Chris Evans is opening up about his initial thoughts of the Snowpiercer script.
The 42-year-old actor starred in Bong Joon Ho‘s 2013 film as Curtis, with Tilda Swinton, Octavia Spencer, and Jamie Bell.
In a new interview, Chris explained why he had doubts about the script in the first place.
Keep reading to find out more…
Speaking to GQ in a new interview, Chris shared that his struggles stemmed from not understanding why all the events had to happen and why the structure of the train system was what it was.
“When I first read the script, I didn’t quite get it. I was like, ‘So…what?’ Whenever it’s a movie that’s world-building, you’re creating a completely separate environment. There’s just kind of a conceit that you have to say, ‘OK, so everyone just accepts this, this is just how it is? No one is kind of outraged that this is the structure? That’s just the norm, OK.’”
Chris continued, saying that as an actor, he had to make a decision to push the whys away.
“You kind of have to decide what part of your brain do you spend time wrapping your head around. Do you go the intimate road and just kind of make it about the character? Do you try and make it about what it took for that society to level into that place?” he shared. “It’s a challenge, but you get to watch Tilda Swinton in the movie and you get to watch her approach to this larger than life character.”
After he pushed his questions to the side, Chris said it was then he got to really trust Bong and the vision.
“Director Bong is such a visionary. When you’re working with someone that knows exactly what they want, even if it’s not exactly the way you saw it, it breeds trust,” Chris says. “As an actor, that’s the most important thing, to trust the director. Otherwise you’re playing defense. Otherwise you’re like, ‘Alright, this first take, well, I’ll just do this, just so I can at least protect that. Then I’ll try this, but I don’t want to try that because I don’t know if they know how to use that take. Any take I give them can be used against me.’ And when you have a director who is so convinced of what their vision is, that’s when you say, ‘Great. You say jump, I’ll say ‘How high?’”
Snowpiercer was developed into a television series. It ended earlier this year.
If you missed it, Chris just got married!