Chris Evans covers the latest issue of Esquire to promote Defending Jacob, his Apple+ limited series where he plays a lawyer whose son has been accused of murder. The interview took place in Chris’s Boston home (estate, really) before the quarantine, but Chris was actually being low-key and introverted before the quarantine anyway. In previous interviews, Chris has mentioned the importance of his long-time group of bro friends and that’s how the piece starts, with a mention of his close-knit crew, and the fact that Chris mostly operates (his personal brand, if you will) as a normal Boston guy with normal Boston buds. The Esquire writer does mention frequently that for all of Chris’s bro-vibes, he actually seemed quite squirrelly when it came to even the most basic questions. It just felt like Chris was in a MOOD. You can read the full piece here. Some highlights:
Defending Jacob was shot in the Boston suburbs. “It felt like I had a regular nine-to-five job. I’d sleep in my own bed; I’d see my family on weekends. A lot of times you have a bit of a nomadic lifestyle as an actor. You live out of suitcases and in cities you’re not familiar with. Doing Jacob made me feel like I was home but still doing what I love. It was incredibly comforting.”
On his political/apolitical site, A Starting Point: “We were just so aware of the fact that we weren’t in our lane. There was so much to learn, starting with the vernacular. Like, you don’t say the word politician; you say elected official. It’s a very tricky system. The simple fact that they have to be elected to stay in office. People want to say, ‘I’m going to go to D. C. to be a politician, and I’m going to live by my morals and principles, and everything will be okay.’ But once you’re there, you have to start playing this weird game of chess; you have to start measuring whether the juice is worth the squeeze. It starts with little compromises and justifications, and before you know it . . .”
He’s going to stop tweeting about politics for now: “I’m going to take my foot off the gas [of social media] for a little bit until we get this thing up and running.”
His name was going to be something else: “I was supposed to be G. Robert Evans IV. I would’ve been Bobby, but my mother was in love with the name Chris. So my dad gave it to her.” After his father remarried, he started a second family. Evans now has a stepbrother named G. Robert Evans IV. “My dad was very happy to pass that on. I always wondered if I would have been a good Bobby. I’m glad I’m Chris. I would’ve been honored to have had that moniker, be in that lineage. But Chris is good, too.”
On his father: Chris says he “lasted in this business without my father’s pragmatism and his curiosity. I think my dad’s level head is the thing that makes getting up every day possible for me.” When Evans saw the final cut of Defending Jacob, he says, “it was a little disconcerting. A lot of scenes where I’m doing certain things, like, for instance, my character’s morning routine in the kitchen—there was the tie, the cup of coffee, and I was like, ‘Wow, I am watching my dad. I’m old.’ It just happened.”
For f–ks sake, he’s not *that* old. He’s 38, he’ll be 39 in June (he’s a Gemini, which… makes sense). People make too much of the whole “staring down the barrel of 40” thing. Yes, turning 40 BLOWS. It 100% sucks. It’s not just a psychological blow, it’s also a physical blow – you are very aware of how much your body is slowing down, you pick up more injuries and it takes you longer to recover and on and on. But still, Chris is fine. He should stop worrying about “turning into his dad” or whatever. As for his name… yeah, he seems like a Chris. But he also TOTALLY seems like a Bobby, right? Robert doesn’t suit him at all, but Bobby Evans the bro from Boston? Come on, he’s totally that guy.
Photos courtesy of Esquire.
Would. So would.
Okay, so, probably quarantine horniness talking. who do you think the top 5 sexiest or most beautiful men are right now?
I put, Evans, Momoa, Wentworth Miller (I’m a huge Arrowverse fan, and I still remembered him from Buffy, he’s that beautiful), Michael B Jordan, on top. Or bottom, I’m open on positions. lol
I really normally go for the cliche, tall, dark and handsome I guess. Evans is the only blonde who ever broke me out of that. The sob got me with the damn interviews about trump. Then I started really looking at his body. Well, there’s always gotta be one that not your type on your list. Keeps things interesting.
