'The Falcon and the Winter Soldier' star Wyatt Russell says his first-ever audition was for the role of Captain America
- "The Falcon and the Winter Soldier" star Wyatt Russell said that he auditioned for Captain America.
- Russell said it was his first-ever audition and he wasn't "in competition for the role."
- The part went to Chris Evans and Russell now plays "new Captain America" John Walker on "TFATWS."
Wyatt Russell currently stars as "the new Captain America" in Marvel's latest series "The Falcon and the Winter Soldier," but he actually auditioned for Chris Evans' role more than a decade ago.
"It's a fun story," Russell said of auditioning for Captain America/Steve Rogers during an interview on ABC's "Good Morning America" on Friday.
The 34-year-old actor, who's the son of Kurt Russell and Goldie Hawn, said it was his first-ever audition. Prior to that, he had an uncredited role in his father's 1996 movie "Escape from L.A." He also played a younger version of his real-life dad's character in the 1998 movie "Soldier."
"I think honestly that the first audition was really more just something to read to see if I was any good at acting or not," Russell said. "I don't think I was ever actually in competition for the role."
Instead, the part of the iconic superhero from went to Evans. The actor said in 2019 he turned down the role twice, but accepted after speaking with a few people, including future costar Robert Downey Jr.
Evans made his debut as the comic-book character in 2011's "Captain America: The First Avenger" and reprised the role for two standalone sequels.
Evans also starred as Captain America in several other Marvel films, including "Avengers: Infinity War" and "Avengers: Endgame."
Evans' character passed on the shield to Sam Wilson/Falcon (Anthony Mackie) in "Endgame" and appeared to have concluded his run in the Marvel Cinematic Universe. But in January 2021, Deadline reported that he will return as Cap in some capacity. Evans and Marvel Studios' president Kevin Feige both denied the report.
For now, the MCU has a new Cap in the form of Russell's "TFATWS" character John Walker.
During his virtual appearance on GMA, Russell said he didn't know who he was auditioning for when he read for "TFATWS."
"This time I had no idea even what it was," the actor said. "It was just, 'Marvel wants you to read for something, go for it,' and I found out after I got the part what it was."
John was introduced at the very end of the series premiere, which was released on Disney Plus on March 19. The second episode (released on Friday) revealed more about the character and set the stage for tension between him and the show's titular characters.
Russell described the contrast between his character and Evans' part during an interview with Entertainment Weekly, saying: "They're both soldiers from different eras, and the era of John is very different than the era of Steve."
"TFATWS" head writer Malcolm Spellman told Entertainment Tonight that on the show, John is "very different" from his comic-book counterpart. Spellman also said that they made the character "more heroic and righteous" in order to fit into the show's narrative.
"He's going to have a big impact on the MCU," he said.