Chris Evans Almost Turned Down The Chance To Play Captain America

Chris Evans as Captain America with Jeremy Renner, and Scarlett Johansson in "The Avengers." Photo by Marvel Enterprises/Kobal/REX/Shutterstock (5886273br)

Chris Evans came very close to turning down the role of a lifetime.

Looking back at the Avengers franchise, it’s hard to imagine anyone in the role of Captain America other than Chris Evans. As excited as are to watch Anthony Mackie take over the role, it is still going to be strange seeing someone other than Evans carrying the famous shield.

It is almost as if Evans was born to play the role, and yet in a recent interview, Chris’ mother said that he very nearly turned down the opportunity.

“His biggest fear was losing his anonymity,” Lisa Capuano Evans told Esquire. “He said, ‘I have a career now where I can do work I really like. I can walk my dog. Nobody bothers me. Nobody wants to talk to me. I can go wherever I want. And the idea of losing that is terrifying to me.’”

She continued: “I said to him, ‘Look, you want to do acting work for the rest of your life? If you do this part, you will have the opportunity. You’ll never have to worry about paying the rent. If you take the part, you just have to decide, It’s not going to affect my life negatively — it will enable it.’”

Fortunately, Lisa managed to convince her son to take on the role and not worry about losing his anonymity. To think that we may have spent the last ten years watching somebody else as Captain America is a strange thought.