Here are some fragments of an interview with The Loss Of A Teardrop Diamond director Jodie Markell and leading actress Bryce Dallas Howard talking about Chris Evans.
"Bryce Dallas Howard was my first choice," Markell admits. "She studied theater; she's paid her dues. She was in plays Off-Broadway." Chris Evans has a similar history. "His parents had an amateur theater outside of Boston and so I think he really wanted to get back to his roots."
Chris Evans' character is pretty dashing, but as far from a superhero as you can get. Jimmy's family was wealthy at a time, but eventually crumbled leaving his father with a drinking problem, his mother in a mental institution and him working at the store on Fisher's father's plantation. Fisher gets what Fisher wants, so when she insists Jimmy accompany her to a series of parties, he cannot refuse. "It's hard to find a contemporary actor who can smolder and who can be enigmatic which was my requirement for this role and a lot of Tennessee Williams' men," Markell explained. "They need to often be blank slates to be projected upon by these wild creative women and it was hard to find that right person who could do that and I think he really does it."
Speaking of Williams' men, Howard likens Evans to the star of Cat on a Hot Tin Roof. "I remember one day on set I looked to the monitor and (the camera) was on him and I was like, 'Oh my gosh. He looks like Paul Newman.' He has this presence that harkens back to these old-fashioned leading men and his masculinity and just his earthiness. It really does remind me of Paul Newman actually in many ways."
