Chris Evans & Scarlett Johansson - Actors on Actors - Full Conversation

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- You boom!
- Oh my gosh, way to rub it in.
I don't even know what it is.
- You want it.
How's your daughter?
- She's good.
- How old is she?
- Five.
"How old is she now?"
(mumbling)
(giggling)
(upbeat music)
- And I did just see "Marriage Story,"
and it is phenomenal,
and I'll be shocked if you're not showered with awards,
but what made you want to tell that story?
I mean, it's heavy, it's dark.
- Yeah...
Probably 10 years ago,
Noah and I tried to work on something
else together that was, we kind of,
developed for a little bit,
and then just didn't end up being right,
and by the time it was ready to shoot,
I was kind of past it.
It wasn't the right fit.
- This project?
- No, this was a different project.
- Oh, it was another one.
- It was another project that Noah had never...
I don't think he ended up actually making it.
And I actually thought that he would
never call me again, I don't know.
I'm sure you probably have had that experience before,
where you feel like you...
maybe something didn't work out professionally
and you're like, "Well, there goes that relationship."
- No, no, no.
- That's never happened to you?
- No. - Yeah, right.
I was so surprised when he called me 10 years or more,
15 years later, to meet, and talk about something.
I just thought it totally came out of the blue.
I met with him in a place in New York,
and it was like no time had passed at all.
We just kind of shifted right into this moment where he
pitched me this story a little bit,
and I myself was actually in the middle
of going through a divorce.
It was such a strange coincidence actually.
But more than it being that it was about a divorce,
and I was going through it,
and felt that that was something that I should explore,
I felt it was the right time for Noah and I
to work together on something.
This project felt like it was something
that he wanted to collaborate on,
and you almost got the impression that
he needed to cast it before he actually wrote it,
and that to me was exciting.
I felt that he was writing for me,
and it was so different than the experience that I had
had with him a decade earlier.
And so that's how it--
- How much of the script was already
on the page prior to signing on?
- It was not.
It was not on the page at all.
- It was just a concept.
- It was a concept.
- Wow!
- I think he maybe had started...
It was totally an outline, I think.
- Did you have input in terms of how...
Because one of the things that is so
tragic about it is that it's,
I think when you think of a divorce story,
you imagine much more of a contentious, prickly,
almost enemies, but a lot of the movie,
there's two people trying to make it work.
There's still an amicable...
You're trying to make it work for your kids.
Was that part of...
Did you have input in that?
'Cause I'm assuming even in your experiences,
it hasn't been like, "Oh, I hate this person."
There's still a lot of love for the person.
It's just--
- Yeah.
I think it was sort of, it was Noah's intention to meet.
He was the one...
Actually, when I received the script, I was so...
We'd spoken so much about not just our relationships,
and what it was like to be single parents,
or how it was to co-parent.
But we also talked a lot about our parents,
and our families, and all of that
stuff kind of made it in there.
When I got the script, I was so surprised by how much love
remained between those two people,
and that there was this...
It was a love story told through divorce,
and as a relationship kind of...
Noah often says that,
"In order to fully understand something,
"you kind of have to pull it all apart."
The idea of starting from the end,
and building the story back up
was really interesting to him...
And I think it just, it really...
I think that's why the film has seemingly affected so many
audience members is that it is not one thing or another.
It's kind of multi-faceted,
and relationships are just complicated,
and you can not want to be with somebody,
but still find them attractive in other ways, and...
It's complicated, right?
- It's heartbreaking.
- Yeah.
I don't know.
It was exciting to work on it.
- Where do you want to live now, doll?
- Well, I'm here now, obviously.
I don't know if the show will get picked up,
but feels like home.
It is home.
It's the only home I've ever known without Charlie.
I think you probably feel this way too,
and I know even when we were doing all
the "Endgame" and "Infinity War" stuff,
you were prepping to do "Knives Out" already or not?
- Yeah, yeah, well, we were doing the
reshoots for those last couple bits.
I don't even know if you were there.
You were so in and out 'cause you died.
But I think, yeah.
- Spoiler alert!
- If you haven't seen it--
- If you haven't seen the movie, too bad.
- She didn't make it.
