I only read highlights from Chris Evans’ New York Times interview last week, so I thought the two most vital pieces of information were A) that he and Jenny Slate are over again and B) that he sounds very much done with Captain America. The Captain America thing was, I believed, pretty f–king obvious because they all have contracts that they’re hoping to fulfill in a hurry so they can move on with their lives. Chris has sounded completely over Cap for years. Anyway, Chris gave the New York Times’ interview to promote his turn on Broadway in Kenneth Lonergan Lobby Hero, a play about gender inequality, sexual harassment, abusive relationships within professional settings and more. Chris plays the abusive cop. Buried within this NYT piece is this interesting little aside:
The role has unexpectedly submerged Mr. Evans in questions of gender inequality and the distribution of power just as those same questions are roiling his industry. The actor, who said he didn’t base his performance on anyone in particular (“It’s awful to admit, but I know plenty of guys who fit this mold”) has been studying how to better conduct himself as an ally to women in his profession.
One book he found eye-opening was Rebecca Solnit’s “The Mother of All Questions.” Mr. Evans read it while dating the actress Jenny Slate… and decided that he needed to listen more and speak less.
“The hardest thing to reconcile is that just because you have good intentions, doesn’t mean it’s your time to have a voice,” he said.
I’m of two minds about this. One, I wish someone like Matt Damon thought this way. I wish Matt Damon and all of the dumbass bros would take a moment and be reflective and actually LISTEN to the conversations. On the other side, it’s powerful when a man with power uses his voice to really SHOW that he’s an ally. It’s not an either/or proposition: either you say something or you don’t. It matters what you say. If Chris came barging into the #MeToo conversation and made it all about how he deserves a cookie for being an ally, then yes, he would need to take a seat. But he also has the tools and resources to refocus conversations and to shine a light on injustices and abuses. But I’m just glad that Chris seems to be on a learning curve, which is better than we can say about so many men.
Photos courtesy of Joseph Marzullo/WENN.com.
It’s good that he is working on himself but, based on his previous chatter (Avengers promo shenanigans), he has a bit to learn.
Ugh.
He just has such a douchey face, too. He looks so smug.
I see you! Burrying this on Sunday so that you can stubbornly retain your misguided view that Evans is not the best Chris.
Anyway, I havent followed his social media after MeToo but I can tell you that even before then, he was leveraging it to repost feminist bloggers and articles.
Also remember that time about two years ago, we learnt that the actress who starred in Last Tango in Paris was tricked into a rape scene? Remember how so few actors bothered to comment? Chris Evans did the “unthinkable” and came down hard on Marlon Brando and the director.
He really does harness the Captain America fame for good. I don’t know if the guy who plays Bucky will be as involved in shaping the minds of the young boys who idolise Cap.
Chris doesn’t tweet much but when he does, it is usually very pro-feminist or very anti-Trump. His uncle, Mike Capuano, is considered one of the most liberal members of Congress and Chris has been very active on his campaigns.
So maybe he is the best Chris? I’ve had a soft spot for him ever since I read how many hospitals he has visited as Captain America. He has certainly used that role for good.
I love him. But I also love Chris Pine. But Lainey made some comments last week, I think on Friday, that there’s “that thing” about Pine that she uses to smother any crushes on him. I don’t know what it is though!
Maybe that whole leaked sexting thing from a few years ago? Who was that with? One of the Olivia’s? I’m sure you can Google it.
None of the Chrises really do anything for me. It’s like the name itself is a synonym for bland white guy, but of the crowd, Pine is the definitely the cutest, while I think Evans is by far the most charming. Maybe I would swoon over Evans if I met him in person, but on screen all I see is Abercrombie model, which does zilch for me.
Chris Pine likes his ladies on the trashy side. It’s why we don’t see him publicly date a lot – it’s not good for his image to be seen with reality stars and Insta models.
I was wondering the same thing!
As Bridget said, he’s shown a questionable taste in women. But that information’s pretty much out there and Lainey’s making it sound like she has some insider knowledge (though that could be her exaggerating).
Who knows. It sounds like it’s something eye-rolly more so than illegal or immoral. I’ve always just assumed it’s that he dated someone particularly trashy. But while I’ve enjoyed the movies that he’s done I’ve never really had a horse in the “best Chris” race. They all have their high points but they all have some weird low points too.
