Chris Evans Pulls His Own 'Captain America' Stunts

Chris Evans was not always sure he wanted to play Captain America, but when he dove in to the iconic role, he went head first. In addition to grueling two-hour workouts and gaining twenty pounds of muscle before filming began, Evans performed most of his own stunt work — which involved a lot of regular guy stuff, only cranked up to super power.

"The good thing about Cap is that most of his abilities are rooted in what a human being is capable of — he's not flying, he's not shooting fire," Evans told MTV News. "For the most part, the stunts involved were hand-to-hand combat, so any time I can put the gloves on and get in the ring, I'll do it."

Evans has been vocal about his initial reluctance to take on the role, citing the difficulty in committing to such a high-profile role for what was at first going to be nine films. "It started out as a nine-picture commitment and it dropped down to six. If all of a sudden my passion changed, if I wanted to write or direct, or leave the career — go live in the mountains, get married, have kids, lead a normal life — you can't," he told PopSugar. "And I guess I just wasn't 100 percent positive that my end game was to be a gigantic movie star."

With the decision made, the pounds gained, the stunts performed, and Captain America: The First Avenger, co-starring Stanley Tucci and Samuel L. Jackson, hitting theaters Friday, there is no turning back. "There's a difference between dealing with [fame] sometimes, dealing with it most of the time, and dealing with it all the time. All the time is something you can't conceptualize until it happens, and once you're there, you can't turn it off," Evans said. "There's no rewind."