I was recently invited by Marvel Studios to attend the #CaptainAmericaEvent. While in LA I was lucky enough to screen the upcoming movie Captain America: Civil War (so good – full review coming soon!) and interview some of the cast. One of those cast members was Captain America himself, Chris Evans. I am a giant Marvel fan, so this was heaven for me. Just knowing I would be in the same room as the actors that play some of my favorite heroes – well, it was pretty darn cool if you ask me.

While I do stand with #TeamIronMan, that doesn’t mean that I do not still love Cap – they both have valid points, especially in the movie versus the comic book (that is a post for another day, though).

I was excited, to put it mildly, to chat with the man who portrays one of the most iconic super heroes out there. The interview started off as a total shock – Chris “barged” in during Paul Bettany (Vision)’s interview waving his phone and questioning how Paul could look so good in a photo that was taken for Buzzfeed earlier that day when they had only minutes to take it. He was joking of course but it really set the tone for the interview. He had us all laughing within seconds and we didn’t stop until after he left the room – my stomach literally hurt from how hard I was laughing.

Pranks on Set

It was instantly apparent that the cast has a lot of fun on set. You could tell immediately how well Chris and Paul get along – on the set and off. Because of this, we asked Chris if there are any pranks played while filming. His answer surprised me.

“Everyone wants there to be pranks and it’s not so much pranks as it’s just a camaraderie. I think we’re all a little tired, to be honest. The truth is you really are there to work.” Chris went on to explain, “I’ve done comedies where everyone is a little more loose. 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. So for the most part on set, you’re not, not tame, but we still have fun, you know, days when it’s just me and Paul, we’re giggling a lot more. There are certain actors who really are austere in their approach and you really want to respect that. Off set is where the real disaster happens.”

I can only imagine how intimidating playing Captain America can be for an actor – I mean, he is a favorite among comic book readers and fans. When asked how he feels about putting on the uniform, Chris answered

“I feel good now, I didn’t in the beginning. In the beginning it was terrifying. Now, it’s a point of pride. 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, there will. 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.“

The Darker Side of Cap

In Captain America: Civil War, Cap’s character gets a bit darker. It is done well, and is quite justified if you ask me. When Chris was asked how he felt about it, he mentioned that it is a “nice” change.

“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. He’s very selfless and 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, and in this movie, it’s the first time he did what he wants and that’s a little bit of a departure for him.“

I have to agree with him. I like seeing Captain America stand up for himself and what he believes in for once instead of just trying to make everyone around him happy. He has some great lines in this film, just wait until you see it!

Getting Hurt on Set

Speaking of the film, there is this one scene – the helicopter scene which you can see in the trailer – that was a favorite among the group of us. Chris’ arm muscles are bulging and it looked like it was truly difficult for him to hold onto that helicopter. So of course someone asked him if it was the hardest scene for him to shoot. He laughed and said that honestly he really hurt his arm filming that scene, and it is still not the same to this day.

“It’s a fake helicopter, obviously. We did the first couple takes and the helicopter was [close]so you’re just faking it.” Chris said. He explained that the helicopter was on a rig so they could move it and when they did so he would have to actually hold on, he “banged something up”. He then joked about not trying to get sympathy out of us ladies, and of course, we all laughed.

“It was a trick scene, those are good scenes. I think its harder to do scenes with [Robert] Downey [Jr.] because he’s such a force. He’s so good and he owns the oxygen. He comes in the room and he’s powerful. There’s a limited amount of scenes where it’s just us, when we’re not fighting, just us talking. That’s the framework for the conflict – 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 went on to say that those scenes were the most terrifying – which he repeated three more times. I can totally see how RDJ would be intimidating as an actor. He is definitely good at what he does.

Passing on the Shield

If you are a comic book reader you know that the shield gets passed on. And Chris himself brought that up when asked about Captain America’s relationships with Bucky and Falcon.

“That’s been one of the big questions- are you team Bucky or team Falcon – it’s tricky because in the comic books, one of these guys gets the shield. I don’t know what Marvel is going to do – I don’t want to give them the shield anyway but I guess I gotta, which is fine. It’s not my job to pick. Bucky is the friend from old and Falcon is the friend from today and they’re both great people, both great characters, both great actors. I’m thankful it’s not my decision.”

I personally would love to see Falcon take over (if they have someone take over), but we will just have to see what Marvel Studios decides to do.

The fight scenes in this movie are incredible – especially the airport battle – just wait until you see it. Both #TeamIronMan and #TeamCap have some pretty powerful players on their side. Chris admitted that Scarlet Witch would pose the biggest threat to Team Captain America if she was on the other side.

“She messes stuff up. She would be a problem. We’re lucky we have her because without her – when you look at Team Iron Man – just even having The Vision, even though we all know Paul Bettany, he’s still dangerous on the battlefield. Vision is so wonderful and Vision is so powerful and we’d be in trouble without Scarlet Witch, we really would.“

The Georgia Boycott

Recently, we saw Marvel in the news threatening to boycott Georgia if they passed the Anti-Gay bill. I was thrilled to hear that Chris was fully in support of that. His younger brother is gay and he was sending Chris text messages saying things like good for Disney. Disney spends huge money in Georgia and Chris was really proud of them for standing up like that and making a statement.

“I was proud of Disney, I really was, and I was glad it worked out. There are still some states that are messing up but I was proud to be a part of the Disney family during that.”

My Little Ponies & Care Bears

My favorite tid-bit about Chris Evans from the interview? He grew up playing with My Little Ponies and Care Bears. He was asked who his favorite superhero was when he was younger and he immediately responded that he didn’t have one. See, he has an older sister (and says he hopes his first child is a girl because that softens up the younger boys) and he really looked up to her.

“Just being in Carly’s room, you’re like ‘don’t mess it up, just sit here and whatever she gives us to play with, that’s what we’re playing with.'” Chris explained, “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…it’s not untrue, it’s really sad.“

My interview with Chris Evans was probably one of my favorite interviews to date. The vibe in the room was incredible – he is just so modest, down to Earth, and genuinely fun to be around. For approximately 20 minutes, I felt like I was hanging out and chatting with a good friend about a movie we both enjoyed, and a couple of topics to help us get to know each other better. I feel like he really opened up to us and was himself.

About Captain America: Civil War

Marvel’s “Captain America: Civil War” finds Steve Rogers leading the newly formed team of Avengers in their continued efforts to safeguard humanity. But after another incident involving the Avengers results in collateral damage, political pressure mounts to install a system of accountability, headed by a governing body to oversee and direct the team.

The new status quo fractures the Avengers, resulting in two camps – one led by Steve Rogers and his desire for the Avengers to remain free to defend humanity without government interference, and the other following Tony Stark’s surprising decision to support government oversight and accountability.

Connect with Captain America

Follow CHRIS EVANS on Twitter: https://twitter.com/ChrisEvans

Like CAPTAIN AMERICA on Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/CaptainAmerica

Follow CAPTAIN AMERICA on Twitter: https://twitter.com/CaptainAmerica

Follow Marvel on Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/marvel/

Visit the official CAPTAIN AMERICA website here: http://marvel.com/captainamerica

#CaptainAmericaEvent | #TeamIronMan | #TeamCap