For the 15th anniversary of Captain America: The First Avenger, casting director Sarah Halley Finn, who has cast every Marvel Cinematic Universe film since 2008’s Iron Man, detailed in a Marvel YouTube video how she chose Chris Evans as Steve Rogers. Finn said she and her team cast a wide net but limited searches to American actors because the character is literally called Captain America. The screenplay and comics described Rogers as square jawed, athletic, noble, reliable, brave, and morally centered, qualities Finn found hard to locate in early screen tests. Although Evans had previously played Johnny Storm in the Fantastic Four and was considered off-limits, uninspiring tests from other actors led Finn to ask, “Why can’t we consider Chris Evans?” The team recognized traits in Evans that aligned with the role and decided to break their own rule. Finn added that Evans’s hesitance about the responsibility and increased celebrity the part would bring proved that he would bring the humility the role required. Marvel released Finn’s recollections as part of the film’s anniversary lookback.
