Captain America star Chris Evans can not only brag that he plays a major role in the biggest opening weekend box office blockbuster ever with the success of Avengers: Infinity War, he can also point to the success of the Broadway play he is currently appearing in — Kenneth Lonergan’s Lobby Hero, which has been nominated for the Tony Award for Best Revival of a Play. The Marvel superhero spoke to Variety about why it was so “intimidating” for him to do a Broadway play and why sees himself returning to theater soon.
While Evans has publicly indicated that he will no longer be brandishing Captain America’s shield after Avengers 4, he does know something else for sure — he’s gotten bitten by the theater bug. He explains, “Theater is the thing that I didn’t know that I needed. As soon as this is over I will be on the hunt for the next play.”
Though Evans isn’t new to theater, it was literally half his life ago that he had last done theater (the 36 year-old last appeared on stage when he was 18). Because of that, he admits he was nervous about Lobby Hero, saying, “It was an intimidating thing to try and do, just because I know [Broadway is] a very tight-knit community, and I think you really have to earn your stripes to do it at this level, and I have not. And so you feel a little scared that you won’t be accepted, and concerned that you’re maybe taking a job from someone who’s worked really hard to be up on that stage. You don’t want to feel like you’re just leaning on your film credits and cutting the line or something.”
Of course, the reception has been incredibly positive for both Lobby Hero and Evans (though Evans wasn’t nominated, his co-stars Michael Cera and Brian Tyree Henry will compete for the Tony Award for Best Performance by an Actor in a Featured Role in a Play). “So at once you feel like you’re a bit of an impostor but you also feel like you’re home. Luckily it’s been really nice, and everyone has been very welcoming.”
