Chris Evans (actor)

Christopher Robert "Chris" Evans (born June 13, 1981) is an American actor and film director. Evans is best known for his superhero roles as Johnny Storm / Human Torch in Fantastic Four (2005) and Fantastic Four: Rise of the Silver Surfer (2007); and Steve Rogers / Captain America in Captain America: The First Avenger (2011), Marvel's The Avengers (2012) and Captain America: The Winter Soldier (2014), a role he will reprise in Avengers: Age of Ultron (2015).

Evans began his career on the television series Opposite Sex (2000), moving to film in 2001 with Not Another Teen Movie.

Early life

Chris Evans was born in Boston and raised in the town of Sudbury. His mother, Lisa (Capuano), is an artistic director at the Concord Youth Theater, and his father, Bob, is a dentist. He has two sisters, Carly, a graduate of New York University's Tisch School of the Arts and a high school drama and English teacher at Lincoln-Sudbury Regional High School, Shanna, and a younger brother, Scott, who was featured on the ABC soap opera One Life to Live. Their uncle, Mike Capuano, represents the same Massachusetts Congressional district formerly represented by Tip O'Neill. His mother is of half Italian and half Irish ancestry.

Evans graduated from Lincoln-Sudbury Regional High School. He and his siblings were raised Catholic.

Career

After filming wrapped on Not Another Teen Movie, Evans landed lead roles in The Perfect Score and Cellular, and then starred in two independent films in Chicago: Dirk Wittenborn's Fierce People, playing the sinister Bryce, and London, playing a strung-out drug user with relationship problems. He then played the superhero the Human Torch in the 2005 comic book adaptation Fantastic Four. Evans reprised the role of the Human Torch in the 2007 sequel Fantastic Four: Rise of the Silver Surfer. That year, he starred as engineer-turned-astronaut Mace in Danny Boyle's science-fiction film Sunshine.

In 2008, Evans appeared in Street Kings, co-starring Keanu Reeves, and the Tennessee Williams screenplay adaptation The Loss of a Teardrop Diamond, co-starring Bryce Dallas Howard and Ellen Burstyn. The following year he appeared in the science-fiction thriller Push, with Dakota Fanning and Camilla Belle. Evans performed his own fight scenes, which took weeks to film, and was bruised during filming.

In 2010, he completed filming on co-directors Mark Kassen and Adam Kassen's Puncture in Houston, Texas. The film was selected to debut at the 2011 Tribeca Film Festival as one of the Spotlight projects for the 10th anniversary of the festival. Also that year, Evans appeared in Sylvain White's The Losers, an adaptation of the comic-book series from the DC Comics imprint Vertigo. Evans then appeared in another comic-book adaptation, Edgar Wright's Scott Pilgrim vs. the World, where he portrayed Lucas Lee, one of Ramona Flowers' seven evil exes.

In 2011, Evans played the Marvel Comics character Captain America in Captain America: The First Avenger, and starred in the film What's Your Number?, a romantic comedy co-starring Anna Faris. There were initially scheduling conflicts, as both films were set to film in the summer of 2010. With actress Evan Rachel Wood, he was part of a 2011 advertising campaign for the perfume Gucci Guilty, and the cologne Guilty pour Homme.

Evans had signed on to appear in multiple films as Captain America, and first reprised the role in the 2012 film The Avengers. He next starred opposite Michael Shannon in The Iceman, replacing James Franco, who had dropped out. Evans wore a long wig and grew out a beard for the role. He starred in South Korean director Bong Joon-ho's English-language film Snowpiercer.

In 2014, Evans starred in Captain America: The Winter Soldier. He also starred opposite Michelle Monaghan in the romantic comedy Playing It Cool. His directorial debut, Before We Go, debuted at the 2014 Toronto International Film Festival

His upcoming films include the 2015 film Avengers: Age of Ultron and the 2016 film Captain America: Civil War. Evans said in March 2014 that once his contract with Marvel is up, he may consider doing less acting so he could work more on directing, and believes he will be finished playing Captain America in 2017.

Personal life

From 2004 to 2006, Evans dated actress Jessica Biel He also dated actress Minka Kelly, in September 2012 after briefly dating her in 2007 but broke up again in October 2013.

He is also a supporter of LGBT rights, and has a great interest in the philosophies of Buddhism.