Post by Bob on Feb 22, 2019 22:18:47 GMT
www.theglobeandmail.com/arts/the-thinking-womans-beefcake/article20444402/
GAYLE MACDONALD
PUBLISHED FEBRUARY 9, 2009
When Chris Evans is not on a movie set - spewing testosterone, saving the world, helping dames in distress - the handsome actor can usually be found at a dog park in Los Angeles. It's an inner-city haunt where he takes "the love of his life," a cheeky American bulldog named East.
"He thinks he's human," says the chuckling 27-year-old
Massachusetts native. "We'll go to the dog park, and he sits on the bench, with the people. And he just looks at the dogs like, 'You idiots. Running around. Rolling in the dirt. Please!' He's just so above it. He's the greatest dog in the world. I can't get enough of him."
Evans, who grew up Catholic but has since embraced Eastern spiritualism, is in the dining room of Toronto's Drake Hotel, chatting about his new science-fiction thriller, Push, in which he co-stars with Dakota Fanning and Camilla Belle.
Oblivious to the furtive glances being lobbed his way by some young women in the room, Evans has morphed of late into the go-to guy for directors who want brawn, but not beefcake. He's an actor ( Cellular, the Human Torch in the Fantastic Four films) whose heroes have a sensitive, vulnerable side - but can still kick ass.
Good-looking, in a Boston-bred, Matt Damon kind of way, Evans says he's perplexed by how his career has moved into these nice, tough-guy roles. "I don't know how it's happened, to be honest," says Evans, also part of the ensemble in Danny Boyle's 2007 sci-fi thriller Sunshine.
"It's not intentional. It's certainly not deliberate," says the actor, scratching chin scruff. "It's just kind of come that way. But they're not kicking down my door, by any means. These are roles that I still have to go out and compete for.
"I like sci-fi, paranormal stuff, but it's not the top of my list," adds Evans, who dated actress Jessica Biel for several years. "I primarily like stories about family. About friendship. Stories that are just really simple.
"And oddly enough," he says with a laugh, "I've yet to make a movie that is really like that."
In Paul McGuigan's Push (which opened in theatres on Friday), Evans plays Nick Gant, a second-generation telekinetic - or "mover" - who has been in hiding since his father (another mover) was murdered by The Division. When the film starts, Gant is hiding in Hong Kong, trying to stay off the radar of The Division, a shadowy government body hell-bent on transforming citizens into an army of psychic warriors, and murdering those who aren't in sync with their program. Gant meets Cassie Holmes (Fanning) - a "watcher" who can read the future - and the two become the hunters and the hunted as they try to save civilization.
Evans said it was a treat working with the 14-year-old Fanning, who he adds must have grown four inches in the nine months since they shot Push. "I remember hearing her name circling the project, and that definitely sweetened the pot. She's so phenomenal. Having her part of it brings a certain class to the film."
In his spare time, Evans says he and his faithful hound travel back to the East Coast to visit his parents and three siblings, and not long ago - through a "life class" he's part of in Los Angeles (hence the aforementioned spiritualism) - he also journeyed to India's mountainous region in the north.
His decision to take the class, he says, was primarily to find a better way of dealing with the "crazy, sometimes horrible" side of L.A. "It's helping me to manage perception, ego, mind and self. The class tries to present a way of looking at your life, where you focus on staying present and not let your consciousness get out.
"For a while, I foolishly thought that [Hollywood]wouldn't be a difficult thing. Acting is my passion - and I love it - but I believed I'd always have a firm handle on it. I can say, openly and humbly, that over the past few years it's become more difficult. I've thought about moving out of L.A., but for now I'm there, and the work is there. I have great books that I go to on a daily basis just to inject some sanity back."
That said, he adds, some of his greatest friendships have been forged in his nutty business. And he counts Oscar-nominated director Boyle ( Slumdog Millionaire) as one of the most exemplary people he's had the fortune to meet - and work with.
"I don't know if you've ever met him, but he's the kindest man in the world. He's genuine. Sincere. And when he speaks to you, he'll look right at you like you're the only person in the room," he says, before interjecting: "Did you know he was going to be a priest?
"The guy just reinvents himself. Whatever he just did, he'll go to the other end of the spectrum [on his next project]and try something completely different. And he nails it every single time. I'm thrilled for him," says Evans, referring to Slumdog Millionaire's 10 nominations for this month's Academy Awards.
