CHRISTOPHER ROBERT EVANS, born June 13th, 1981 (37 years old) - he rose to fame thanks to his role of Steve Rogers / Captain America in the Marvel Cinematic Universe, but it happens he started acting since the early 2000's.
So... Just like I mentioned in a previous poster, let's celebrate 10 years of MCU and the massive worldwide success of Avengers: Infinity War by having a look at its main cast members careers and major acting achievements, starting with Captain himself.
Here's a small study on Chris Evans career in 5 movies:
- NOT ANOTHER TEEN MOVIE (2001)
Remember those dark cinematic times when Scary Movie movies were released and there was an horrific trend about brainless teen comedies? Well, Chris Evans belongs to that era too, since he starred Not Another Teen Movie, as the lead Jack Wyler "The Popular Jock". With some shades of American Pie and "already seen" jokes, Not Another Teen Movie is no a prestige movie for sure, but it did well at the box-office, grossing more than $50M worldwide. And what about Chris Evans? Well... he admitted some years ago Not Another Teen Movie was one of his first movies and that he couldn't be that picky (the simple fact of being seen in a cinematic production was already a win for him at that time). No matter what, this one will be pointed as one of the must-see Chris Evans movies: it features a naked "The Popular Jock" with only his junk and nipples covered and... a banana up his bum........
The first big attempt to reach mainstream stardom was back in 2005 when he got the part of Johnny AKA Human Torch in the poorly received Fantastic Five - it was also the first time Marvel and Evans worked together. A charismatic showy acting turn as the arrogant superhero, Evans managed to impress some critics and audiences started paying attention to him - the movie would ended up grossing more than $330M at the worldwide box-office from a $100M budget, in spite of the cold critical reception. Evans would reprise the role later in 2007's sequel (Fantastic Four: Rise of the Silver Surfer), which fared as bad as its predecessor in terms of critical response, but similar box-office numbers. A third movie was said to be in the works since the main cast signed for a 3-movies deal, but it never happened.
- MCU's highlight - CAPTAIN AMERICA: THE WINTER SOLDIER (2014)
After some years with some mostly uninspired works, Chris Evans got the part of Steve Rogers AKA Captain America - the role that would define his career for years to come since his first movie for Marvel Cinematic Universe, Captain America: The First Avenger (2011). But it was after the critical acclaim and box-office success of 2011's The First Avenger ($370.6M worldwide) and then 2012's Marvel's The Avengers ($1.519 billion worldwide) that Evans delivered his Captain America-defining performance - Captain America: The Winter Soldier. More than a superhero movie, Winter Soldier was a brilliant spy thriller with smart plot twists and A-level action sequences. And Evans is fantastic in this one the determned noble-hearted American hero! In fact, thanks to his performance, he got a Critics' Choice Award nomination for Best Actor in an Action Movie and a Saturn Award nomination for Best Actor, among other nods from "more popular" awards organizations.
I know Snowpiercer happened before Captain America: The Winter Soldier, but it happened after Chris Evans became Captain America. Snowpiercer can be regarded as one of the best sci-fi movies of the last 10 years by far. Full of social commentary and led by a charismatic Chris Evans as the leader of the revolution (and a scene-stealing Tilda Swinton, by the way), this movie was a major step for Evans as a leading man outside of the Marvel Cinematic Universe. Stripped of his Hollywood star and superhero figure, Snowpiercer features Evans, The Actor, at his most pure state. In addition to several awards and nominations, Snowpiercer made part of several film critics' lists of top 10 movies of 2014. One of the best movies of Evans' career, Snowpiercer seems to be destined to become some kind of a cult movie in the next few years.
Finally, after a whole career mostly based on sci-fi and action/adventure movies, it was about time to watch Evans in something more down-to-earth and dramatic. In Gifted, he plays the caring uncle of a young genius girl, whose mother died, and he has to deal with the girl's grandma ambitions for her grandaughter. The movie is easy to watch and the characters are easy to love. It's not a prestige picture, but it's a good crowd-pleaser and worked as a nice vehicle for Evans who seems to be preparing his departure from the MCU. Gifted didn't give its leading man a ton of awards nominations, but it worked as an acting vehicle that proves he's an actor and not (only) Captain America.
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