Yeah, it was towards the end of
filming that that Ryan reached out,
and sent the script for "Knives Out,"
and I love those movies.
- Because it must have been so exciting also.
Well I was thinking, 'cause I was doing...
Talking to Noah while we were doing the
"Infinity War" and "Endgame" stuff.
It was such a, something for me to hold on to
during those often just tedious days...
- Sure.
- Of whatever.
All that action storytelling that we have to do where you
have to be in it for these little segments of time.
- Well, there's a lot of things about
those movies where it's not just...
The actual film making process is very start,
stop, start, stop with little bits,
and pieces 'cause of the action,
that the nature of the movie,
plus it's roles that we've played
for a really long time, so really familiar with it.
So it is exciting.
No disrespect to those movies,
I love those movies, but to come off of them,
and have a completely different
approach to finding a character,
to collaborating with other artists, and ultimately just...
It's unchartered waters coming off of a Marvel movie.
It's just exciting to get a change of pace.
- How does it work with Ryan?
How is he on set?
- He's wonderful in a lot of ways, and it forces you...
He's very much a plain speaker.
He knows what he wants.
I love the idea of writer/director combos,
'cause you remove that kind of...
When a bunch of people read one piece of material,
we all have subjective opinions on what we interpret.
And when you have a writer/director,
they can say, "No, this is exactly what I meant."
So that eliminates one question right there.
But Ryan just has a very...
He's very taciturn.
He's very unapologetic.
Two takes and you're done.
- Really?
- Yeah, which as an actor, you're terrified,
'cause if you give me 50 takes, I'll take them.
- What do you think about that though?
Do you ask for more?
- I'd always like more, but--
- How come you don't ask for more?
- It takes me a couple of days to get
comfortable on set to do that.
You know what I mean, to feel--
- Why, because you feel like--
- 'Cause if you ask for more,
and they don't get better,
it's going to be harder to ask for
more in the future, 'cause you know--
- Really?
- If you can't prove that this is going to improve,
now you're just wasting time.
- That's just a funny way of looking at it.
- Yeah.
It's a really insecure, egoic way of looking at it.
- Do you look at the monitor?
Do you watch your takes, and stuff?
- If other people are going to, I will,
but I don't want to be the only one doing it.
- Why?
- 'Cause it's intimidating to watch yourself on playback.
But Ryan will tell you, "When we move on,
"we move on 'cause we got what we needed."
You know what I mean?
You trust Ryan.
If he says we're moving on, we're moving on.
- Stop, stop.
- You Drysdale?
- Call me Ransom, it's my middle name.
Only the help calls me Hugh.
- Okay, uh, this is Trooper Wagner, I'm Lieutenant Elliot.
We just wanna ask a few questions.
- You don't watch playback, do you?
- No, I don't.
It's funny how as an actor, you sometimes...
You know what, I feel if you have an idea,
and this is probably good advice
for actors that are kind of coming up,
or starting out in film,
if you have a good idea for something,
you should ask for another take.
Or you feel you maybe have something
else in you that you're curious about,
you should ask for another take
because it will haunt you forever.
- Sure.
- Even if I've done...
Noah in stark contrast to Ryan is just...
He's relentless, and you can do 45, 50 takes of one...
He only uses one camera,
and he's very specific about the words are the words,
that said, and every hesitation,
and every unfinished sentence,
and every one talking over one
another is all completely scripted,
and nothing is improvised and--
- Nothing is improvised in that movie?
- Not a single word.
- You guys both need Oscars, 'cause I was like,
"Oh, this is just improvised."
It's just not, is it?
- Oh my gosh!
You can't even add in a "but."
He'll remind you like--
- It's like theater.
- "You added a 'but' and," what?
- That's like theater.
- It is like theater.
It totally was like theater.
And I wanted to ask you about your
experience in theater too.
- [Chris] Sure.
- Because you're so good.
- You're so sweet.
- You're so, so good.
- It's like my only actor friend
that actually came to see the play.
- They paid me to.
- Sure, sure.
She's the only one who came to me in "Lobby Hero."
- Oh yeah, that's right.
I was like, "What the hell is he doing?"
(laughing)
That's right, "Lobby Hero."
You were great in that play.
- [Chris] Thank you.
