Chris Evans Needed Therapy To Cope With Pressure Of Captain America Role

July 13, 2011 by Hollywoodite

Chris Evans is star of Captain America; one of the unending Marvel/ The Avengers franchise movies that is churning out merchandising and poorly-rendered 3D with more vigor than afforded to their storylines. Weeks after we learned that Evans would probably be bald before his part in the franchise came to a close – with a nine-movie deal taking up the better part of at least one decade, in all likelihood – we learn that the pressure of the lead role sent him right to therapy. Yes, really. He admitted, in a new profile with The New York Times, that helming the $140 million movie as its titular character, with probably billions total income over a decade if you include merchandising, was too much to take and he went to get help.

Sound familiar? Earlier this week, we learned that Harry Potter’s titular character drove its leading man to drink. Daniel Radcliffe admitted in a new interview that the pressure of being Harry Potter and carrying so much of the burden and attention on his shoulders as a child, he turned to drink and only dried out last August.

Even as a grown man, the pressure of Captain America had a comparable effect on Evans. Evans already told GQ he turned down the role several times and producers practically begged him to take it – over and over. And we learned that he overcame his fears in accepting the role. After repeating his earlier postulations, he shares some new anecdotes with the newspaper.

“I wouldn’t have done it,” Evans said, discussing his therapy experience over a recent lunch at a Studio City delicatessen, “had I not agreed to do Captain America and gone into panic mode.” He added, “The second I agreed to do it, I was like, ‘All right, I’ll do this, but I’ve got to start working on my head.’”

“The question is: What’s the endgame?”Evans said in a characteristic moment of self-analysis. “What’s the goal? If the goal is to be a giant movie star, then yeah, this is a great way to achieve that. That’s not necessarily what I’m trying to achieve.”

Moreover, he feared he’d regret his decision a decade from now. “In a few years what if I don’t want to act anymore?” he said. “What if I just want to — I don’t know — do something else?” Adding, “The reason I kept saying no is because I was scared. Maybe this is exactly what I had to do. Maybe this is exactly what I had to face.”

From therapy, he learned, “it is really good just to talk about what you’re struggling with,” he said. “It’s not like I had any massive breakthrough, but for some reason this feels more manageable.” – via The New York Times.

As a sidenote, Evans admitted he hated the promotional side of his job – just like almost every other actor who’s asked. “I feel fake,” he said. “And then I feel transparent. And I feel the other person can see that I’m fake.” During a junket for Fantastic Four he had what sounded like a panic attack. “No one’s even speaking to me,” he said, “and in a matter of 60 seconds I went from being fine to full meltdown, just stood up and walked offstage.”