Joe Johnston Talks Chris Evans And How He Got The Captain America Role Joe Johnston the director of The First Avenger: Captain America Film talked to Earths Mightiest about the upcoming film and how Chris Evans nabbed the role of Steve Rodger (Captain America.) So what was it exactly they were looking for? Johnston explains. Casting Captain America is really casting two roles...Steve Rogers before and after the transformation from 98 pound weakling to perfect physical specimen. I can't divulge how we're going to do it, but the performance will be Chris Evans from beginning to end. An actor playing Captain America has to embody that back story and let it inform his understanding of his new self. One of the interesting aspects of the character is the effect that kind of total transformation would have on the his psyche. It gives the character more dimension and the actor playing him a wider range of interesting choices. Johnston goes on and explains why he chose Chris Evans ...