But despite these substantial obstacles to humility, Chris Evans comes across as one of the most down to Earth stars working today. He even manages to get into politics without pissing people off. For years we've been wondering how he does it, but now he has finally revealed his secret in a behind the scenes clip of his friends on the set of 2011's Captain America: The First Avenger.
Back then Evans' star was rising, but uncertain. He'd already signed a six-movie contract with Marvel Studios to maintain his role as Captain America, but he had already been a part of an underwhelming superhero franchise as the Human Torch in two Fantastic Four movies, and there was little reason to expect that Marvel would do a better job translating comic books for the big screen.
While superhero movies were already a big deal — with the successful X-Men, Spider-Man, Batman, and Iron Man franchises having established the genre in the 2000s — they were still considered pretty hit or miss, with lots of different studios racking up wins and losses. For every Dark Knight there was a Daredevil or a Green Lantern.
The MCU was not yet a thing, and the idea of one movie studio weaving an entire universe of heroes into a media empire of interconnected stories seemed far-fetched. But Evans — just 29 when that first movie was filming in 2010 — had signed onto for the whole ride.
On paper his career seemed to be laid out for him. He was potentially set for life.
It must have been hard not to let that thought go to his head. But with the critically-panned Fantastic Four movies movies behind him, he must have known how important it was not to get ahead of himself. Is that why he brought on two high school friends to serve as his "assistants" on set?
Whether that was Evans plan or not, that what his friend, identified simply as "Jon," decided his job was. In footage taken by Evans' other friend, "Zach," Jon can be seen giving a thumbs down after Evans' performs an impressive wire stuntnand repeatedly shaking his head at everything his friend does — from diving into a pool of water to working out and getting into wardrobe.
When I filmed the first Captain America in 2010, two of my high school buddies, Zach and Jon, were my “assistants”.… https://t.co/ul51UIGhBp— Chris Evans (@Chris Evans) 1614788201.0
Jon clearly felt that his role was to remind Evans that just because he had the lead role in a big budget action movie didn't make him anything special. None of it was going to impress Jon, who probably still had clear memories of Evans as a dumb, awkward teenager (i.e. a teenager).
This is what true friendship looks like. It looks like watching your friend dangle suspended in a wire harness and saying "atomic wedgie." It looks like turning to your other friend and saying, "He will fall. I hope he falls. You can tell him I said that."
Maybe Chris Evans brought his friends into the production just to have some people to hang out and chat with between scenes, but that's clearly not what Jon signed up for. He recognized the immense responsibility he had to keep his friend's ego in check, and he devoted himself to taking Evans down a peg at every opportunity.
So the next time you see Chris Evans seeming to be surprisingly humble and human in an interview or a social media post, don't forget to thank his friend Jon for throwing all that shade. Not all heroes wear capes...er, carry vibranium shields.
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