Friends to Family (Marvel Cast x Cast Member OC)

- Interview with Chris Evans and Katja Owens

"Now this is the role of a lifetime for you. It's like the biggest role ever. It's insane," Kevin said as he sat in front of Chris and Katja. "And I was reading that you were actually a little nervous about doing this to begin with. First of all, why were you nervous and then what actually got you over the hurdle and said 'I'm gonna do this. I'm gonna take action and do this'?"

"Sure. Uh, the nerves came in the form of, um- You know, the way my career has gone so far, most careers, movies are one at a time. And sometimes I struggle with, uh, loss of anonymity. I like my privacy and if ever a movie that I did hit big and I felt a little too much attention, you have the freedom to step back. You can say 'Well, I just want to take a break and maybe let this die down a little bit.' A six picture commitment, you can't do that. You know, it's just kind of like 'Well if all of the sudden I can't handle what this movie brings, too bad.' And six movies, that could last ten years. That's a big decision to make for a huge chunk of time. It just didn't seem like that was what I was going to do. And I kind of kept saying no because I was scared. I was running from it. Um... And it just kind of started feeling like... I got a great group of friends and family and every person in my camp was saying 'Do this movie. Do this movie.' And- And they were saying, 'Chris, if you're scared of something, that's exactly what you should do. You know, the decisions you don't do are the things you regret more than the- You know, if this is what scared you the most, then dive in. For better or for worse. And this will be your obstacle. This will carve out your character.'"

"What about you, Katja? Any nerves or apprehensions going into this project?"

"Um, yeah. I mean, this was the first professional project that I've ever done, so I was definitely a little nervous about what it would entail."

"Can you talk a little bit about how you got into the audition for Annabelle and what that was like?"

"Yeah," she glanced at Chris who gave her a nod. "The foster family I was with at the time, um, the mom worked with one of the casting directors for the movie. She knew I was interested in movies and surprised me for my birthday and took me to the auditions."

"Wow. That's a really cool foster mom. Are you still with her."

"No. With the filming, I had to change, but they were a great family."

"I think we need to clear something up for the world here. Um, for any of the scenes that you shot with your shirt off or your muscles showing, they had me step in."

"That's right. That's right. That was the first thing they set up. I was like, 'Who's this guy? I guess if he's the right guy for the job.'" Katja smiled, letting out a few laughs.

"Did I do okay? Were the muscles okay?"

"You nailed it, man."

"Just wanted to make sure we're good on that," Kevin said before they all laughed. "Anyway, I had to say, some of my favorite shots were these earlier scenes. If you don't mind, not too technical, how the heck did you shoot those scenes where you look that skinny?"

"It's amazing. I mean, initially they talked about doing head replacement, putting my head on a skinny actor's body. Joe and I both agreed that the performance wasn't something I wanted to share. I think the early stuff is important, trying to identify with the character and if I can't be in control of that performance, it doesn't feel like mine. Um... So they literally just shrunk me down and it's a pretty tedious process. I mean if I was filming you and I shrunk you down, as you shrink, background appears behind your body so we had to do multiple takes with greenscreen backdrops. And it was just long days. Katja can tell you that." She nodded.

"Was there a skinny guy whoever stepped in and shot some of the scenes with the shirt off?"

"Yeah. Sure, sure. There were certain scenes where, just to get reference for the special effects team. I mean, if you just shrunk my body to scale, it would be smaller, but kind of muscly body, you know what I mean? Clothes sit differently on a truly skinny person. Uh, so we would do the takes however many times, five, six times, and then we had the skinny actor named Leander, great guy, come in and do one take just for reference. And anytime there was no movement, if I was sitting static, if I was lying on a board, uh, they would do head replacement. It was a lot- I think it was a bit cheaper. I think it was a bit easier. Uh, and if there was no body acting required, I had no problem with them putting my head on his body."

"Last question now, your character deals with bullying in the beginning. It makes us want to cheer for you. It makes us want to root for your character. When you were like in high school or middle school, did either of you ever deal with bullying yourselves? Was that something that was a part of your life?"

"No. No, I was lucky enough that I had a good group of friends. We never really got bullied. I'd see bullying. I- I was very anti bullying."

"Would you ever step in and help kids out?"

"I remember when we first moved to the town- We moved towns when I was ten years old and I remember being on a bus and stepping in and stopping something I saw happening to a kid that was in my neighborhood."

"You didn't hit him with a shield though?" he teased. "You didn't throw a shield at his face?"

"No, no, no. Luckily it didn't come to fists to cuffs. Yeah, it just always rubbed me the wrong way whenever I saw that happen."

"What about you, Katja."

"I'm still in middle school, I finished eighth grade this year during filming using an online program. Um, so I haven't made it to high school yet. I mean, I've been picked on a little bit, but who hasn't? I typically stayed to myself when I was in public school, so I didn't see a lot of it."

"Did you ever step in and help someone else out?"

"Um, no," she shook her head. "I didn't really see anything where I was, so I never had to."

"Cool. Listen, congratulations to the both of you. You both did phenomenal in this movie," he leant over, shaking their hands as the cameras stopped rolling and they prepared for the next interview with Hayley.

"How you feeling? You doing okay?" Chris asked as they stood to the side, drinking some water and getting a quick snack.

"Yeah," she nodded. "It was a little easier and less intimidating than last time."

"Well there were only a few people in the room compared to the packed comic con hall."

"True," she laughed.

"How do you feel about telling everyone about being a foster kid?"

"It was already out," she shrugged. "The media did all those articles on it, remember?"

"Yeah, but this is the first time you've spoken about it to the media."

She sighed. "I shouldn't be ashamed of it. This way, everyone knows the truth and it came from me. They have enough to sate them, but not too much to ruin my privacy."

"That's my girl," he smiled.

It's official! Annabelle is getting her own book! Stay tuned! And I'd love name ideas if you guys have any! Thanks for reading! Stay safe!