Chris Evans is opening up about facing the pressures of acting and the entertainment industry in a new interview, reflecting on a simpler life away from it all.
The actor, 42, recently tied the knot with Portuguese actress and longtime girlfriend Alba Baptista, 26, and a new British GQ cover story explores his desire to embrace being out of the spotlight.
He discusses going back home to Massachusetts soon after completing Avengers: Endgame (2019) and says it "takes me back to a place when life was not just simpler – that's too reductive – but to a time where I was more pure, I guess; where my ego and my insecurities weren't such a dominant force that I had to push against."
Chris adds: "I love to act. But it's not something that I couldn't live without," and says later on: "I remember in my late 20s having a real shift in how I felt on set, how I felt promoting films: a little more anxiety, a little more uncertainty. You always end up questioning, is this what I should be doing?
"I just wasn’t sure if I was moving closer to myself or further away. And something inside me kept saying that I was getting further away – that something about this industry wasn't healthy."
When discussing his entry into the blockbuster Marvel Cinematic Universe, taking on the mantle of the virtuous Captain America, he weighed his options. "The pros were that I'd be able to take care of my family forever; the cons were that I would become deeply, deeply unhappy with fame and loss of control."
Chris looks at his time in the MCU with gratitude and says: "If I wanted to stop everything now, I could. Which is incredible. And that's a blessing beyond words."
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The Not Another Teen Movie star muses on stepping away from it all. "I could just make furniture for nobody and be happy."
"I don't want to waste too much time in this industry, but… That doesn't sound correct. I don't want to occupy too much space in an industry that I've already poured 20 years into."
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He makes a rare comment on his then-girlfriend, discussing his year away from film sets in 2023 and spending more time with Alba.
"'I haven't worked all year and I don't plan to, which has been lovely," he shared. "My girlfriend [at the time] that I've had for a while, when we began dating, I was like, 'Yeah, I do one movie a year. I try to never work now.'
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"And then, after like a few months of dating, boom, guess what? We're living in Atlanta for a year. Get ready. And even when that year was happening, I was like, man, never again."
Chris does add, at the end, that he would be open to returning to Marvel following the end of their contractual obligation. "I'll never say never, just because it was such a wonderful experience. But I'm also very precious with it. It's something that I am very proud of. And like I said, sometimes I can't believe it even happened."
The October issue of British GQ is available via digital download and on newsstands on September 26th
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