Chris Evans Had A Blast Filming Scott Pilgrim vs. The World
Chris Evans plays Lucas Lee in Scott Pilgrim vs. The World and had such a great time filming the movie that he didn't want to leave the set. Edgar Wright's Scott Pilgrim was a box office disappointment upon release, but it was an immediate critical hit and has only risen in estimation since then.
The movie features a ridiculous but powerful legion of Ramona Flowers' (Mary Elizabeth Winstead) former flames whom Scott Pilgrim (Michael Cera) must defeat to win Ramona's hand. The second evil ex is Lucas Lee, the stereotypical Hollywood "bro" who uses his army of stunt doubles to fight Scott. Scott wins when he taunts Lucas Lee into doing a skateboard grind to his destruction.
Chris Evans only has about 7-8 minutes of screen time, but he makes the most of it. In an interview with GQ, Evans talked about his time with Scott Pilgrim and how heartbroken he was leaving the set. When Edgar Wright cast Evans, he gave a backhanded compliment, "The pitch for Scott Pilgrim was so strange. But [Edgar Wright] kind of said, 'Lucas Lee is this movie star, but he really doesn’t have much range, and he thinks he’s great but he’s actually terrible, and I think you’d be perfect.' I said, '…OK.'"
At that point in his career, Chris Evans had not yet become Captain America, but he had been Johnny Storm in the Fantastic Four movies, so he fit the mold of the Hollywood action star Wright was looking for. Evans fell in love with the film and production. He says, "Mary’s [Elizabeth Winstead] in the corner working with swords and [Michael Cera] and Jason [Schwartzman] are over there doing this big action sequence. So you’re just happy to be a part of it. That’s probably the most fun I’ve had on a movie. Early in my career, 20s, but a big cast of people in the same place."
The cast of Scott Pilgrim Vs. The World is full of famous actors, from Michael Cera to Brie Larson. How do they look compared to the comic characters?
Evans is perfect as Lucas Lee and fits right into the tone and style of Scott Pilgrim. Somehow, he manages to keep both his eyebrows perpetually arched into a Grinch-like point that never falters. He captures the smarmy villainy of the character and everything out of his mouth is funny. Lucas's own words about a text message wonderfully describe his scene, "Ahahaha. Ah, that's actually hilarious."
Evans & The Scott Pilgrim Cast Kept An Email Chain
Evans and the rest of the cast and crew kept in touch with each other during and after Scott Pilgrim over an email chain. Bryan Lee O'Malley revealed to EW that the email chain had actually gone quiet for a few years until, out of nowhere, Michael Cera pinged it, "Then, before this anime was even on the docket, Michael Cera responded to a meme someone had sent as if no time had passed. He just said, 'Oh, that's funny.' Chris Evans responded like, 'Michael, what the f--- are you doing responding to this email from nine years ago?' And then we all started chatting again."
The anime O'Malley refers to is Scott Pilgrim Takes Off, an animated series made for Netflix that was released in November 2023. Surprisingly, and perhaps as a result of the cast getting back in touch over that email chain, every actor from the film returned to voice their character in the series. That rarely happens in TV adaptations of movies, much less ones that come out 13 years after the film.
The series has a 96% on Rotten Tomatoes and succeeds as an adaptation of the movie and the comic, and it stands on its own. While there has not been any news about Scott Pilgrim Season 2, it's clear there's still a lot of love for Scott Pilgrim Vs. The World from both fans and the cast - especially Chris Evans.
Based on Lee O'Malley's Scott Pilgrim series of graphic novels, Scott Pilgrim vs. The World follows the titular slacker musician (Michael Cera) as he strives to earn a record deal by winning the Battle of the Bands organized by music mogul Gideon Graves (Jason Schwartzman). After meeting and falling in love with Ramona Flowers (Mary Elizabeth Winstead), Scott learns that he must also defeat her seven evil exes. Chris Evans, Aubrey Plaza, Brandon Routh, Kieran Culkin, Anna Kendrick, and Brie Larson round out the film's star-studded and quirky ensemble.