- You were so nervous before you did it.
- Terrified.
Terrified, terrified.
Almost terrified more in the rehearsal process,
just because it's a new medium,
and I'm surrounded by people in the show who...
No one else was new.
I was the only new one there.
I think I was going to try,
and find a new way of doing what we do.
After a while, the process of filmmaking doesn't stale.
You just want to try and find a new way
into what has become very familiar.
And I think what I was hunting
for was that kind of prolonged
period of time within a scene,
as opposed to the action, cut, action, cut.
Thinking that it would allow this liberation,
and freedom to let sub-text really take over the moment.
And it truly couldn't have been more of the contrary.
When you're on stage, it's like your hair inside.
You're just like, (yells).
Because you have so much to remember.
- It didn't feel like that watching you though.
You were in the pocket.
And I'm curious because you're so,
obviously with the Marvel stuff,
and we've worked together like a thousand
and a half times at this point.
Not just even on the Marvel stuff,
but we've done a lot of other stuff together.
And I think mostly everything that I've done with you,
are those two takes, whatever, a few takes, and moving on,
and the schedule's packed, and whatever.
And so I'm curious.
How did you find the relentless schedule, and having to,
eight shows a week, keep digging in,
did you find it tedious?
Did you find it liberating?
- A lot of people told me,
"You're going to have so much time.
"You just got to go to the theater in the afternoon.
"You got your whole days."
I didn't find that at all.
- No.
I got off stage, you're emotionally drained,
you're physically exhausted.
I just wanted to go to bed.
Then before you know it, you're right back at the theater.
I think this really is where it comes
down to subjectivity and personal preference,
but I played a villain, and within the play...
Michael Cera was in the show with me.
Is a moral compass, and certainly the one that you identify
with as an audience member in terms
of what would you do in the scenario.
So as he navigates these ebbs and flows,
when he would go through things,
you could hear the audience, "Ah."
These bonds are formed of common humanity.
My impact on the audience was people identifying me
as the person in their life that they despise.
And if I'm doing my job well, they hate me, which is fine.
But I think to get up every day, find the motivation,
and go to the theater and do it,
I think the next time I get on stage, selfishly,
I'll want just a few moments where I can find that sweet,
sympathetic connection with the audience that isn't just
representing the worst parts of their personal experience.
You know what I mean?
- Because you replace, I mean
iconically, such a likable person.
But I would find...
I think we all know who I'm talking about.
I would imagine that that would be--
- That was the appeal.
- Right.
- That's why it--
- But it wasn't.
- Well, it was fun but then by month
two you're like, "Man."
It's tough to go, and just feel this hate from the audience.
Again, that means you're doing your job well,
but it's not going to not take its toll.
You're not going to not take some of this home with you.
Not to use double negatives twice,
but I think theater is such a
wonderful exchange, it really is.
I forgot who used this analogy,
and I'm probably gonna butcher it.
But it really is like building little sand castles every
night that the audience, or the ocean, just comes and takes,
and then you build another one tomorrow.
And that's a beautiful, and tangible
fleeting part of creativity.
And I think what keeps you motivated to come
back has to be part of that exchange.
And my whole exchange was just predicated on just loathing.
I think it started to get taxing.
- I feel when you work you have to,
no matter who you're playing,
you need to find some empathy for it.
Could you find empathy for that person?
- Oh, trust me.
You know what, every actor says,
that's like acting school stuff.
"You never judge the characters you play.
"If you judge the characters you play,
"you're not going to play 'em real."
So you never, no villain thinks they're the villain.
But when they start calling things, "Oh, this fucking guy."
Oh sorry, I can't say swear words,
but I, a couple of times.
You take a little bit of...
I actually I had a drama teacher in high school who told me
he saw a performance of Othello
somewhere in Texas in the 70s,
and someone in the audience stood up,
and shot Diego, shot him.
He survived, but in the hospital he said it
was the greatest compliment he had ever received.
So getting those reactions from the audience,
it shows you're doing your job well.
But just on a really personal intimate note,
it's so liberating, and wonderful to be on a stage,
but you really do long for that kind of shared,
emotional conflict that we all go through.
And my character was so detached from any sort of morality.
