CHRIS EVANS’ NEW MISSION
THE CAPTAIN AMERICA ACTOR TALKS ABOUT FAMILY, LIFE IN THE SPOTLIGHT AND HIS SURPRISING PASSION PROJECT IN POLITICS
Chris Evans isn’t one to flex his fame card. Even after two decades of movie stardom – including 10 box office-dominating turns as superhero Captain America that have won him a devoted fan base with nearly 14 million Twitter followers – he’s still a self-described “homebody”. Now, at a time when Evans could make almost any film he wants, the Boston native is boldly stepping into the controversial world of politics.
In July he launched a nonpartisan website called A Starting Point, designed to demystify the most common political issues. “It’s not that I’m specifically drawn to politics,” he says. “It’s just when you look around, you try to figure out how you can help.” The idea was born out of his own frustration about not being able to find reliable information online about basic political topics and policies. “There’s a lot of things you can do as an actor with your name,” he says. “I could be making booze. I don’t discourage anyone from doing that.
I love booze. But there’s no denying that I played a certain character, and it just so happens to align with part of my nature in terms of being someone who cares about the wellbeing of people in this country. You have to use your platform to do more than just retweet things.”
Not that the 39-year-old is shy on social media. He freely expresses his views on Twitter – recently slamming the Trump administration’s handling of the pandemic. He says that outspokenness was instilled in him by his “very political, very vocal” family, including his uncle Michael Capuano, who served 10 terms in Congress as a Democrat representing the Boston area. “It’s always the conversation around the dinner table,” Evans says.
He recently “caved” and joined Instagram, joking that he did so in order to post more photos of his rescue dog Dodger. “It’s a lot nicer than Twitter,” he says. “Although maybe I just don’t know how to read the comments.” Despite the country’s turbulent times, Evans’ hope for America’s future is as sincere as Captain America’s: “We have the power. We have the numbers,” he says. “The more that people are engaged in politics, the better chance we have of creating a government that accurately reflects who we are as a nation.”
One of four children raised by father Robert, a dentist, and mother Lisa, a youth-theatre director, Evans started acting as a kid – first with his siblings, putting on plays in the living room, and later in community theatre. After moving to LA in 2000, he landed his breakout role in 2001’s Not Another Teen Movie and his first superhero turn in 2005’s Fantastic Four.
But it was signing on to play Captain America in 2010 that made him an A-lister, however reluctant. “The truth is I’ve never been one of those actors that goes from movie to movie to movie,” he says. “I make a movie, and I take a big old chunk of time off. I like being in Massachusetts. I like feeling normal as much as I can.”
This summer he has been spotted out on dates in London with Cinderella star Lily James, 31, following past relationships with actresses Jenny Slate, Minka Kelly and Jessica Biel. In between Marvel outings, he has also earned acclaim on Broadway and for films such as mystery drama Knives Out. But his family happily assists with keeping his ego in check. “They’re proud, I guess? They’ll give me a little nod, an ‘attaboy’, but it’s not like we sit around celebrating my achievements,” he says with a laugh. “Despite my best efforts.”
His next movie, thriller The
Gray Man with Ryan Gosling, is scheduled to go into production in January. Until then, Evans is enjoying his homebody ways. In fact, he could get used to it. “If this all goes away,” he adds. “I’ll just go back to Massachusetts and be a carpenter or something.”