John Krasinski Blames Chris Hemsworth’s Bod of Thunder for His Failed Captain America Audition
The Marvel Cinematic Universe, now in its eighth year, has been known to kickstart a lot of otherwise unknown actors’ careers, as well as give others a well-deserved reboot. While Robert Downey Jr. definitely had the biggest name at the start, it wasn’t easy for Jon Favreau to convince the Marvel execs that he was right for Tony Stark, but we’re all so glad he did. Chris Evans’ only other blockbuster credit was as the Human Torch in Fox’s Fantastic Four (2005) and its ill-fated sequel Fantastic Four: Rise of the Silver Surfer (2007), but his chiseled jawline soon landed him the title role in 2011’s Captain America: The First Avenger.
But somewhere out there is an alternate universe where Evans didn’t get the role, and it instead went to John Krasinski, at that time best known as Jim on The Office. Krasinski has talked about being on the shortlist to play Captain America before, but it wasn’t until he appeared on Conan recently that the truth about why he wasn’t chosen for the role was revealed. O’Brien prompted him to talk about his screen test, which Krasinski apparently got to do in the suit. He didn’t go into exactly what the screen test consisted of, but he described putting on the Cap suit and being halfway into it before Chris Hemsworth walked by, dressed as the God of Thunder:
I wasn’t 13 Hours yet, but I felt pretty good. And all of a sudden Chris Hemsworth walked by as Thor and went, ‘Hey, mate,’ and I went, ‘I’m good. This is stupid. It’s okay, I’m not Captain America, it’s fine.’
For those of you hoping to see Krasinski appear in the MCU, all hope is not lost. He was also rumored to have been courted by Marvel to play Star-Lord before they found Chris Pratt, and he has said before that he’d even be open to playing a villain. Maybe even one who goes up against the Sentinel of Liberty himself.