The Real Reason Chris Evans Almost Turned Down Scott Pilgrim: A Hollywood Confession
Chris Evans reveals a backhanded pitch he received for a role in 'Scott Pilgrim's Terrible Movie Star,' highlighting his early career and the ironic truth behind his rise to superstardom
Summary
Chris Evans reveals the insulting pitch behind his role in Scott Pilgrim vs. the World: a character who thinks he's great but is actually terrible.
Evans reflects on his early career and how it predicted his future superstardom.
GQ shares a video interview with Evans discussing his iconic roles leading up to his new movie Pain Hustlers.
Chris Evans has unveiled the unconventional pitch that landed him the role of Lucas Lee in the 2010 film Scott Pilgrim vs. the World. This movie, based on Bryan Lee O'Malley's graphic novels, revolves around Michael Cera's character, Scott Pilgrim, a laid-back bass player who falls in love with the enigmatic Ramona Flowers (played by Mary Elizabeth Winstead). As Scott discovers, he must confront her seven sinister exes, including the conceited movie star Lucas Lee, whom he battles alongside a team of stunt doubles.
GQ recently shared a pre-SAG-AFTRA strike video interview with Chris Evans, in which he delves into his most memorable roles leading up to his upcoming film, Pain Hustlers.
Evans found the pitch for Scott Pilgrim to be rather bizarre. The description of the character Lucas Lee was that he was a movie star lacking versatility, believing he was amazing when in reality he was awful. The statement made by the person pitching the movie was that Evans would be ideal for the role. Perplexed, Evans responded with a simple "Okay..."
Chris Evans' Early Career Predicted His Future Superstardom
Chris Evans had been starring in lead roles in movies for around ten years when he appeared in Scott Pilgrim. However, it wasn't until the following year that he achieved superstar status like Lucas Lee. In 2011, he made his debut in the Marvel Cinematic Universe as Captain America in Captain America: The First Avenger. He went on to portray Captain America in several additional Marvel blockbusters.
Interestingly, even before this breakthrough, movies had already recognized Evans' potential to become a major movie star. This was evident as early as 2001 when he played Jake Wyler in the parody film Not Another Teen Movie. Despite being relatively unknown at the time, he was already being compared to popular teen stars like Heath Ledger and Freddie Prinze Jr. in their respective movies, 10 Things I Hate About You and She's All That.
Evans had already appeared in films such as Fantastic Four, Cellular, and Push before becoming part of the cast for Scott Pilgrim vs. the World. Despite being a rising star, he was not as widely recognized as his character Lucas Lee. However, following the release of Scott Pilgrim, it didn't take long for Evans to achieve the same level of fame, highlighting the astute decision to cast him in this iconic cult film.
