Steve Rogers (Chris Evans) before and after the procedure which transformed him to Captain America | Courtesy of Marvel
Someone was actually hired at first to be Evans' double. The plan was to superimpose Evans' face onto the double's. However, the technique did not work since the actor hired could not mimic Evan's body movements.
“Chris moves in such a unique way; he doesn’t move like anybody else. The body double could not move like him. As hard as he tried to watch Chris and duplicate the movements, it just wasn’t the same,” Joe Johnston told Reuters.
So how did hunk actor Chris Evans become skinny in the movie?
The film creators reportedly used a "shrinking" technique and the power of computers to delete portions of Evans' strong physique on screen.
"We filmed over 250 shots of Chris and used digital technology to 'shrink' him down to what we called 'Skinny Steve,'"Johnston said.
Evans was also amazed in the technique.
"It's pretty amazing. They took shape out of my jaw line, they shrunk my skeleton and they made my shoulders less broad," he said.
While it may sound easy, it wasn't.
The Reuters report added that "each time Evans' body went through the digital nips and tucks, it created empty space in the background which needed to be filled in. Multiple shots had to be filmed with green screens just to superimpose the scenery that would normally have been there had bulky Evans really been little, scrappy Steve Rogers."
"It was a very arduous process," said Johnston. "It took all of pre-production and most of production to do all 250 shots."
"Captain America: The First Avenger" premiered in several theaters in the country, yesterday. Check out its trailer HERE.