Chris Evans: It’s fun to play the villain

MANILA, Philippines — Chris Evans will surprise and even shock movie fans in his latest onscreen role in The Gray Man. For a change, the Hollywood star best known as Captain America plays a “bad guy” — the psychopathic adversary to Ryan Gosling’s titular character.

The Gray Man is a Netflix/AGBO-produced thriller directed by Anthony and Joe Russo and based on the novel The Gray Man by Mark Greaney. It premieres globally on Netflix come July 22.

Evans said he jumped at the chance to do a villain role because he doesn’t get this kind of offer often. In the film, he is the former CIA recruit Lloyd Hansen, who was dismissed after only a few months of serving the agency due to his penchant for unauthorized torture and lack of control. As he works as a freelance assassin, he hunts down his targets like a game. And when he’s hired to take down The Gray Man (Gosling), he takes on the assignment with glee and makes sure nothing can stop him.

“It’s fun to play a villain,” the 41-year-old Evans told The STAR and other press at a recent virtual roundtable where he was paired with co-star Ana de Armas.

The main attraction for him though was working anew with the Russo Brothers, who directed him in Captain America: The Winter Soldier in 2014. “It’s fun to play the role, but the most attractive thing was probably about the directors, you know? At the end of the day, you could have a great script, you could have a great role, you could even have great co-stars. But if you don’t have a great storyteller, the movie may not come together,” he explained.

With co-stars Ryan Gosling and Ana de Armas at the recent L.A. premiere of The Gray Man.

Photos courtesy of Netflix

“So, for me, it’s always about the director and the Russos are incredibly skilled at what they do. And this is very much in their genre so I jumped at the opportunity to work.”

Evans described the set under the helm of the Russos as “very inclusive.” He also noted how the filmmakers are unafraid to reference other films.

“They’re incredible cinephiles. So, one thing I’ve always felt when you’re on a movie set, it’s all these creative people coming together to try and make the same thing. And the one thing we all know in this industry is movies. And so I always argue, let’s use the language of movies more often on sets and the Russos are great at that. The Russos will say, okay, so this scene is in Heat, the moment blah, blah, blah, you know, and then they reference other films,” the actor shared.

“A lot of directors are apprehensive about referencing other films because directors want to say that this is like nothing else and this is like, ‘No, it’s not like that, this is brand-new.’ The Russos aren’t shy about referencing other movies. And as a result, they bring people together with those references.

“So, what I love about them is their willingness to flex their knowledge of other movies and sometimes, that’s enough to give you the information you need to give them the scene they’re looking for. That’s always been the thing I’ve loved about them even since Winter Soldier,” he added.

Meanwhile, one of the things you’ll find fun and striking with Evans’ portrayal is how he experimented with his looks in The Gray Man, trading his signature beard with a mustache. He joked that the moment he saw himself sporting one, he thought, “Oh, there he is, there’s this psycho.”

But telling the story behind the “transformation,” he said, “I feel like I have one of those faces that changes quite a bit with whether it’s facial hair or a weird haircut.”

“And that’s part of the enjoyment of acting. You put on a weird pair of glasses and all of a sudden you don’t recognize yourself. But again, you’re not going to lean on that alone in terms of the character, but it is really enjoyable to look in the mirror and not recognize what you see.

“So, the mustache and the haircut and the clothes — all those things go into creating a person different from himself. And with this character, all those elements certainly played a role in who he was.”

When asked about the kind of backstory he had to weave as preparation for fleshing out his character better, Evans said, “I think you need a backstory for every character. But what I enjoyed about Lloyd is that I don’t think he’s someone who has some dark, traumatic past. I think when you have characters like this, you assume, ‘Oh he had an abusive childhood or these horrible things happen to him.’

The actor hunts down Gosling in the film directed by the Russo Brothers.

“I found it much more interesting to say, you know what? There was nothing wrong. He had a great childhood. He had great parents who loved him and gave him all the opportunity in the world. And the reason he is the way he is, it’s just because that’s what he chose.

“To me, that’s much more dark, sinister… (it’s) much more dark that this guy doesn’t have some dark days excuse. He just sees the world this way. He sees himself as the cleanse, he sees himself as a superior thinker, which is far more sinister, far more unjustifiable.”

But just because Evans saw his character Lloyd that way and didn’t agree with his methods, it didn’t mean empathy was impossible. “It’s such a cheesy thing to say but they say in acting school, you can never judge the characters you play. If you judge the character you play, you won’t find a way inside.

“Even if they are violent, it’s part of the challenge. Part of the joy of doing what we do is finding a way inside and then finding a way to sympathize and humanize the people you’re playing. And, you know, even though he’s deplorable.

“(With Lloyd), he believes what he’s doing is right. He believes who he is, is good. And he believes that to live the way he lives is too difficult for other people to achieve. It’s not easy to move through the world with his level of conviction. And so in that regard, he forgives himself and sees his own humanity.

“So, again, not to sound like a real acting student, but the first thing they tell you is to never judge the characters you play.”