15 Superstars Who've Played Superheroes (PHOTOS)

Who better to play wholesome Captain America than clean-cut, all-American Chris Evans? But before he wore the red, white, and blue and did America proud in 2011’s Captain America: The First Avenger and 2012’s The Avengers, Chris sparked (literally) as Johnny Storm, a guy who can spontaneously burst into flame, in Fantastic Four and Rise of the Silver Surfer.

For Captain America, Chris had to play 90-pound recruit Steve Rogers and super-buff war hero Captain America. But unlike the Captain, he couldn’t just rely on a hyperbaric chamber and a few experimental injections; Chris worked out hard. He dished to PopSugar, “We did two hours a day, and it was brutal. [...] I'd walk out and I'd be like, ‘I need to vomit. I hate this trainer. I hate this movie. I want to go to sleep for a week.’ It was just relentless.”

Despite looking the part of the super soldier, Chris identifies more with scrawny Steve: “I grew up doing theater! I grew up, half my life, in tights and tap shoes. You gotta see pictures of me from birth to 18. I mean, it’s a sight. It was a bumpy road for me growing up, and I was a very skinny guy. I went to acting camp, you know? That’ll give you an idea of where I’m coming from.”