Gossip Girl star Chace Crawford reveals why he was not allowed to screen test for the coveted role of Captain America. Long before the MCU became the juggernaut it is today, the cinematic universe was given a massive boost by the success of Captain America: The First Avenger, starring Chris Evans as Steve Rogers aka Captain America. The First Avenger not only helped launch Captain America as a character, it also helped set up the entire Avengers storyline to come.

After Evans’ 10 total appearances in MCU movies as Rogers (11 counting his cameo as Loki pretending to be Rogers in Thor: The Dark World), it’s now difficult to imagine anyone else in the role, but in fact other actors were considered to take on the part. Perhaps the best known alternate universe Captain America is John Krasinski, who in 2016 revealed that he originally auditioned for the role. Sebastian Stan, who ultimately would play Captain America’s counterpart Bucky Barnes, also was up for Cap before the studio settled on Evans. Channing Tatum, Garrett Hedlund, Scott Porter and Wilson Bethel too are among the actors of a very particular type who were at one time or another rumored to be in consideration to play Steve Rogers.

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One more actor who was previously rumored to have been up for the Captain America role is Chace Crawford, who of course is best known for playing Nate Archibald on the CW series Gossip Girl. In an appearance on Watch What Happens Live With Andy Cohen, Crawford confirmed the rumor that he at one time did have a shot at Captain America, but was ultimately unable to submit a screen test due to his commitment to Gossip Girl. Crawford said:

I did have a screen test for that back in the day, but they actually didn’t let me do it because they realized I was on a show in New York for nine months of the year. Got like a screen test deal. Buddy of mine told me he went in there and they had a suit made with my name on it and the whole thing. And yeah after nine films I’m thinking, ‘Oh man, I’d have loved a shot at that.’

 

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Crawford was an unknown actor before he became Nate Archibald on Gossip Girl, which ran for six seasons on The CW and became one of the iconic shows of its era. Since then, Crawford has appeared in series like Blood & Oil and the current buzzworthy Amazon show The Boys, where he finally gets to play a superhero, as well as movies like Nighthawks, the Charles Manson film Charlie Says and All About Nina. But though Crawford has definitely put together a solid career, there’s no doubt landing the role of Steve Rogers would have catapulted him into a different stratosphere entirely.

What Crawford would have done with the part of Captain America is something that will never be answered of course, but it’s frankly hard to imagine him doing a better job than Evans, who gave Steve Rogers just the right blend of cheery spirit and steely resolve to act as a counterpoint to some of the MCU’s more flippant characters like Tony Stark. Losing out on Captain America may have been a tough pill for Crawford to swallow, but MCU fans are no doubt happy with Evans.

Source: Watch What Happens Live With Andy Cohen

Key Release Dates
  • Black Widow (2021)Release date: Jul 09, 2021
  • Eternals (2021)Release date: Nov 05, 2021
  • Shang-Chi and the Legend of the Ten Rings (2021)Release date: Sep 03, 2021
  • Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness (2022)Release date: May 06, 2022
  • Thor: Love and Thunder (2022)Release date: Jul 08, 2022
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Dan Zinski
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Dan Zinski is a freelance writer currently contributing to Screen Rant on a regular basis. His previous endeavors include writing on sports, general pop culture, celebrity gossip and various other forms of mindless distraction. To date he has left approximately 100 unfinished screenplays in his wake, the majority of which have thankfully been deleted entirely from our plane of existence. He currently resides wherever his head happens to lie. His hobbies include eating Doritos, playing Atari games, avoiding eye contact and drinking excessive amounts of coffee. His favorite actors include Greta Garbo, Humphrey Bogart, Robert Mitchum, Cate Blanchett, Groucho Marx and Richard Burton. His all-time favorite movie critics are Pauline Kael, Manny Farber and of course himself. He regards Rogue One as one of history’s great travesties.

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