This has been bugging me for a while. Pine is my favorite Chris (it’s the eyes/brows thing and the way he focuses in on something), and I’m annoyed by not knowing if it’s just trashy, or if he actually DID something. I assume it’s trashy, frontrum-inducing, or twee. I hope if it was one of the seven dwarves of the apocalypse (rapey, harassy, violency, republican-y, etc) she would have said.
Same, it bothers me how she keeps on hinting there might be something but never actually spills the tea. Stop it or spill it!
I agree though, I think it’s either something we already somewhat know (we know he has a type, maybe he really dated someone particularly trashy) or something similar to the Sienna Miller story.
I really, really don’t think it’s something rapey, so I’m okay with not knowing specifics.
I don’t like people hinting at things all the time without revealing it. And I’m nosy, so…
I think Lainey doesn’t like Pine due to him dating Audrina Patridge… and by extension… other ‘trashy’ women.
I Googled searched ‘Chris Pine Lainey Gossip’ and found a lot of sentences that looked like this:
‘Pine, after humiliating himself with Audrina Patridge…’
I have to say, Pine is my favorite Chris. He seems like a nice guy.
So Kenneth Lonergan wrote a play about sexual harassment and abuse but later dismissed the claims against Casey Affleck because awards were more important.
My thoughts exactly. The director of the play speaks about how Chris’ character represents toxic masculinity, yes it’s written by the man who directed Casey Affleck to an Oscar. I suppose he would know the most about toxic masculinity.
And, I also have mixed feelings for the “listen more” strategy. I have been bullied and harassed in school and at work. It’s the women and men who have spoken up for me, and helped me find my own voice as a woman of colour, that I remember. Although, I am all for Matt Damon’s silence
At this point I’m willing to take a guy who just listens, though Evans has been miles ahead from most others for a long time now. I really hope he uses his platform to self-reflect, but more importantly, boost other voices even more than he already is. He’s good but not perfect. I’m a fan. It must help having the kind of family he does, whom he’s also very close to.
i totally agree. thanks to him for being a genuine ally but please do the work behind the scenes. he’s right that it isn’t his time to talk.
God bless you, Captain Doritos. You are a bro, but a good one. There’s nothing more important than listening when it comes to knowing and respecting others. Especially those whose experiences you can never have yourself.
Captain Doritos, oh my god let me love you. His shape is a perfect dorito 😂
I really liked him after I read the whole NYT profile. I know he’s had his issues, but he sounds like he’s at least trying to do better and understand what MeToo is about.
I like him. He seems comfortable now, in his skin. I do hope he continues to be pro active for women.
I think he is genuine. A lot of men who loudly proclaim their support sometimes are hiding their own mistreatment of women. You go Chris.
Gah, the “nice guy” epidemic. “Oh, I’m a nice guy. I’ll treat you better than all those bad men out there.” <– Code for, I'll be a controlling dbag who constantly reminds you that you won't do better than me.
Yup, I'll take Chris Evans over that *any day*.
It’s always interesting to me when an actor shats on the role that made him famous. Just looked at his wikipedia page and tho he did a lot of indies, and some directing, it’s the Cap role that made him famous, and able to demand huge amounts of money. Talk about biting the hand that feed you, eh?!
He’s never said anything bad about Captain America. But by the time Avengers 4 is done, he will have done 7 movies for 10 years as Captain America. It’s okay for him to be done.
Hemsworth bitches a lot about playing Thor too. Outside of Marvel, his resume is littered with big-budget flops, but he keeps whining about how hard it is to play a superhero, and how Thor was a crap character until he and his friend Taika saved the trilogy when no one else could. Dude, if the character sucked maybe the actor playing him is partly to blame.
Hemsworth barely even deigned to promote his Marvel stuff before Taika came around.
Thor has had some of my favorite storylines. He has my favorite lady, Amora the Enchantress. So hearing him rag on the character made me wrinkle my nose. X-Men are my favorite from Marvel. I’d kill to see the Avengers almost defeated only to see Cyclop’s beam come in and then cue the theme music, in the upcoming Infinity Wars film.
Umm, no he doesn’t. Hemsworth occasionally moans about the effort to get in shape for Thor, but he rarely complains about playing the role of Thor itself. In fact, he has recognized many times how Thor is his breadwinning role and he would be a nobody without it.
