After the initial buzz of Chris Evans securing the role of Captain America, speculation arose as to how the pre-supersoldier serum Rogers would be portrayed.
As the story goes, Rogers begins as a scrawny weakling who is rejected from the army, but out of dire patriotism he volunteers for the SuperSoldier project which transforms him into the muscle bound and capable man we have all come to know as Captain America.
Would they get a different actor to play weakling Rogers and just have Evans emerge afterwards? Joe Johnston says it will be Evans from beginning to end.
ScreenRant quotes Joe Johnston:
“I can’t divulge how we’re going to do [the transformation], but the performance will be Chris Evans from beginning to end. An actor playing Captain America has to embody that backstory and let it inform his understanding of his new self. One of the interesting aspects of the character is the effect that kind of total transformation would have on his psyche.“
I figure this means they will CG Evans into a mocap suit and weakify his already bulging form into a scrawny Rodgers. This way the actor can play both sides of his physical self and properly convey the transformation trauma that Johnston speaks of.
And remember all that screen testing and drama around the casting announcement that was later than promised? Well apparently Evans didnt even have to audition or screen test. Johnston wanted him all along.
“Chris didn’t audition at all. I was already familiar with everything he’d done and was championing his cause, not that I had a fight from the Marvel team. They were fans of his as well. He came in to the art department to say hi, saw all the jaw-dropping art and designs on the wall and reacted the way I’d hoped he would. It was really his wonderful enthusiasm for everything he saw that cinched the deal…He will bring the perfect balance of dramatic performance and physicality to the role.”