I don't think he, as a character,
we even found that connection at home with his family.
So that channel felt a little shut down,
and like I said, over time it just starts to feel...
It weighs on you.
- Yeah, I can see that, for sure.
- Hey, Benny.
You wanna ask this guy some questions?
- All right, what is this?
What's this arrangement?
- Mr. Drysdale.
- The CSI KFC?
(chuckling)
Yeah, original content.
It's not there very often.
That is one of the best things about "Knives Out."
It was something that I read that
felt fresh, and new, and I think...
It's this weird chicken in the egg thing, who started it?
Did audiences only start going at lowbrow stuff,
so that's what we started making,
or is it that we made it first,
and now that's all we've offered?
- Hey, speak for yourself.
- True.
You know what, you honestly, true.
It's fair.
- I think there's a lot of...
It's interesting 'cause a couple of people actually in the
past couple of days that have mentioned to me that a couple
of extremely esteemed directors have
been really vocal about how movies,
the whole Marvel Universe and I guess,
big blockbuster action movies are really,
using words like, "Despicable" and "The Death of Cinema."
And I actually, at first,
I thought, "Oh, that seems kind of old fashioned,"
and somebody had to explain it to me
because it seemed so disappointing,
and sad in a way, and then they said,
"No, I think what these people are saying
"is that at the actual theater,
"there's not a lot of room for different kinds of movies,
"or smaller movies, or independent movies because the
"theater is actually just taken up
"by these huge blockbuster movies,
"and there's actually no space for these movies."
And it made me think about how people consume content now,
and how there's been this huge sea change in how people,
what their viewing experience is,
and what we would've called the cinematic experience.
How that's definitely changed for people
as everyone's lifestyle has changed.
People are taking in all of this different
content in all these different new
platforms and it's just changing.
I think of all the stuff that's out there that has found a
home in whether it's through a streaming network service,
or maybe on a different kind of television
networks that are happening now.
There's all these different
ways and people to see stuff.
And so all this stuff is getting made that I
think would probably have never had a shot before.
- Sure.
Well, that's it.
And it really is a testament to what original content...
I think original content inspires
original content, you know what I mean?
I think new stuff is what keeps the creative wheel rolling.
TV is such a good example for that.
Right now, there's unbelievable new
stuff happening all over that landscape.
There's less risk.
They're not beholden to Box Office results,
and as a result, they have more freedom,
and they allow more creative minds
to be in charge of the creative process,
and ultimately, the final product.
I just believe there's room at the table
for all of it, you know what I mean?
It's like trying to say a certain type of music isn't music.
Well, why bother?
Who are you to say that?
It just feels like a strange...
Same team, same team, same team.
- What are you looking for now?
- Well, every couple of months, I decide I'm done acting.
This is just, you know me.
This has been my thing for decades now.
I always am looking for a way out,
but I don't know, I do love it.
I do love it.
Just original ideas, and that's why
I liked Ryan so much, 'cause it was,
not only I think is he very original filmmaker,
but it was his script, and it's why I did "Snowpiercer".
Any storyteller who has a very strong preference.
I like people with strong preferences
no matter what they are,
in any capacity even outside of this industry.
I think that that's something to offer, and to explore.
I think maybe in TV right now that those
creative minds are given a bit more freedom,
'cause again they're not beholden to the Box Office numbers,
and they don't have to do all these testings.
It feels like movies sometimes
get inundated with studio notes,
and all of a sudden, what was once an original idea becomes
boiled down to the lowest common denominator,
and then you have no one's favorite movie,
but everyone's lukewarm movie.
And I think that's why people may be turning away,
and looking to things like streaming service shows that
actually are innovative, and taking risks.
But I still think that's available in filming.
Look at "Marriage Story."
That's a really unique film, not like I have ever seen.
- Yeah, there's definitely a place for,
even when I had read the script for "Jojo Rabbit,"
I had never seen anything like it before.
- What was it like working with Taika?
- It was great.
I had a--
- I love Taika.
- [Scarlett] I love Taika too.
- I can't say enough about the guy.
- Yes, I love Taika Waititi.
He is incredibly--
- He is a unicorn.
- Infectious.
- [Chris] I cannot get enough of him.
- Infectious personality.
