Former superhero Chris Evans is at a new pace of the pandemic: he puts his attractions into politics.
The actor (or Captain America, ahem) is committed to the launch of his new website, A Starting Point, which aims to create a bridge for the public and elected officials over a wide range of problems, from reopening the economy to mid-COVID-19 to vote by mail. In addition to encouraging Democrats and Republicans to fight (civilly), the site invites elected officials to post their views on existing issues, in a minute or less, in a video titled Daily Points.
Andrea Mandell of USA TODAY met with the actor thursday when he gave the impression that Zoom from his home in the Boston area (where he was quarantined with his dog, Dodger), while former President Barack Obama praised John Lewis.Evans, 39, tells members of Congress that he was the real deal, why he never had Finsta, and how he’s preparing to take on Ryan Gosling in his next big action film.
USA TODAY: Hello! Wait, I’m going to put President Obama on a break.
Chris Evans: I know that voice, man.
Question: First of all: how’s your adorable dog Dodger from his operation?
Evans: It’s very good. I get a little out of the cone just to give it a break and it’s hanging there. (He underwent) hip replacement surgery. He’s already jogging, which I want to stop, but yes, he’s going to be fine.
Q: He has arrived at the Capitol to get politicians to participate in a starting point, which sees them interact in debates about big issues such as voting rights, making school affordable, and banking regulation. How is an assembly in Hollywood different from an assembly in Hill?
Evans: In fact, you think they don’t want much of you: they’re busy, you’re lucky they give you time. They are not rude or disrespectful, but in fact they seem to be busy their agenda. And then you really check to get what you want as soon as you can and then …
Hey, Dodge! (Evans calls him off-camera.) No, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, the wound is licking. (Warning tone) Don’t make that outbreak, the cone will return to its place.
At Hollywood meetings, they regularly make you feel exclusive and special, and they look at keeping you a little richer. And in D.C., I think they’re a little more direct. But that’s good! It’s more authentic.
Q: He is based on the willingness of politicians to participate. Would you say that so far more Democrats have said yes to Republicans?
Evans: Interestingly, outside the door, we had many more Republicans. (Since then) to be honest, this has been split in half.
Q: Who is the politician of your dreams for A Starting Point?
Evans: I’d love the guy (Obama) who just spoke, to congratulate him (John Lewis). But it’s a big challenge.
Q: He had a Twitter account for a long time, but joined Instagram in April, around the time he was going to launch the site. Are you on it? Have you ever had a Finsta before?
Evans: What is a Finsta?
Q: Like an Instagram account, a handful of coverts.
Evans: Oh, no, I didn’t. Regularly he only did Twitter. Not Finsta. Then I made Instagram for this site. My team just said, “Look, Chris, I know you’re not some kind of Instagram, but that’s where everyone is, there’s a lot of kids that would be silly if you didn’t use it.” I don’t spend much time on that, to be honest, reading reviews and things like that. Even on Twitter, I used to spend time reading the answers and even that disappeared. You are never satisfied that you have read the comment. You never say to yourself, “Dude, I’m glad I spent some time reading those terrible things.” I think I got past the urge to look.
Q: It turns out that a practical technique is used to track what politicians are saying and report misinformation. How do you plan to manage that in the future?
Evans: We have fact checkers. We outsource to a company called Accountant for the first section, Starting Points. So, if you’re looking for verified data, we have it. (For the other sections), it will be too difficult to stay afloat in terms of data verification. To be honest, it depends on (politicians), as they would on any other platform.
Q: Are you a little freer to get into politics now that your time with Marvel Cinematic Universe (MCU) is over?
Evans: Uh, no. He talked a lot, even when he was doing the MCU stuff. I wasn’t shy about it. I never compared my professional life to what I’m passionate about if I think it’s a value to talk about it. If I think there’s anything I can do to help or be kind in a challenge that deserves attention, I will.
Q: Are you back at work? You in London recently.
Evans: No, apart from the website, there are probably more paintings than I’ve ever done on any film set. There were some painting stuff there, but no, I’m not filming anything. People take meetings. We communicate a lot about pictures, when the paintings will begin.
Q: Speaking of which, the news has just come that you’re starring in the big-budget Netflix spy mystery “The Grey Man” as opposed to Ryan Gosling, who will reunite you with your administrators of “Avengers: End of Game,” the Russo Brothers. Would you say you’re in the form of a fight right now or in quarantine?
Evans: Quarantine ready to fight. There’s nothing else to do. I, like a lot of people, when my quarantine happened, I thought, “Oh, I deserve to order weights online.” And supposedly they bought each and every one of the weights in the United States of America, and to get some dumbbells it would take six so there were a lot of Rocky-type workouts to lift only heavy objects around my house.
Q: I also tried to order weights and won one. A couple.
Evans: That’s exactly what happened to me! I waited six weeks for the pesos and then one came. I like it, are you kidding me? So depressing.
Q: How do you handle tension or anxiety this time?
Evans: Quarantine itself is not unknown to me. Anyway, I never leave my house. The coVID tension in general and the counterattack and policy is pretty tangled up on the online page for me. So when I feel the anxiety associated with those things, I seek to channel it to the site because I think that somehow the site can generate participation and help alleviate the feeling of helplessness.
I think it’s the real stress center. There have been difficult times in the world, and it’s overwhelming to feel like there’s nothing you can do. Stress becomes apathy and is dangerous; which has genuine pernicious downstream effects.
Q: Do you use this kitchen for quarantine cooking? What are your culinary skills like?
Evans: Ah, terrible. But my brother was here for a while in his 40s, and his culinary skills are fantastic. I’m looking to get it back because I want a home-cooked meal.