Long before Chris Evans picked up the shield, “Ginny & Georgia” star Scott Porter came surprisingly close to becoming “Captain America“.
During a recent appearance on Watch What Happens Live!, the Friday Night Lights alum shared that he was among the final four actors considered for 2011’s “Captain America: The First Avenger”.
Scott Porter Made It to the Final Four for Captain America
“Who else can be Captain America than Chris Evans? I was not mad at all, and I watched all the Avengers movies. I’m a huge nerd, and the man just crushed it.”
Despite that gracious outlook now, Porter admitted the rejection wasn’t easy to swallow at the time.
“That was, like, a big, I’m bent over, sobbing, heaving. Yeah, it was bad,” he recalled. “Because all these press outlets had put my head on Captain America’s body, and I started to buy in. I was like, ‘I can do this. Oh, no, no. Yeah, I can’t.’”
Who Else Was Up for the Role?
Porter also revealed some of the other actors in the mix. Among them were “Cloverfield’ and “Under the Dome” actor Mike Vogel and “Daredevil: Born Again” actor Wilson Bethel.
Bethel has previously spoken about how close he came to suiting up, having even tested for the role twice and met with director Joe Johnston.
“It was both, probably the single most exciting time of my life and also the single most devastating when it didn’t happen,” Bethel said while talking to fans at the Fan Expo event in San Francisco, 2024.
“To be perfectly honest, that was one of the hardest moments in my professional career. And it spun me out for a while. Obviously, Chris did an incredible job in that role. And my life, while it hasn’t brought me to lead the Avengers, has been really rich and rewarding in other ways.”
Other Big Names in Contention
Alongside Porter, Vogel, and Bethel, several now-familiar faces were once up for the part.
Jensen Ackles, Kellan Lutz, Wyatt Russell, and John Krasinski were all reportedly in the running at some point.
They didn’t get to play Steve Rogers, but some still made it into the Marvel Universe. Wyatt Russell later starred as John Walker in The Falcon and the Winter Soldier. John Krasinski appeared as a Reed Richards variant in Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness.
Comments
‘Ginny & Georgia’ Star Says He Was Almost Cast as Captain America