Hey everyone. Capone here, with my third and final PUSH interview, this time with FANTASTIC FOUR star Chris Evans, who plays a "mover," otherwise known as a telekinetic, who can move shit around with his mind. Obviously, Chris is best known as the Human Torch (during the PUSH panel this somewhat large contingent of Japanese attendees kept yelling "Flame on!" whenever Chris spoke), but it's his post-FF work that has interested me in films like FIERCE PEOPLE, Danny Boyle's SUNSHINE, and David Ayer's dirty-cop drama STREET KINGS. Hell, I even dug him in THE NANNY DIARIES. Chris has started pulling together a nice body of work in recent years, and he returns to the super-powered being arena with PUSH. Here's Chris Evans…Flame On! Capone: I spoke to your Fantastic Four co-star Ioan Gruffudd [Mr. Fantastic] a while back, well before the SILVER SURFER movie came out, and I think he let spill a few secrets about that film he wasn't supposed to. Chris Evans: Uh oh. Loose tongue? Capone: That's what it was. So I know this film hasn't exactly been on everybody's radar yet, but we're still months away from a release. Can you just start with the basics and tell me a little bit about who you play? CE: Sure. I'll give you the nutshell version. PUSH is about individuals who have special powers. And there's a branch of the government called "Division" that wants to find these people and test their abilities and essentially turn them into weapons. For the most part, having these abilities tends to put a target on your back, so it's kind of not something you're proud of. You tend to keep in hiding, so a lot of these people we meet in Hong Kong are in hiding. It's an easy place to get lost. It play Nick, who is a "mover," like a telekinetic. Nick's father was a mover, a very powerful mover, and his father was killed right before his eyes when he was nine years old. So Nick has kind of turned his back on everyone, and chose to not let anyone else in. He's gone to Hong Kong to escape and doesn't use his power very often. Capone: As a mover, you have an advantage visually in film that yours is one of the few powers we can actually see. CE: Exactly. And the cool thing was, Paul [McGuigan, the director] said that we could do special effects, but he wanted to make things look as real as possible. So when I things like that, they actually have a table hooked up to wires and are launching it across the room, so that gives you a lot as an actor to play off of. Capone: What did you think about immersing yourself in the Hong Kong culture for so many months? CE: Well, the coolest thing about Hong Kong is that it's a character in the film. Paul did a really good job of shooting it incredibly stylistically. Hong Kong has so much great architecture and great people. And the smell, you can't smell it, but the smell is real interesting. It just gave me as an actor an tangible world to play off of. It's a character unto itself. Capone: I like the idea that these young people don't see themselves as heroes. They use their powers for self-defense. CE: That's right. No blue tights, not special names [laughs]. Capone: But you are returning the world of playing a person with special abilities. What's the difference in your mind? CE: Especially in FANTASTIC FOUR, one character is welcoming the opportunity to be a hero and relishing it and making up names, and using it for good trying to save people. In this film, having these powers gets you in some trouble. For most of these people, these powers have causing them grief in the past and made them the black sheep, you're kind of ashamed of it. For the most part, these are people just trying to lead their lives and not use their power if they don't have to. Capone: And as a result, many of you don't know how to control your powers. CE: Exactly, we're very clumsy. That was the best part. You kind of get to see everyone's growth with their ability. In the movie, I can barely lift a gun off a table, but by the end shooting the table across the room. Capone: Do you have a favorite object you get to move with your mind? CE: You know what was really fun? I got to have a real fight scene. Most of the fighting I've done has been CGI, where you make a face and they do the rest. There's one scene at the end of the movie where I get to have hand-to-hand combat and go home with ice packs. It was the first kind of physical combat I've gotten to do on film. It was work, but it was a lot of fun. Capone: These kids living these kind lives, they are very isolated people and they find a camaraderie with each other. CE: The great thing about this movies is that a lot of the relationships are created and formed in the movie. So, for example, like in FANTASTIC FOUR, they knew each other from the beginning of the film and you get to see an existing relationship got through turmoil. In this movie, a lot of the characters are meeting each other for the first time, so you get to see the growth from strangers to somebody you're willing to make the ultimate sacrifice for. Capone: I wanted to say that I've been genuinely impressed with your non-FANTASTIC FOUR work as well, especially what you did in SUNSHINE and STREET KINGS. CE: Thanks, man, I appreciate that. Capone: I spoke with Danny Boyle quite a bit about SUNSHINE when he came through Chicago… CE: I love Danny Boyle. God he's so brilliant. He's the nicest man in the world; he was going to be a priest. He's honest, sincere, genuine, he speaks from the heart. It's got to be about directors, that's what I've realized. You could have a great script, it could be a great part, it could be a great vehicle for you, but if you don't have a good director, you're not going to have a good movie. There's nothing worse than busting your ass on something and having the movie just suck. So since the last FANTASTIC FOUR, I've just been trying to work with good directors. Capone: What do you have coming out besides PUSH? CE: I have a movie after PUSH called THE LOSS OF A TEARDROP DIAMOND. It's by Tennessee Williams. It's a screenplay he wrote; he only wrote a few screenplays. But it's never been made. It's so funny, my English teacher from high school, who I'm still pretty close with, I told him I was doing Tennessee Williams, and he knows everything by him. And I told him the title, and he'd never heard of it. It's nice; it's like finding a lost Beatles album. It was a real nice time. Capone: He's one of those writers that people haven't revisited much in film; they do on stage, obviously, but not much on film. CE: How are you going to follow Brando? He did it, and he did it right. [laughs] Leave it alone. Capone: Well I appreciate it, Chris. Thanks for you time. Are you going to have time to make it downstairs at all? CE: Great talking to you. Thanks a lot. Yeah, I'm so curious [about Comic-Con]. Capone: But you've been to one of these before, right? CE: Yeah, for FANTASTIC FOUR, but it was so quick--in and out. I kind of want to just wander and poke around. Capone: Good luck with that. Thanks again. -Capone capone@aintitcoolmail.com
