Chris Evans reveals panic attacks almost made him quit acting

Chris Evans is the latest guest to appear on The Hollywood Reporter podcast Awards Chatter and revealed that panic attacks almost made him look for another career. Opening up about his new role in the critically-acclaimed drama Defending Jacob, and reminiscing about how he got his start in acting, Evans also touched on the years he spent suffering from anxiety and why it almost made him walk away from what would become one of the biggest franchises in movie history.Speaking with podcast host Scott Feinberg from his home, Evans talked about acting in high school theatre, which led him to an internship at a casting agency in New York and eventually a pilot for the short-lived Opposite Sex series on Fox, which he appeared in soon after leaving school. Movie roles began coming in, but as his career began taking off and his hobby of acting became his job, Evans said that “weird egoic strings became attached" and his mental health began to deteriorate. “All of a sudden it begins to feel a bit heavier,” said Evans, noting that the rise in the popularity of the internet and seeing comments on his work compounded his anxiety. “It manifested as anxiety and a little stress and I’ve gotten a lot better with it, but at the time it was hard to separate it. It’s hard to know if the path you’re taking is the wrong one, because the way I’m feeling isn’t healthy,” said Evans, adding that he had to figure out whether acting was the cause of his anxiety or if he would have dealt with these feelings regardless of his career choice.

Thanks for having me on your podcast! I really enjoyed it!! https://t.co/D3pSg3kbfJ

— Chris Evans (@ChrisEvans) May 25, 2020

Evans said he began experiencing anxiety around 2007 when he reprised his 2005 role as Johnny Storm aka the Human Torch in Fantastic Four: Rise of the Silver Surfer. After enjoying some success with the franchise, Evans said he was eager to do more dramatic roles but was passed over for awards fare like Gone Baby Gone, Milk, Elizabethtown and Fracture. "Nobody sees my good movies!" laughed Evans.[video_embed id='1874622']RELATED: Man ordered the Chris Evans 'Knives Out' sweater but got something very different[/video_embed]By 2010, Evans was filming the indie Puncture and says that his anxiety began impacting his work. "It was the first time I started having mini panic attacks on set," the 38-year-old said. "I really started to think, 'I'm not sure if this [acting] is the right thing for me, I'm not sure if I'm feeling as healthy as I should be feeling.'"Soon after, Marvel approached Evans to play Captain America’s Steve Rogers, but the deal included a nine-film commitment and Evans turned down the opportunity to screen test for the role. The studio reduced the number of films to six and upped the payday, but Evans still said no. "My suffering would be my own," he said, noting that his agents were not happy with his decision.Eventually, the studio offered him the role without the condition of an audition, an opportunity that rarely comes along in Hollywood. Evans shared an agent with Iron Man Robert Downey Jr. and spoke to the screen legend about the role, with Tony Stark advising Evans to say yes. "It was the best decision I've ever made, and I really owe that to [Marvel chief] Kevin Feige for being persistent and helping me avoid making a giant mistake," said Evans. "To be honest, all the things that I was fearing never really came to fruition."Once filming began, Evans found comfort in his fellow Chris, Mr. Hemsworth. "It was nice having Chris Hemsworth around because he was going through it, too. I mean, at the time Downey's Downey and Scarlett's Scarlett [Johansson]. And [Mark] Ruffalo and [Jeremy] Renner, at the time, were crushing it, too," Evans said. "Hemsworth and I were very new and we also had the stand-alones and so I think we shared in our anxiety, and at least that made it a little bit more comforting."Luckily, having a fellow newbie to the MCU to figure things out with and more diverse acting roles kept Evans in the game.[video_embed id='1964847']BEFORE YOU GO: Khloe’s new look gets everyone’s attention[/video_embed]