by Ethan Sacks
DAILY NEWS STAFF WRITER
Slapping on some knee pads and having a stretch, Chris Evans got ready to do a Parkour-style stunt – scampering up the side of a building for an action-packed scene in "The Losers."
"I said, "Okay can the stuntman just show me what he's doing just once," says the 28-year-old actor, on the phone from Los Angeles. "And the stuntman just scaled up this building."
With that, Evans made his move.
"I said, "Okay I'll be in my trailer, good luck guys," the actor says with a laugh. "I don't know who the hell I thought I was thinking I could touch my toes a few times and go out there and scale a building."
He'll have to get used to it. In "The Losers," opening Friday, Evans plays a wise-cracking computer expert who is part of a special ops unit that ends up being framed for a horrendous attack.
And before he can catch his breath, Evans will next don the star-spangled costume of Captain America, having beaten a legion of other Hollywood hunks to land the high-profile super hero franchise.
Considering you were playing a special ops soldier in "The Losers," do you have any war stories from filming on location in the jungle in Puerto Rico?
My personal war story just had to do with the weather. I'm not built for the heat. I'm Irish-Italian from Boston. I sweat, I burn. In Puerto Rico you're looking at 100 degrees with 100% humidity in army fatigues on. It was not an easy experience for me. Everyone else was loving it.
Danny Boyle, who directed you in 2007's "Sunshine," told the Daily News that you were an incredibly underappreciated talent. But do you feel that's about to change with these movies?
I definitely am optimistic about the films that are coming out. I think it's no secret that I've been a part of a few films that have missed the mark. And it's upsetting when that happens. It's a disappointment when a film comes out and it's not what you hoped it would be.
Comic book fans are particularly protective of Captain America. Does that shield feel heavy under all that pressure?
As far as the physicality goes, that comes from the serum, and I think special effects will help me carry the load. As far as who he is as a man, the reason he's chosen for this experiment, is because he has a pure heart. I actually have a friend of mine who I'm modeling the character after. This guy is actually an Eagle Scout, he's one of those guys who stayed in the boys scouts all the way until he was 18. He's just a good human being. He does the right things. It's an exciting character to play. A lot of time I play characters who don't have redeeming qualities. (Laughs.)
Besides Captain America, you also played the Human Torch in "Fantastic Four" and "The Losers" is also based on a comic, have you had any close encounters with rabid fans?
These people want it to be good so desperately that you so desperately want to give them what they're looking for. The last time at WonderCon, we were in the middle of an interview, and I had to run to the bathroom. I raced around the corner and I threw open the bathroom door and as I was walked in, I literally bumped right into a Stormtrooper. He just washed his hands, and he picked up his helmet and blaster. And I just ran into him. I just laughed the whole time I was in the bathroom. What a great place.
How did you go from a high school student in Boston who loved watching films to breaking into Hollywood?
I wrote a bunch of letters to casting directors around New York City, and I just said, "Listen, I'm 16 years old, I'm looking to do this for a living, I just want to learn. I'll get you coffee. I'll make photocopies." My parents and I went in on a little short term apartment lease in Brooklyn … it was the size of a closet. And I ended up getting an internship at Bonnie Finegan casting and she was casting for "Spin City." My duties were to set up these actors to come in and audition, so all day I'm talking to agents on the phone. By the end of the summer, I was relatively friendly with two or three.
I said to a couple of them, "Is there anyway you can give me five minutes and I can come down there and I can read for you." One of them said, "Sure." I went down there and auditioned and he signed me. I graduated from high school that January and went right back to New York and oddly enough got the same apartment and got the same internship, but was just auditioning in my spare time. But I just got really lucky, I got a part in a pilot in February or March and it got picked up and that's what took me to LA at the end of 1999.
Source: nydailynews.com
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