Chris Evans (actor)

Evans was born on June 13, 1981, in Boston, Massachusetts,[5] and grew up in the nearby town of Sudbury.[6] His mother, Lisa (née Capuano), is an artistic director at the Concord Youth Theater,[7][8] and his father, G. Robert Evans III, is a dentist.[9] His mother is of half Italian and half Irish descent, while his father is of half British and half German ancestry.[10][11][12] Evans's parents divorced in 1999.[13]

He has an older sister named Carly, a younger brother named Scott, and a younger sister named Shanna.[9][14] Carly is a graduate of New York University's Tisch School of the Arts and a high school drama and English teacher at Lincoln-Sudbury Regional High School,[7][15] while Scott is an actor who was featured on the ABC soap opera One Life to Live. He and his siblings were raised Catholic.[11][12] Their uncle, Mike Capuano, represented the same Massachusetts Congressional district formerly represented by Tip O'Neill.[10] He also has three younger half-siblings from his father's second marriage.[16]

Evans graduated from Lincoln-Sudbury Regional High School.[6] He moved to New York City and took classes at the Lee Strasberg Theatre and Film Institute.[17]

Evans at the 2012 Toronto International Film Festival

Evans's first credited appearance was in a short educational video titled Biodiversity: Wild About Life! in 1997.[18] In 1999, Evans was the model for "Tyler" in Hasbro's board game Mystery Date. The special edition of the game included an electronic phone, which Evans is shown speaking into on the game box.[19]

After filming wrapped on Not Another Teen Movie,[20] Evans landed lead roles in The Perfect Score and Cellular, and then starred in two independent films in Chicago: Dirk Wittenborn's Fierce People, playing the sinister Bryce, and London, playing a drug user Syd with relationship problems.[21] He then played the superhero Johnny Storm, the Human Torch in the 2005 comic book adaptation Fantastic Four. Evans reprised the role in the 2007 sequel Fantastic Four: Rise of the Silver Surfer.[22] That year, he starred as engineer-turned-astronaut Mace in Danny Boyle's science-fiction film Sunshine.[23]

In 2008, Evans appeared as Detective Paul Diskant in Street Kings, co-starring Keanu Reeves, and the Tennessee Williams screenplay adaptation The Loss of a Teardrop Diamond, co-starring Bryce Dallas Howard and Ellen Burstyn. The following year he appeared in the science-fiction thriller Push, with Dakota Fanning and Camilla Belle. Evans performed his own fight scenes, which took weeks to film, and was bruised during filming.[24] In 2010, he completed filming on co-directors Mark Kassen and Adam Kassen's Puncture in Houston, Texas. The film was selected to debut at the 2011 Tribeca Film Festival as one of the Spotlight projects for the 10th anniversary of the festival.[25] Also that year, Evans appeared in Sylvain White's The Losers, an adaptation of the comic-book series from the DC Comics imprint Vertigo.[26] Evans then appeared in another comic-book adaptation, Edgar Wright's Scott Pilgrim vs. the World, where he portrayed Lucas Lee, one of Ramona Flowers' seven evil exes.[27]

In 2011, Evans played the Marvel Comics character Captain America in Captain America: The First Avenger, and starred in the film What's Your Number?, a romantic comedy co-starring Anna Faris.[28][29] There were initially scheduling conflicts, as both films were set to film in mid-2010.[30] Evans had signed on to appear in multiple films as Captain America, and first reprised the role in the 2012 film The Avengers.[28]

Evans at a press conference for Captain America: The Winter Soldier in 2014

He next starred opposite Michael Shannon in The Iceman, replacing James Franco, who had dropped out.[31] Evans wore a long wig and grew out a beard for the role.[32] He starred in South Korean director Bong Joon-ho's English-language film Snowpiercer.[33]

In 2014, Evans starred in Captain America: The Winter Soldier.[34] He starred opposite Michelle Monaghan in the romantic comedy Playing It Cool.[35] His directorial debut, Before We Go,[36] debuted at the 2014 Toronto International Film Festival.[4] In 2015, he played Captain America again in Avengers: Age of Ultron, and reprised the role in the 2016 sequel Captain America: Civil War,[37][38] as well as in 2018's Avengers: Infinity War, and its 2019 sequel, Avengers: Endgame.[39]

Evans said in March 2014 that once his contract with Marvel is up, he might consider doing less acting so he could work more on directing.[40][36] In September 2015, he said he would be willing to sign on for more films as Captain America after Infinity War if Marvel wanted to extend his contract.[41] However, he has since stated that he would retire from portraying the role after Avengers: Endgame.[42]

Evans starred in the family drama Gifted in 2017. He made his Broadway debut in Lobby Hero, directed by Trip Cullman, which opened in March 2018 at the Helen Hayes Theatre as a part of Second Stage Theatre's first Broadway season.[43][44]

In 2019, Evans portrayed the lead role of an Israeli Mossad agent in the Netflix thriller The Red Sea Diving Resort.[45] Later in the year, he starred in the murder mystery film Knives Out, which was released in November 2019 to positive reviews from film critics.[46][47]

Evans currently portrays the lead role in the Apple TV+ crime drama miniseries Defending Jacob, based on the novel of the same name. Evans also serves as executive producer on the series.[48]

Although raised Catholic, he has expressed pantheistic views[12] and a great interest in the philosophies of Buddhism.[49]

Evans is a fan of the New England Patriots and narrated America's Game: The Story of the 2014 New England Patriots[50] and America's Game: 2016 Patriots.[51]

While filming Gifted in 2015, Evans adopted a dog named Dodger from a local animal shelter at which part of the film was shot.[52] In 2017, Evans was invited to join the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences.[53]

Evans and Scarlett Johansson at a USO tour event in December 2016

In 2012, Evans affirmed his support for same-sex marriage, stating: "It's insane that civil rights are being denied people in this day and age. It's embarrassing, and it's heartbreaking. It goes without saying that I'm completely in support of gay marriage. In ten years we'll be ashamed that this was an issue."[54] In August 2016, Evans supported Massachusetts Attorney General Maura Healey's continued enforcement of the state's ban on assault weapons.[55]

Evans endorsed Hillary Clinton in the 2016 presidential election.[56] He has also been a vocal critic of President Donald Trump.[57][13]

In April 2019, Evans launched a website called A Starting Point, which is intended to "'demystify politics' by directly showcasing both Democratic and Republican lawmakers succinctly giving their position on 'dozens' of different political issues."[58][59] After Alabama passed the Human Life Protection Act in May 2019, which imposes a near-total ban on abortions in the state, Evans wrote on Twitter that the bill was "absolutely unbelievable" and continued by saying, "If you're not worried about Roe v. Wade, you're not paying attention."[60]

Wikimedia Commons has media related to Chris Evans (actor).

• Chris Evans on IMDb
• Chris Evans on Twitter