Chris Evans gets ‘Gifted’
On a break between ‘Captain America’ films, the actor goes indie
F or Chris Evans, playing Captain America requires a major commitment of time and energy. If the actor is not anchoring films which revolve around the superhero, he’s popping up in franchise spin-offs like “Ant-Man,” “Thor: The Dark World” and “The Avengers.”
But Evans’ latest picture “Gifted” is a big departure for the actor. It is, in fact, a big change of pace from most of the reboots, sequels and prequels which Hollywood turns out these days.
Directed by Marc Webb, “Gifted” is the saga of a bluecollar hero (Evans) who is raising his child prodigy niece Mary (Mckenna Grace) all by himself. Mary’s new teacher (Jenny Slate) quickly realizes that the youngster is a genius and needs a higher level of schooling. Enter Mary’s snotty grandmother (Lindsay Duncan) who decides to fight Evans for custody.
While some fans might be surprised to see Evans without his shield and helmet, he’s much more at home in independent features than big-budget fare.
“These are the movies that I love,” says the actor. “No disrespect to the ‘Captain America’ films. I love those, too. But these are the movies that I gravitate towards as a person, and this movie, in particular, felt a lot like a ‘Kramer vs. Kramer’type film.
“The family dynamics and complexities are certainly the things that I can relate to in my personal life, as I’m sure we all can. ‘Gifted’ had a lot of heart and really fleshed-out characters.”
Evans is convinced that even Marvel fans might flock to his latest offering.
“I think there’s an eagerness to see the range in [actors]” he says. “I think it’s enjoyable. If you love someone in one role, it’s exciting to see how they tackle something different and new. If you gravitate towards someone in one arena, I don’t think you only want to see them in that arena.
“So, no, I’m not worried about [fan reaction]. And look, if there was any sort of concern about that, then it’s my goal to show the [fans] that I have a variety of sides.”
As soon as Evans read the “Gifted” screenplay, he realized the picture would never work unless the producers found the right actress to play his genius niece.
“For me, the real question mark was going to be, ‘Who are we going to get to play Mary?’ The movie lives and dies on that. As soon as we found McKenna, I had this little, secret hope that she [would be cast], and then we got her.”
Evans auditioned with countless youngsters but his chemistry with McKenna Grace was almost instantaneous.
“I knew during the audition,” he says. “But it’s so tough because I remember auditioning for things when I was young and how nervous you are.
“The scenes [she read] were heavy and emotional, and she went there. She walked out of the room and we were, like, ‘Man, this girl just started [crying] in the audition!’ There was just this level of maturity.
“When you’re dealing with someone that young, you want to try and harness the truth of youth, but you also need someone who knows this is a job, so it’s tough to strike that balance, and McKenna just knocked it out of the park.”
Evans says he enjoyed working with Grace so much, he credits her with reminding him that acting should always be fun.
“She comes to set every day
and she’s just full of life and she’s bouncing off the walls and she’s saying ‘Hi’ to everybody,” says Evans, 35.
“She’s so happy to be there and even when the days are long and you’re tired, and maybe you’ve done more takes than you’d want to do, she’s still looking at this as an incredibly fun experience, which it is.
“It’s so easy to be kind of acclimated to the experience. But when you watch someone so full of life go through it, you remember how lucky you are.”
A native of Boston, Evans has already appeared in a wide range of movies stretching from Danny Boyle’s “Sunshine” to the surprise hit “Snowpiercer.”
But thanks to his all-American good looks, he seems a natural for superhero roles. In 2005, he played the Human Torch in “Fantastic Four” and reprised that role in 2007 for “Fantastic Four: Rise of the Silver Surfer.”
Four years later, Evans joined the Marvel Universe with “Captain America: The First Avenger” and has appeared in a handful of follow-ups including “The Avengers,” “Thor: The Dark World,” “Captain America: The Winter Soldier,” “The Avengers: Age of Ultron” and the upcoming “The Avengers: Infinity War,” which is set to drop in 2018.
After making a few Marvel movies, Evans understood the impact Captain America had on kids around the globe.
“Well, you don’t want to take your role home with you too much, but there’s no denying that there is a certain added responsibility to what comes with playing a role like [Captain America],” says Evans.
“You go visit children’s hospitals and things like that, and you see the effect you have on kids who aren’t just fans, but are in need of something more than just escape, kids that are needing hope or something like that.
“To some degree, it truly humanizes you, it makes it more than just a movie, which is great and wonderful. It’s a responsibility I don’t take lightly.:
After Evans completes “Infinity War,” he’s back to another smaller project called “Red Sea Diving Resort,” which, according to Deadline, “revolves around the rescue and transport of Ethiopian Jews to Israel in 1981.”
Evans will play Ari Kidron, a charismatic Israeli agent who brings together a motley crew of misfits to help with the exodus on the ground.
“It is a little bit of a smaller film,” notes Evans. “I think the beautiful part about acting in film is that you’re afforded the opportunity to engage in variety.
“I think most actors that I know are pretty mercurial by nature, so if you do this one month, you just want do that the next month.
“The beautiful thing is ‘Captain America’ affords me the opportunity to taste the big-budget thing, so I’m not necessarily seeking that out.
“So yeah, in my downtime or in my off -’Captain America’ months, I certainly am looking for smaller things that touch different chords.”
“So yeah, in my downtime or in my off ‘Captain America’ months, I certainly am looking for smaller things that touch different chords.” — Chris Evans