He's a wellspring of ideas,
and one-line liners,
and he's just a creative,
one of those genius,
once in a lifetime people that come around.
- We were in, go ahead, keep going.
- No, what?
You were in what?
- I was in Toronto during the festival,
and he crept in once while I was doing an interview,
and he came to say hello to me, and tripped,
and fell, and took down the whole set.
(laughing)
It was just, only Taika.
- Aw, he's so endearing.
Yeah, he was wonderful to work with,
and he wrote this script, I guess, 10 years ago,
and strangely enough, it feels
like "Jojo Rabbit's" even more...
It's actually kind of sad.
It seems more relevant now than it was 10 years ago.
I think if you see it,
you'll understand why that's a sad fact.
But that film found its way through Fox Searchlight,
which has the history of just
making really cool, interesting stuff.
They're not, they don't shy away from...
That studio doesn't shy away from stuff that's subversive,
and they're happy to give it a
theatrical release, and they believe in it.
And I think there is still,
there's room for independent film for sure.
I think people want...
They want diversity.
They want to see different kinds of things,
and they want to see different stories that represent them,
and different actors that represent them.
There's definitely room for original stuff.
It's hard to find good stuff, period.
It's always been that way.
- Sure, yeah.
- Which is why I actually I'm curious about...
You're kind of looking at it as a director,
if that's something that continues to interest you.
Do you look for material to produce for yourself?
Where is your head at with that stuff?
- Well, I'm trying to direct,
but I don't have the courage, or focus to write.
And the hardest thing is finding material.
The good material isn't just sitting there untouched.
It's tough to find.
When I directed, one of the tricky things was,
I found some little broken bird script, and I thought,
"Oh, I can nurse this thing back to health."
In retrospect, I do think even the
best version of the movie I directed,
there may still have been a ceiling based on the material.
And so you really do have...
If it's not on the page, I may have been,
I don't want to say naive,
hopeful that I assumed we could elevate it beyond
what the potential seemed to be on the page.
But if it's not there on the page,
it's probably not the right thing
to dive into, but that's just it.
It's hard to find those scripts,
those diamonds in the rough that are just ready to go,
that no one else has taken already.
- Are there stories that you want to
tell that you have in your mind?
- Yeah, I do, but they're never...
It's tough to find the right mechanism,
because you don't want to be heavy handed.
The stuff that I respond to is,
you know I'm a big fan of...
Not to derail this discussion,
but I really like Buddhism,
and I think in a way it doesn't
have to be such a specific label.
I think that can permeate in
a lot of different manifestations,
but I think those are stories that I think can touch people.
I think we're all looking to find out from an egoic
standpoint what our relevance is, who we're supposed to be,
what the definition of joy, and love is, and purpose.
And I do think loose concepts of
Buddhism address a lot of that,
and it's just hard to find a package that can somehow not
only represent that, but not in a heavy handed,
sanctimonious way, and still be analogous enough to the
society that we're all accustomed to.
It's a real difficult needle to thread,
and I certainly don't have the skill set to write it.
So I'm just on the hunt.
- So "Eat Pray Love 2" then.
- (laughing) That's it.
- In the beginning I was the actress, the star.
And that felt like something, you know?
People came to see me at first,
but the farther away I got from that
and the more clean the theater
company got I had less and less weight.
- Scarlett, you know what I'm curious about?
What was it like meeting me first time?
And what's it been like working with me?
Be nice, just be nice.
They're filming it, they're filming it.
- I'm trying to remember...
I don't know when I met you for the first time.
It must have been on the set of "The Perfect Score"
at some point in our rehearsal.
We made a very, kind of...
I guess at the time it felt in of the moment,
teen comedy that actually now is
somehow maybe relevant about SAT scandal,
called "The Perfect Score".
It's hard to remember because it was so long ago.
- 2002.
- Yeah, it feels like a long time ago.
I mean, we were just children back then.
- It's almost 20 years ago.
- [Scarlett] I was 17 years old, or 18.
- Yeah, I think we all went out one night,
and you couldn't get into the club.
- 'Cause I was 17?
- Yeah.
- Yeah, yep.
Those were the days.
But it's been...
Yeah it's so, I think why I...