And other than his questionable energy/enthusiasm during The Dark World promotional tour, Hemsworth has been a good sport for just about promoting every other Thor and Avengers film. He has even showed up to support other Marvel films – he was at the premieres for Guardians of the Galaxy and Iron Man 3.
I get that Hemsworth isn’t popular around here and there is a lot of mockery aimed at his wife, but can we at least not exaggerate what he actually says and does?
Chris may realize (and acknowledge) it’s the role that made him a household name, but I’d say this interview makes it pretty clear he was less than pleased with the Thor character as a whole, not just the workouts involved. “I’m dying here” and “frustrated and bored” aren’t the words of an actor super-stoked to be “handcuffed” to a character.
https://www.vanityfair.com/hollywood/2017/11/thor-ragnarok-chris-hemsworth-mark-ruffalo-interview-best-thor-movie
This is just the latest example I could find. He has said very similar things – although far more diplomatically – for as long as I’ve been reading his interviews. He gripes about the wig (hence the haircut), doing stunts in the costume, spending long days on set, having to carve out time in his schedule for long shoots, etc. etc. All of those things may be true, but if you are playing an iconic character it’s bad form to tell anyone listening what a pain the ass he is to play.
I think Chris may be feeeling about Cap the same Hemsworth felt before Taika Waititi made the character more layered and interesting. Maybe Cap needs something like that – someone coming from the outside, shaking things up. But by the look of it, it won’t happen because Captain America character is in complete service of storyline of infinity war. I thought that Cap’s dilema between his duty and his urge to help a chilhood friend in the last film was something that if develped would make the character a bit more interesting but of course that is impossible when you have stories of gazillion characters in your movie. I hope this strategy pays off for Marvel because for now I find this new movie where no character gets any real moment to develop as characters quite dull and underwhelming with all mass scenes and special effects. So for the very human side, I can inderstand if Chris is over his Cap role.
As for what he says- I am good with it considering how many men are eager to come out now and explain what we women need.
After listening to so many male members of the Argentine “star system” whining about how they apparently can’t say anything about gender issues anymore, I will absolutely stand by Hollywood Star Chris Evans and his sensible, understanding view on this topic.
I don’t think Chris is saying that he’s going to remain silent. Just that he’s going to get more information before talking. People like Matt Damon have said some stupid stuff so I don’t see how listening to women first about issues is a bad thing.
He might be sick of Cap and the publicity/promo demands, but he’s really good in the role – I couldn’t help noticing during Civil War (which could have done with a little more of Cap and a little less of other Avengers secondary characters).
He’s also been politically outspoken for years now and gave Bertolucci and Brando a dragging when the truth about that Last Tango in Paris scene came to light, so I believe him when he says he means to take the backseat and not make it about him.
Both Avenger Chrises (Hemsworth and Evans) have roles that involve them getting into a specific physical shape each time they film. Neither had to bulk up the way they did for their first movies a second time, but it’s got to be a lot of work. Hemsworth obviously feels revitalized with Taika’s take on Thor, but I wonder if this plays into Evans being done.
I think many people would benefit from speak less, listen more.
As long as we live in patriarchal societies we will never truly have equality.
Most men are going to go down swinging.
Starts from the home and goes right to the top.
Many faiths, cultures, rules that govern societies are built on patriarchy.
As Pine gets older hes becoming more attractive to me.
also the most talented out of the Chrises.
Cap’s Steve was supposed to die back in Civil War. That was a big piece in the comics. Bucky picked up the title and then it goes to Falcon.
I’m wondering if they are going to get around to it in the films. I’m for it. I do love Evans as Cap tho.
I think a little maturity is settling in for Chris Evans as well as reflection on it’s up to Marvel if they want to include him, Hemsworth or any of the originals in future projects. Of all the originals, Evans is the one that may endure longer in the future franchises. His relationship to T’challa has secured that. His public statements are getting better with time that is what make people like him as a person.
Can’t imagine anyone else playing Rogers. My personal favorite avengers.
A couple of years ago I fall really hard for Chris Evans…. hahahahahahahah and then i found this blog and all my dreams fall apart… 😀 😀 😀 so i’m glad he’s starting to have a better reputation now….
I’m gonna miss him as Cap.