Posted in: Movies, News | Tagged: bong joon ho, chris evans, snowpiercer

Chris Evans "Didn't Quite Get" Snowpiercer When He First Read It

Chris Evans admits that when he first read the script for Snowpiercer, he didn't quite get the world he was stepping into.

Published Sat, 23 Sep 2023 18:18:07 -0500

by Kaitlyn Booth

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In 2013, director Bong Joon Ho released Snowpiercer, and not nearly enough people went to see it. Part of the reason for that could be blamed on Harvey Weinstein, and anytime something can be blamed on him, it should be because he is terrible [not allegedly]. Weinstein wanted a different cut of the movie for the US distribution, which eventually ended up testing worse than the original version, and a petition to get the director's cut of the film was made. Eventually, SNowpiercer changed distributors, and the limited release was eventually increased to 150 theaters. The film made $86 million on a budget of $40 million and became a big enough cult classic that a television show that had its own tough time making it to the small screen was greenlit and aired three seasons and shot four [however, the show is looking for a new home]. The film is really something, but one person who wasn't entirely on board initially was star Chris Evans, and during an interview with GQ (via IndieWire), he explained that he couldn't quite wrap his head around the script when he first read it.

"When I first read the script, I didn't quite get it," Evans said. "I was like, 'So…what?' Whenever it's a movie that's world-building, you're creating a completely separate environment. There's just kind of a conceit that you have to say, 'OK, so everyone just accepts this; this is just how it is? No one is kind of outraged that this is the structure? That's just the norm, OK.'… You kind of have to decide what part of your brain do you spend time wrapping your head around. Do you go the intimate road and just kind of make it about the character? Do you try and make it about what it took for that society to level into that place? It's a challenge, but you get to watch Tilda Swinton in the movie, and you get to watch her approach to this larger-than-life character."

Chris Evans Didn't Quite Get Snowpiercer When He First Read It — Snowpiercer Poster © 2013 – RADiUS/TWC

However, Evans eventually realized that Bong had a real vision for what Snowpiercer would be, and he decided to trust that and the director's stellar reputation. Sometimes, you need to just go with it even if you're not entirely on the same wavelength.

"Director Bong is such a visionary. When you're working with someone that knows exactly what they want, even if it's not exactly the way you saw it, it breeds trust," he said. "And as an actor, that's the most important thing, to trust the director. Otherwise, you're playing defense. Otherwise, you're like, 'Alright, this first take, well, I'll just do this, just so I can at least protect that. Then I'll try this, but I don't want to try that because I don't know if they know how to use that take. Any take I give them can be used against me.' And when you have a director who is so convinced of what their vision is, that's when you say, 'Great. You say jump, I'll say, "How high?" '

It worked out in the end since Snowpiercer slaps and is one of the best movies Evans has been in, full stop [don't @ me]. Bong has gone on to win an Academy Award for Parasite and called out a bunch of people for not being willing to read subtitles on national television with a smile on his face. We love that for him.

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