just Arts recently had an opportunity to sit down with actor Chris Evans (Not Another Teen Movie), when he returned home to Boston to discuss his new movie, The Perfect Score. The humble actor divulged his view of show business, information about his upcoming projects and expressed his desire to be taken seriously as an actor.
*Editor's note- Some of the questions were posed by the Boston College Heights reporter Margaret Beste.*
Just Arts: In the movie, your character has Ivy League aspirations and dreams of being an architect. Did you have a similar determination to become an actor?

Chris Evans: I knew I wanted to be an actor around my junior year, when I was 16. Once I had that in my head, I went full throttle and I did everything I possibly could to make it happen. So I guess in that sense there was relative ambition. As far as school goes, I never really planned on going to college or doing the academic route.


J.A.: What was your SAT experience like in high school?

C.E: I took them, but again, I knew by then that college wasn't in the cards so I was just taking them. I was curious to see how I would do. I didn't really do the classes or study or anything like that. I just kind of took them.


B.C.: What do you think of working in [the teen] genre?

C.E.: I think it's ok. I think there is room for it. At this point I'm probably not going to do anymore of them. I think at the age I'm at, there are a lot of young male actors out there. We're not all going to be around in ten years. Some of us are going to have to fall off. I think if I want to try and have longevity in the business, I have to start doing a little bit more older roles. So this might be the last of the teen films.


B.C.: You just did the movie Cellular. How would you compare that to [The Perfect Score and Not Another Teen Movie]?

C.E.: The good thing about Cellular is that I get to play a 22 or 23-year-old guy, which is so nice. And it's an all-adult cast so there are no young people in it. Hopefully, that will be the first step towards me being looked at as a young man, as opposed to an adolescent. It's great they are all phenomenal actors in that. It's Kim Basinger and William H. Macy, and they are so good. Not to take anything away from anyone in [The Perfect Score], but working with adults who have done this for years and years, you really learn a lot.


B.C.: Do you have a lot of down time? What about during filming?

C.E: During filming you are working your ass off. For three months straight you work like a dog. Eighteen-hour days, you work non-stop - six day weeks sometimes. Then, as soon as you are done filming, it all stops. You go back to auditioning. Auditioning is once a week, maybe twice a week tops. When the movie starts coming out - for example, now in the past month - I've been relatively busy doing press for this, but that's kind of fun.


J.A.: What do you usually do during your downtime?

C.E.: I'm just trying to learn the guitar. My fingers are killing me, but I'm getting there. I play a lot of basketball. I play with my dog; I love my dog.


J.A.: What do you think you've learned, and how do you feel you've grown as an actor from film to film?

C.E.: That's a good question. You learn something new all the time. Your performance is never the way you thought it would be. Every time you do something - whether T.V. commercials, anything - the way you do it and then when you see it, its like, "that's not what I wanted to do." You learn that you are not the only cook in the kitchen. You are doing your craft, and your craft goes through the director's hands. Then that director is going to capture your performance and portray it a certain way. You realize that you need to have good communication on a set because there are a lot of artists doing their thing. If we are all in synch and we all know what we are doing and what we are all looking for, we can come out with a great film. Sometimes your acting doesn't really match what the director is looking for, and it can just have an offbeat feel to it. I think what I've learned is that I try to just make sure there is a good sense of communication with everyone working on the film.


J.A.: You've worked with relatively unknown teen actors and acting veterans. Which do you prefer, if any?

C.E.: It doesn't really matter if the attitude is in the right place. For example Kim Basinger and William H. Macy are the most humble people in the world. You wouldn't even know that they are award-winning actors and actresses. And then there are people that are nobody that think they are DeNiro, and I just want to kill them. It doesn't really matter what level of experience you had, it just matters what attitude you bring to work and where your level of modesty is.


J.A.: Are there any actors that you would be looking to act with in the future?

C.E: There are always actors I would like to work with. More so than actors, I am looking for directors. I think if you have the right director, that's everything. The director is the storyteller. If you have the right director you can really make some good work. I would love to work with P.T. Anderson, Wes Anderson, Spike Lee ... I think those are the three top ones.


J.A.: After doing relatively big budget films, what made you decide to do an independent film?

C.E.: The script. The Orphan King had such a good script. The writer and the director was the same person. I love writer/director combinations because if they wrote it, and I love the script, then they have the vision. I just love the script - it's a really edgy, great role that I usually don't get to play. Like I was saying, they usually stick me in a letterman jacket. It gave me a chance to be a really reserved, troubled kid. I do play really young in the movie, 17-years-old, which kind of sucks, but it's a great script and it gave me a lot of opportunity to flex some acting muscles I don't get to normally flex. And there were great people in it. Alexa Bedel was in it, from the Gilmore Girls. Bill Pulman was in it, he's great. It's such a different experience. There are no trailers, there are no streets filled with sets and lights. It's a stripped-down crew with 10people, and everyone is working really hard and really fast. You really feel like you are making a film, you really feel like you are a part of this process.

J.A.: Do you have any other projects in the works?

C.E.: Orphan King and Cellular. That's pretty much it.


J.A.: Have you been looking at any scripts?

C.E.: Yeah, I've been looking at a lot of scripts. But again, I'm trying to make the right choice, because if I do the wrong movie right now and Cellular comes out - and Cellular does well - I don't want the next movie to be something crappy. It would be nice to slowly climb the ladder of quality. I want to be looked at as a respectable actor, so I'm really trying to be picky and make the right choice.