The first avenger could have had another protagonist in his first film.
We can say that Jeremy Strong has risen to fame in the last two years thanks to his performance in Succession, the hit HBO drama in which the rich turn into horrible beings. But the actor, who considers himself more of a serious actor than a popcorn movie guy, he was about to go on a different trajectory when he was offered a role in the first Captain America movie.
Strong recently reflected on the early days of his career in an interview with The Times.and shared how after failing to land the role he auditioned for in the sci-fi action flick Cowboys & Aliens: “I got a hat, bowling tie, chaps, boots and worked on the dialect. But I came to the audition and there were guys in T-shirts who looked like models,” and they told him about an upcoming secret comic book adaptation.
While it’s common for top performers like Benedict Cumberbatch and Cate Blanchett to take set design jobs on superhero movies, this was over a decade ago, when the MCU was still in its infancy. Strong was informed that he would not be playing the lead Steve Rogers, but rather the grittier version of him from the film’s first act.
“They needed someone to play the young body of Captain America, before he becomes a superhero”he explained. “They said they needed a drag actor and would use CGI to put the real actor’s face and voice over mine.” “I was broke,” she added. “I needed money. I considered it. But that’s my LA story. It was never going to happen for me here. It didn’t seem like they valued what I could offer.” Ultimately, she declined the offer.
Strong and Chris Evans aka People’s Sexiest Man of 2022, who played Steve Rogers in seven MCU movies over 10 years, actually go back a long way, as they both went to college in Sudbury, Massachusetts. But Evans had no idea Strong was about to play his body double until the Times reporter tipped him off (he also said he didn’t know why it took so long for such a talented actor to break through as Kendall Roy in Succession). “This shows that the industry is so unpredictable,” said Evans, who you wouldn’t recognize before coming to Marvel. “But I’m really glad things worked out, because I don’t think there was ever a plan B for Jeremy.”
Source: Fotogramas
Camila Luna is a writer at Gossipify, where she covers the latest movies and television series. With a passion for all things entertainment, Camila brings her unique perspective to her writing and offers readers an inside look at the industry. Camila is a graduate from the University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA) with a degree in English and is also a avid movie watcher.
