Thanks to writing and Evans’ nuanced performance, Steve Rogers was given a sympathetic treatment that he rarely got in comics. More than that, it avoided making its hero a self-righteous bore. For close-ups, Chris’ fellow actors had to look at marks on his chin that represented where his eyes would be after the shrinking process, and Chris had to look at marks on the tops of the actor’s head to represent their eyes.”Įven after all that hard work, the result was less than ideal and the look was distracting.īut the film was still received well by both critics and audiences and paved way for the sequels.
When Chris had to interact with other characters in the scene, we had to either lower Chris or raise the other actors on apple boxes or elevated walkways to make skinny Steve shorter in comparison. We shot each skinny Steve scene at least four times once like a normal scene with Chris and his fellow actors in the scene, once with Chris alone in front of a green screen so his element could be reduced digitally, again with everyone in the scene but with Chris absent so that the shrunken Steve could be re-inserted into the scene, and finally with a body double mimicking Chris’s actions in case the second technique were required. company called LOLA that specializes in digital ‘plastic surgery.’ The technique involved shrinking Chris in all dimensions. Johnston explained the process thus: “Most of the shots were done by an L.A. The complicated process involved a body double and proved too cumbersome. When production began, the biggest challenge for the technical team was to create a believable short and skinny Steve Rogers, before he was injected with the super soldier serum. I like to have the option to walk away if I want, with a six picture deal, you can’t walk away.”Įvans did eventually accept the role, and the rest, as they say, is history. I love making movies but I’m not dead set on being a gigantic movie star.
You know, it’s six movies, that can last 10 years.
It was also about signing a six movie contract, which basically meant more than a decade with a single studio.ĭuring an interview with We Got This Covered conducted around the release of Captain America: The First Avenger, Evans revealed he even went to therapy “because I was very apprehensive about taking the movie, I was nervous about the lifestyle change, about the commitment. He has had a horrible experience while playing another Marvel superhero, Human Torch, in Fantastic Four movies. He, perhaps jokingly, recalled being discouraged from taking up the role after witnessing Chris Hemsworth’s hulking body during a screen test.Ĭhris Evans, who eventually became Captain America, was not too taken by the idea. Numerous actors were considered and John Krasinski almost signed up. They needed an actor who could look good and embody, at least in appearance, the righteousness, moral quality and patriotism of the iconic superhero. The role had to be cast, and cast perfectly.
Christopher Markus and Stephen McFeely, who went on to write scripts for the remaining two Captain America movies as well as the last two Avengers movies, came on board.īut the trouble was just beginning for Marvel Studios. Joe Johnston, known for hits like Jumanji and Honey, I Shrunk the Kids, was recruited by Marvel Studios.