But the similarities between Fantastic Four and its sequel, Fantastic Four: Rise of the Silver Surfer and Push pretty much end there. Both FF films had bigger budgets than Push, and that was just one of the many differences between the productions. "You have the luxury of time, you have the luxury of money, so as a result you spend a lot of time waiting around. But on this, if anything, we were under the gun. We did not have the luxury of time or money, so you're working a lot more," said Evans at the Los Angeles press junket for Summit Entertainment's Push.
Another difference was the fact Push director Paul McGuigan opted to go with practical effects as much as possible, limiting the need for actors to perform in front of green screens. "With Fantastic Four, you're surrounded by green screen, you're hanging on a wire, and you're talking to a tennis ball. In this, if there's a stunt, they're going to do a stunt. And it's going to happen right in front of you, and you're going to be a part of it and it's a tangible world to play off."
Evans and the rest of the Push cast did a lot of their own stunts, and Evans says that was actually part of the overall appeal of doing the action movie. "Paul really wanted to get us whenever we could, whenever it was safe enough to get the actors in there and actually do the stunt work," revealed Evans. "Dakota [Fanning] and I got to run through a fish market with these tanks exploding all around us. You really only get one take at that. It takes 24 hours to re-rig, so you really have to not screw it up."
That fish tank scene ranks as Evans' most memorable scene from the whole production. "We shot one day at a real fish market and we were there at what, five in the morning? And the activity that's going on, I didn't even know that there were this many types of fish in the sea. And the smell was [very stinky]. It was just a different world. It really was a different world," said Evans, adding, "All those scenes in the fish market - that's not extras. Those are real people earning a living and we're just walking through."
Director McGuigan wasn't able to close down streets in Hong Kong to get the scenes he needed so he shot on the fly, working around the locals. "It's very chaotic, it's very busy, a lot of hustle and bustle, so a lot of those streets, you can't get lock ups on, so you just kind of hide the camera behind a bus and Dakota and I are just walking through the streets and they couldn't care less," explained Evans. "They're bumping into you, they're bumping into the camera and [you] just get out of their way."
The cast and crew of Push spent a lot of time working in Hong Kong and Evans admits he got homesick. The language barrier also presented a problem, but Evans said it wasn't the hardest part of filming in a foreign country. "Honest to god, for me it was the food. It really was, especially when you're working as hard as we were working, working long days, and the work ethic over there is through the roof and so a lot of the luxuries you get used to being pampered on sets, they're not there. You're not allowed to have trailers on the set. You got to go to the bathroom, it's three blocks down, two blocks over, there's a McDonalds. So you're working hard, when you get a break for lunch, you want to eat," said Evans. "I don't mind Chinese food. Every day for three months? It's a little much."
Push has to do with a dangerous government agency trying to corral people who have special psychic powers. And prior to taking on his lead role, Evans did a little research on the subject matter of people with extraordinary abilities. "Preparing for the movie, you go online, you try and do as much research as you can, just to make the world real. You've got to believe it to some degree, if you're going to try and portray it. And I think if you go online, if you spend enough time doing research, you find that a lot of people dedicate their whole world to this type of research. And the fact is, it's out there. It's undeniable."
Up Next for Chris Evans
"I'm going to do Scott Pilgrim vs the World. Edgar Wright's going to direct it, and it's with Michael Cera. It shoots up in Toronto [in] April," revealed Evans. "Michael Cera plays, he's the lead, and he wants to, in order to date the girl he's in love with, he has to fight her ex-boyfriends."Evans will, of course, play one of the ex-boyfriends.
And fans of the Fantastic Four movie franchise may not be happy about this next bit of news. When asked about Fantastic Four 3, Evans said he hasn't heard anything. "I think those movies, when you do the sequels, they usually kind of come on the heels of the previous film, and it's been a long time now. I think they're going to put them to bed. I don't know for a fact, but I haven't heard anything, so I'm assuming they're done."
* * * * * * * *
Push hits theaters on February 6, 2009 and is rated PG-13 for intense sequences of violence and action, brief strong language, smoking and a scene of teen drinking.