You've always been such a great actor.
You were great then, and so incredibly photogenic,
and just come alive on screen in a way that's very uncommon.
And I found that you and I always,
even though I remember we had like
one scene in "The Perfect Score".
- In "The Perfect Score".
It's my favorite scene in the movie.
- Which is great scene.
- It's so sweet.
- And it was so nice to work with you, because I felt that
we had a great chemistry as actors,
and there was a naturalistic approach that I felt...
There was some likeness there between us.
And then we also got to work
together on "The Nanny Diaries",
which, again, was such a pleasure,
and also just very easy.
I feel it's always easy between us for whatever reason,
because I think we have some
similar approach maybe to performance,
and we are present with one another
maybe just for various reasons,
but also one of the factors being that we were friends,
and have known each other for such a long time.
We have a lot of empathy for one another as people.
It was such a pleasure for me to watch you in your play,
because I think it's interesting to have an experience of
sharing a scene with you, because we work face to face,
and we have this kind of intimacy.
And then sometimes I see you on a screen,
and you're up there and huge,
but when I saw you in the theater...
it's intimate, but you're also observing,
in this way that's very different.
And I could suddenly see you from
a totally different perspective.
And then I realized again, as I have for many years,
but it confirmed my thought that you are a damn fine actor.
And I think also just at the coming into
your own in a lot of ways as an actor,
and you have a confidence about you,
so that allows you to also be vulnerable,
and it's also okay, and you let us in,
in just the right kind of way.
I think that's just great.
- That's exactly...
When I was watching "Marriage Story,"
I was saying to someone I was watching it with it,
I was like, "Scarlett just lets you..."
I think it's always tough watching people
you know in film just 'cause you know them.
You know what I mean?
And I think every actor, no matter who you are,
you have to call from your own experiences.
So you're always going to say,
"Oh, there's a little bit of--"
- Right, you know their stuff.
- "The person I know."
When I was watching "Marriage Story,"
I was like, "Man, Scarlet has a way of just,
"that's not Scarlett.
"She found like..."
Even in the opening of that movie.
I was just in love with both of your characters.
I was so crestfallen, 'cause I knew it wasn't gonna work.
But, that opening stuff, you just have a way of doing things
where you shed who you are,
but still have that availability.
You let people in.
That's a really sweet thing because I think a lot of actors,
men and women have a way of...
Sometimes I think they're more, they get a little...
I think being internal and kind of removed, it's mysterious.
And it forces the audience to lean in.
But if the goal is to reveal,
the audience doesn't come to see you,
they come to see themselves, and at the end of the day,
you have to let them in and you're
so good at just letting people in.
And in those moments of true vulnerability,
that's where I think it's easiest
to fall back into ourselves,
and our own habits and patterns.
But even when you're doing things,
like I said, I was like, "Oh, that must be improvised."
But, if you're telling me it wasn't,
that's just a testament to what I've always known.
That you're one of the greats.
- This is working for me.
(laughing)
I like this interview.
- Having "Avengers" be the biggest movie of all time is--
- Is it the biggest movie of all time?
- Yeah.
- It is?
- Yep.
- Wow!
We really do need to go on vacation.
- I keep saying that.
We've been trying to organize this "Avengers" vacation.
We deserve it, we deserve it.
A little victory lap.
But it's not just wonderful because you
get to be a part of a pop culture phenomenon
the same way Star Wars impacted me,
but I think what really will stay with me is the fact that
the people we got to work with truly,
there's not a bad apple in the bunch.
- Yeah, we have a good group of people.
- We get along so well.
- We get along so well.
And it's really funny,
because I remember back in "Iron Man 2" days...
I think you had just finished filming the first Cap,
and it was so interesting that you and I,
again, were coming together.
We had no idea what we were making back,
it was just impossible to know what the phenomenon that the
Marvel Cinematic Universe or "The Avengers" would be.
And so we shared a lot of the same kind of,
I mean you had a huge burden to carry this massive,
much beloved iconic character that
you wear these huge shoes to fill,
and I'm sure that must have been a very daunting task
and also just a decision to make.
