Why Chris Evans Initially Turned Down Captain America

Captain America has undoubtedly become the most iconic role of Chris Evans’ career thus far. At one point, however, the actor actually considered turning down this high-profile part. Making an appearance on Jimmy Kimmel Live! to plug Captain America: Civil War, Evans discussed why the multi-film contract he had to sign almost scared him away.

“I was scared,” he said. “At first it was some nine-picture contract, and there are parts of me that have a little bit of social anxiety with this industry and doing movies one at a time, if all the sudden you decide you don’t want to do them anymore, you’re afforded the opportunity to take a step back and recalibrate. When you have a giant contract, if all the sudden you’re not responding well, too bad, you’ve got to suit up again, and that was scary.”

Evans went on to say, “I said no a few times, and it kept coming back, and I talked to a few people in my life, family, and friends, and it just started to kind of make sense that I was saying no out of fear, really, and you can’t do anything out of fear.”

We’re certainly glad Evans ultimately took on the role. Just as Robert Downey Jr. is Iron Man, Evans is Captain America in our eyes.

Captain America: Civil War hits theaters on May 6.