Evans is blonde? I always saw his hair as brown? Am I colorblind? Lol
Evans is a brunette though LOL. Steve Rogers is a blondie.
I’m very much like you about the tall, dark, and handsome cliche (I like a guy who looks like he can brood) but Evans is my #1. Bobby or Chris, I’ll call him whatever he wants me to call him *shrugs*
(Charlie Hunnam also used to be a blonde exception to the rule, but every time he opens his mouth, it makes my head hurt).
He and Hemsworth are the ‘superior Chris’ to me.
Also, loving Defending Jacob!
Nice to see him talking about his father and his father’s influence as he usually talks about his mom and her family, which is where his interests in acting and politics came from.
And, if this quarantine ever lists, if you’re interested in seeing some lovely and historic sites at the same time, his place is somewhere near the Old North Bridge and Old Manse (home of Ralph Waldo Emerson and Nathanial Hawthorne) in Concord, which is just down the street from Louisa May Alcott’s house. The area is very pretty and I have seen him and his dog running by the bridge a few times.
Chris Evans’s dad was my (excellent) dentist back in the day!
And now, he’s going to play the sadistic dentist in Little Shop of Horrors!
I always love reading little tidbits like this one. 😊
Yeah, I remember being in the chair one day, and I must’ve talked about being an actress. Dr. Evans told me that his son acted too — I think maybe Chris was barely out of school at that point? — and that the two of them were going out to LA for a couple of weeks to check it out. It seems like Chris was starring in movies about two minutes later! 🙂
Chris Evans is my forever crush. Partially because I’m from Boston, I think he’s funny and charming and kind of dorky. But super hot and brooding at the same time. He seems like a really good time… on every level. 👍🏻
Same. I used to joke about it a lot, but had to stop after my four-year-old actually said, “Daddy loves Mommy, and Mommy loves Captain America.” Something we still laugh about a lot in our family, but maybe not sending exactly the right message.
Same. I love how everyone he works with seems to love him. Even going back years. From marvel to The Losers to Scott pilgrim and Knives out. I think he’s dorkier than broish really. Liking to hang out with lifelong pals when you’re single and drink beer isn’t really broish to me. It’s been a long time since he’s been seen out partying.
He actually lives in a small town outside Boston. My dad has met him a few times, and he said he’s a super nice, down to earth guy.
My great aunt,, now 91, practically mauled him in a restaurant one afternoon. He was very sweet about it. She was a lifelong DC Comics girl and his Captain America switched her to the MCU.
Wouldn’t his father’s eponymous son be Chris’ half-brother, not a stepbrother? I mean, otherwise, that’s a super weird coincidence that his dad was able to pass his name along to a non-biological child his second wife already had before they met.
I also think this quote— Chris says he “lasted in this business without my father’s pragmatism and his curiosity”— is probably supposed to start with “wouldn’t” (before lasted)… otherwise is doesn’t make sense.
But, more seriously, everyone has milestones of aging that feel poignant, especially when you see yourself turning into your parent, in either looks or actions. If he sees himself looking like he remembers his dad looked as a kid, that’s always a bit of a wake up call that you’re not a kid yourself anymore. Extremely normal, and relatable, phenomena.
Thank you!! My husband’s sisters are his half-sisters, they all share a father. Their mother always refers to my husband as their step-brother, and it really upsets him. Yes, in this case, Chris’s father’s son is Chris’s half-brother, and really, let’s just call him his brother, right? Why not?
That stuck out at me too. Are there no copy editors at esquire?
Also, I wouldn’t mind be stuck in quarantine with him. 😉
I can’t with him since he joked with his co-star about Black widow being a sl*t.
These photos are particularly unflattering.
I wouldn’t do a Bobby.
He came across so horrible and moody in this interview. It’s like he doesn’t understand that EVERYONE wants him to win, and then he’s a white man on top of it. For someone who does nothing but overthink abt his brand he still doesn’t get what his brand is, not only as a public figure but as an actor. Also Defending Jacob is not that good. I was really shocked by how basic it was when I watched the first three eps. Official Hot Take: Chris Evans is a limited actor and he needs to come to terms with it.