I think I remember you saying,
I think I saw you out one night,
and you were weighing the possibility and it was not a,
I think a lot of people would just assume,
"Oh, yeah. That would be," you jump at that chance,
but having been through it myself with
also a partner that I was with,
had also another big iconic
superhero thing that he was working on.
It's the pressure.
You don't know how it's going to go, right?
I mean it could be...
It seems ridiculous now because of how
successful the Marvel stuff is,
but it could be career ending.
It felt like that at the time, right?
If it went the wrong way.
- And even in success, even if the movies are successful,
if you hate the people you're working with,
if you don't like your character.
- [Scarlett] It's stuck.
- Having to come back to work can really sour the process
even though you have this nice end result of being like,
"Ah, biggest thing all time,"
but it was a horribly dark chapter.
Everything about making those movies, for me at least,
was just an embarrassment of riches.
- Yeah.
It's been just, I feel unbelievably lucky to have
been a part of something like that.
It will be one of my treasured memories of life,
just forging the kind of family, friendships that we had,
with everybody, and experiencing the success of something
like that with a group of people that you love,
and are rooting for is basically the
best possible way that that could turn out.
It's funny because even when we went on to do "Avengers,"
the first one, all of us were totally...
I think everybody was feeling very uneasy about the concept.
It seemed, it was just so absurd.
- It was a lot.
It was a big, big endeavor.
This is it.
This is the moment.
If this doesn't work, this pipe dream that we've been
hearing about could derail very quickly.
- Were you shocked at how well the first "Avengers" did?
- Blown away.
But after that, I knew there was a chance
that this could be something really big.
- Yeah.
- Yeah, yeah.
And honestly so thankful because
of how well it went off screen.
You know what I mean?
Those are the people you got to work with.
- Right.
- As good as a final product is,
I mean I could be wrong in this, but ask any actor.
I don't care how good the final movie is.
If making it wasn't what you wanted it to be,
you're not going to do it again.
- Would you come back?
- To Marvel?
- [Scarlett] Yeah.
- Well I'm an old man now but--
- Yeah right.
- But you know.
- [Scarlett] You're falling apart.
- Yeah.
Everything clicks when I get up.
Recovery is not the same.
- Yeah.
You're looking bad.
- [Chris] Smoke and mirrors.
- Falling apart.
- Smoke and mirrors, there's a pound of makeup on this.
(laughing)
- [Crew Member] (mumbles) asked a question.
- I didn't answer the question, did I?
- Would you come back?
- You never say never.
I love the character.
You know, I don't know.
- So not a hard no.
- It's not a hard no, but it's not an eager yes either.
- Right.
- There's other things I'm working on right now.
And the worry is you don't want to...
I think Cap had such a tricky arc to stick the landing,
and I think they did a really nice
job letting him complete his journey.
And if you're going to revisit it, it can't be a cash grab.
It can't be just because audiences would be excited.
There has to be, "What we revealing?
"What are we adding to the story?"
You don't want it to just be that one,
"Man, they had this great thing,"
and that little thing over there
that we'll just forget about.
So a lot of things would have to come together, but it's--
- It's not obvious.
- It doesn't feel at this time like that
would be the thing I would be looking to do, no.
- Yeah.
It also has such a...
I wasn't there for the last third of the film, or whatever.
I actually had no idea what was gonna happen.
I don't know, maybe that was an ending
that they kinda came to that conclusion in post,
I don't know how it worked exactly or it was scripted,
but the fact that the film ends on true love's kiss
was so touching, and so fulfilling.
- Yeah.
- It was such a beautiful cathartic ending,
and I loved that for Steve.
I think he deserved it.
It was all his happiness.
- He'd be ashamed to sour that, you know what I mean?
I'm very protective of it.
- Yeah.
- It was such a precious time,
and jumping onto the movie was a terrifying prospect to me.
I said "no" a bunch of times,
and there's a million, a million and one ways
it could have gone wrong, and it could have backfired,
and I could have regretted it, and it didn't happen.
And to keep on testing that is just,
it almost feels like maybe you should just let this one sit.
The good thing about Marvel is you never...
I feel that way about Pixar too.
They never go for the cash grab.
They care.
They care.
It's never gonna be something they just throw together
just because they know they're gonna make a mint.
So in that regard, who knows, who knows.
(upbeat music)