Chris Evans has reacted to Jeremy Strong’s Captain American revelation.
Evans appeared in the Marvel Cinematic Universe (MCU) as Steve Rogers, the super-strengthed Avenger.
When he is first introduced in 2011 film Captain America: The First Avenger, though, he is shown to be rejected by Second World War military recruitment due to his skinny physical appearance.
In a new interview, Strong, who plays Kendall Roy in HBO show Succession, revealed that he was asked to play the double body of this early pre-Captain America version of Rogers.
Strong had tried and failed to get a part in Jon Favreau’s Cowboys & Aliens.
“OK, f*** it, I will tell you this story,” he told The Sunday Times, adding that, after being told he’d lost out on the role, he was told about “a top-secret film about Captain america”.
“They needed someone to play Captain America’s young body, before he turns into a superhero,” strong said, adding: “They said they needed a transformational actor and would use CGI to put the actual actor’s face and voice over my own.”
Strong says he mulled the opportunity over because he “was broke” and “needed money”, but ultimately said no.
“I considered it. But that’s my story of LA. It was just never going to happen for me here. It didn’t feel like what I had to offer was valued. And the next day I went back to New York and did a play about a veteran from Afghanistan in a wheelchair during the blackout of 2003.”
Evans, who grew up with Strong, had no idea his friend had been approached for the film.
“Oh no!” he said, adding: “It just goes to show the industry is so unpredictable. But I’m so happy things worked out, because I don’t think there was ever plan B for Jeremy.”
Strong has risen through the ranks throughout the past decade, with roles in Zero Dark Thirty, Selma, The Big Short and The Trial of the Chicago 7.
For his Succession role, he has won an Emmy and a Golden Globe.
His new film, James Gray’s Armageddon Time, is released on 18 November.
