film should have been a bit of a familiar event for Evans, as already had major experience with the comic movie genre. Evans starred as The Human Torch in the two "Fantastic Four" movies, and played, in a bit of fitting meta-fiction, an action star/warrior in the graphic novel-based "Scott Pilgrim Vs. The World."

As press duties heat up for what may end up being the biggest film of the summer, Evans is also excited about a smaller project that he's working on, an independent film called "Puncture" making its debut at the Tribeca Film Fest.

"It's a completely different feel. Sometimes in movies like [Captain America], there's a lot of money involved, and as a result, everyone is paid a lot of money to make everything look perfect," Evans said. "You've seen these movies - it's art, it's gorgeous. But as a result, it's very tedious. Some days, you really sit around, and you go home and you're like, 'Man, I spent maybe 60 percent of my day sitting on my ass.' A little indie movie, you go go go."

For more, click over to USA Weekend.

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Comments

[Mythos]

09:01 AM on 04/20/2011

I'm not into comic books or the comic book movie genre, but I am a fan of Chris Evans. He's an actor who draws me to his films so this will be no exception. It looks interesting; we'll see how it goes.

[itzy8940]

12:04 PM on 04/19/2011

It looks incredibly fake. I don't care what he's telling the press, it's very "Benjamin Button-esque". There is no way that he was that puny, then got so incredibly buff in such a short time. Gaining weight for a role, I can understand. DeNiro perfected it. Hanks did it. The list goes on and on.

[Supersteel]

02:08 PM on 04/19/2011

He didn't say he got puny. He said they used the computer to shrink his actual body.

[SeanMartin]

10:31 PM on 04/19/2011

Dude, it's a CG effect. Get real.

[gip7]

11:21 AM on 04/19/2011

It's called Steroids, silly.

[Bobrobert]

11:18 AM on 04/19/2011

lol

:-)

[Richard Aron]

11:04 AM on 04/19/2011

So, exactly how did he get this body so quickly like that??? If it was not those extreme 90-days workout, then I'm thinking the S stuff.

[Oregon42]

11:14 AM on 04/19/2011

It's all CGI. Even 'roids won't give you a foot of height. :)

[Supersteel]

02:08 PM on 04/19/2011

The body was real. The height was just camera tricks.

[Supersteel]

02:08 PM on 04/19/2011

The skinny part is his body shrunken by the computer.

[huffyISaHottie]

09:57 AM on 04/19/2011

Love the over all look of this movie...cant be all bad if tommy lee jones is in it even if he is starting to play the same character over and over again.

[LeaderofMen]

07:50 AM on 04/19/2011

It has all the elements of a blockbuster.

[gregcurts]

07:45 AM on 04/19/2011

This movie is a great advertisement for Steroids.

[osofar]

07:08 AM on 04/19/2011

Most American soldiers in WW II wore size small uniforms, and weighed around 120 pounds.

[Mikeeee]

07:41 AM on 04/19/2011

That's what happens when your supposed leaders send someone else's kids off to do their fighting for them. It's been a long long time since we had truly brave leaders who didn't lead from the rear.

[jdbond]

07:51 AM on 04/19/2011

Yes..and once that great leader dies in the war, you will step in to lead, right? Oh wait, you are talking about great Washington!

[murphthesurf3]

11:41 AM on 04/19/2011

The only "great military figure" I know of who led from the front was Custer.

Your notion is romantic and ahistorical.

When generals, strategists, weapon's specialists lead from the front....they tend to die quickly and whether we are willing to admit it or not they are worth far more than the common soldier or officer.

[Belisarius]

09:23 AM on 04/19/2011

1930's = Depression = bad nutrition = size small uniforms

[murphthesurf3]

11:42 AM on 04/19/2011

And very little processed sugar; low carb diets, lots of exercise......

[Pennsanic]

06:58 AM on 04/19/2011

P90X?

[Robert Frank]

06:41 AM on 04/19/2011

so hes still a WIMP in real life?

[Tamimi]

08:01 AM on 04/19/2011

You have not seen him in Fantastic Four, have you?

[Nostrodamus]

04:54 AM on 04/19/2011

Yeah ole Captain America was ahead of his time. The " secret serum " is now known as steroids.

[Guy26]

04:44 AM on 04/19/2011

I'm still a bit hesitant about the Captain America movie. The whole appeal of the character is that he's a man out of his time. He's the traditional late 30s, early 40s comic book or serial hero placed in the modern world. Having Captain America in his own element the entire movie takes away one of the main reasons people like the comic.

I'll still go see it though. Marvel's been on a role since they've gotten control of their characters in movies so hopefully this one will be no different.

[Robby Justus]

06:51 AM on 04/19/2011

In the 60s he became a man out of time, but when he was created in the 40s, he was certainly a man OF his time.

[Oregon42]

11:04 AM on 04/19/2011

They're showing the origins of the character, as they've been doing in all of the recent superhero movies. I don't know if he's going into suspended animation at the end of this one, of course, but it wouldn't surprise me with the appearance of Nick Fury in Iron Man and Tony Stark in The Incredible Hulk. I see that they are filming an Avengers movie now...

Yep, I just checked and they have Chris Evans listed as playing Captain America in next year's The Avengers.

[Benjamin Sisko]

12:10 PM on 04/19/2011

I still can't get into Samuel L. Jackson as Nick Fury. David Hasselhoff had the role in the TV movie and still looks good enough to have done it in the Iron Man and Avengers movies. It would have made for a nice "comeback" role for David.

[Brian Rowe]

03:37 AM on 04/19/2011

kinda sick of comic book movies.

sidenote - Waved hi to Stan Lee the other day. He acknowledged my wave. Tru story.

[Nostrodamus]

04:56 AM on 04/19/2011

Cool.......

[murphthesurf3]

11:51 AM on 04/19/2011

Met Stan Lee once. A very, very nice man who really loves those who love his work.

I was born in 1950 and raised with DC comics until Marvel came along and everything changed.

At 61, I still love that first generation of Marvel Heroes.

[Benjamin Sisko]

12:12 PM on 04/19/2011

Total agree. "Stan the Man" has ahead of his time in the 60s, and fifty years later he's still knocking them dead. Fanned and faved.

[EquinsuOcha]

03:16 AM on 04/19/2011

I'm a bit more excited about the X-Men movie...