Chris Evans, Ana de Armas on subverting the norms of a damsel in distress and an action hero in ‘Ghosted’

The smitten farmer he plays in “Ghosted” is “more who I am than Captain America,” says actor Chris Evans.

“I tell you what, I guess the best acting accomplishment I’ve done is making you think that I’m more Cap than this guy,” he said in an interview.

“This guy” is Cole Turner, a homebody farmer who has been unlucky in love and has a meet-cute with Sadie Rhodes, a veteran CIA agent played by Ana de Armas.

After a day and night together, Cole thinks she is “the one” and texts her for another date, only to be ghosted by the woman of his dreams. Following the advice of his family, he throws caution to the wind and hops on a plane for the first time to track her down in London. When he is mistaken for an expert operative and taken hostage, he makes the shocking discovery that Sadie is a secret agent.

The Boston-born Evans is aware that Hollywood tends to put people in boxes, although he hasn’t felt that in terms of the roles available to him. “Maybe it’s tricky for audiences to see me as something other than Captain America. But I guess that’s up to me to make sure I diversify the performances I give to make sure people see me in more than just one role.”

He said the beauty of “Ghosted,” directed by Dexter Fletcher, is that it’s a surprise and a role reversal, subverting the norms of a damsel in distress and an action hero. “You start the first 20 to 30 minutes as a straight romantic movie and then you go hard right turn into this action film. And I think that’s what makes it so unique and refreshing.”

“Because you get to know these characters, they seem like they could have a future together,” added de Armas in a joint interview with Evans. “Everything is going great and you’re rooting for them, and you want to continue to see where this goes.”

Evans and Armas seem to have a shorthand with each other, having worked together on “Knives Out” and “The Gray Man.”

Evans called de Armas’s commitment to the action sequences in “Ghosted” “pretty surprising.”

“In the first week of filming, she has to beat up four or five people right in a row. And it wasn’t easy action stuff … It was real physical moves, where you will get bumps and bruises and you are gonna feel it. And she wasn’t just doing it. She wanted to do it again and again. And if she watched playback and it wasn’t quite right, she kept going.”

Evans, a producer on “Ghosted,” added that the Oscar-nominated “Blonde” star is one of those actors where “It doesn’t even matter what the project is, just get her on the team, because she’s going to do whatever is required of her really well. And she’s going to elevate the entire material … All of us, the director, the producers, were really excited to get her.”

For the Cuban-born de Armas, who also kicked some butt in James Bond film “No Time to Die,” doing another action film was rewarding in many ways.

“I never thought I was going to be doing action films. But here I am. The opportunity came with James Bond and then after that it’s been a nice wave to ride and I’m enjoying that a lot. It’s very fulfilling, very exciting and very rewarding as well.”

Like Evans, de Armas, 34, is aware of the industry norm of being pigeonholed.

“I think it is an industry that could get small and repetitive if you let it happen because, of course, once you get a role that works and the project is watched by a lot of people, they want to repeat the formula because why not, it’s a business and they’re making money with it. Hence, this is the third movie that we’re doing together, but it is up to us to also draw a line in how much you’re willing to do that, because then your craft is the one that suffers and you’re limiting yourself.

“But also at the same time, I’m not gonna be doing action movies forever,” she laughed.

The film uses the metaphor of a cactus plant that doesn’t depend on anyone else for nourishment and survival. Evans, 41, said that philosophy could apply to acting, too.

“The ‘be a cactus’ philosophy means being someone independent … It’s a matter of making sure you yourself are a whole person first. If too much of who you are or your identity or your purpose is dependent upon needing something, then you’re really on pretty unstable ground (but) if you are this whole independent person on your own, that’s when I think the best things come your way.”

But de Armas said she couldn’t be a cactus. “The funny thing is that I think both characters think they are cactuses, but the truth is that they’re not. I think that’s so much better. I think being a cactus is kind of sad and boring. I am not a cactus at all in my life. I need my friends to love me,” she laughed. “I’m kidding, but I believe in relationships and love and kindness, and giving each other support and connection. Being a cactus is cold and it’s just depressing.”

Marriska Fernandes is a Toronto-based entertainment reporter and film critic. She is a freelance contributor for the Star’s Culture section. Follow her on Twitter: @marrs_fers

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