"He has the right to everything he's getting right now. He totally deserves it all."
GAYLE MACDONALD
PUBLISHED FEBRUARY 9, 2009
When Chris Evans is not on a movie set - spewing testosterone, saving the world, helping dames in distress - the handsome actor can usually be found at a dog park in Los Angeles. It's an inner-city haunt where he takes "the love of his life," a cheeky American bulldog named East.
"He thinks he's human," says the chuckling 27-year-old
Massachusetts native. "We'll go to the dog park, and he sits on the bench, with the people. And he just looks at the dogs like, 'You idiots. Running around. Rolling in the dirt. Please!' He's just so above it. He's the greatest dog in the world. I can't get enough of him."
Evans, who grew up Catholic but has since embraced Eastern spiritualism, is in the dining room of Toronto's Drake Hotel, chatting about his new science-fiction thriller, Push, in which he co-stars with Dakota Fanning and Camilla Belle.
Oblivious to the furtive glances being lobbed his way by some young women in the room, Evans has morphed of late into the go-to guy for directors who want brawn, but not beefcake. He's an actor ( Cellular, the Human Torch in the Fantastic Four films) whose heroes have a sensitive, vulnerable side - but can still kick ass.
Good-looking, in a Boston-bred, Matt Damon kind of way, Evans says he's perplexed by how his career has moved into these nice, tough-guy roles. "I don't know how it's happened, to be honest," says Evans, also part of the ensemble in Danny Boyle's 2007 sci-fi thriller Sunshine.
"It's not intentional. It's certainly not deliberate," says the actor, scratching chin scruff. "It's just kind of come that way. But they're not kicking down my door, by any means. These are roles that I still have to go out and compete for.
"I like sci-fi, paranormal stuff, but it's not the top of my list," adds Evans, who dated actress Jessica Biel for several years. "I primarily like stories about family. About friendship. Stories that are just really simple.
"And oddly enough," he says with a laugh, "I've yet to make a movie that is really like that."
In Paul McGuigan's Push (which opened in theatres on Friday), Evans plays Nick Gant, a second-generation telekinetic - or "mover" - who has been in hiding since his father (another mover) was murdered by The Division. When the film starts, Gant is hiding in Hong Kong, trying to stay off the radar of The Division, a shadowy government body hell-bent on transforming citizens into an army of psychic warriors, and murdering those who aren't in sync with their program. Gant meets Cassie Holmes (Fanning) - a "watcher" who can read the future - and the two become the hunters and the hunted as they try to save civilization.
Evans said it was a treat working with the 14-year-old Fanning, who he adds must have grown four inches in the nine months since they shot Push. "I remember hearing her name circling the project, and that definitely sweetened the pot. She's so phenomenal. Having her part of it brings a certain class to the film."
In his spare time, Evans says he and his faithful hound travel back to the East Coast to visit his parents and three siblings, and not long ago - through a "life class" he's part of in Los Angeles (hence the aforementioned spiritualism) - he also journeyed to India's mountainous region in the north.
His decision to take the class, he says, was primarily to find a better way of dealing with the "crazy, sometimes horrible" side of L.A. "It's helping me to manage perception, ego, mind and self. The class tries to present a way of looking at your life, where you focus on staying present and not let your consciousness get out.
"For a while, I foolishly thought that [Hollywood]wouldn't be a difficult thing. Acting is my passion - and I love it - but I believed I'd always have a firm handle on it. I can say, openly and humbly, that over the past few years it's become more difficult. I've thought about moving out of L.A., but for now I'm there, and the work is there. I have great books that I go to on a daily basis just to inject some sanity back."
That said, he adds, some of his greatest friendships have been forged in his nutty business. And he counts Oscar-nominated director Boyle ( Slumdog Millionaire) as one of the most exemplary people he's had the fortune to meet - and work with.
"I don't know if you've ever met him, but he's the kindest man in the world. He's genuine. Sincere. And when he speaks to you, he'll look right at you like you're the only person in the room," he says, before interjecting: "Did you know he was going to be a priest?
"The guy just reinvents himself. Whatever he just did, he'll go to the other end of the spectrum [on his next project]and try something completely different. And he nails it every single time. I'm thrilled for him," says Evans, referring to Slumdog Millionaire's 10 nominations for this month's Academy Awards.
"He has the right to everything he's getting right now. He totally deserves it all."