Captain America’s Girl:
“Their Romance is a Heartbreaker!”
by Lynn Barker
 Pretty, smart British actress Hayley Atwell was tapped to play Peggy Carter, a gun-toting, WW2 secret agent in Captain America: The First Avenger and she is feisty and fun in the movie and in person here at our interview in Beverly Hills.
Through most of the film, Hayley looks formal and perfect in her military uniform but today, she’s a modern gal in a form-fitting blue jersey dress, huge hoop earrings and layered, long hair. So what was it like to transform into a tough 1940’s military career woman? Check it out!
AGW: How did you balance Peggy’s 1940’s character with the needs of a modern film since women have advanced so much in 60 years?
Hayley: I kind of looked at women like Bette Davis and Katharine Hepburn who seem to be these incredible powerhouses that were just tremendous. (I think) women across the board, across the ages, have been strong, have been as modern as we are today. I think it’s something primal and innate and not necessarily about now that we’re free, now that we have the vote, now that we’ve advanced the way that we have up until this point in time, (we’re stronger). The film (isn’t saying) that before then, within ourselves, vocally, physically, we didn’t have strength. So it didn’t feel like a challenge to play that.
AGW: Can you give us your perspective on what it’s like to enter this geek superhero comic book world?
Hayley: I didn’t know anything about that world, so the idea of Comic-Con when it was explained to me was terrifying. But having then read some of the comics myself in preparation for it, I understood the appeal absolutely. It’s something that has evolved and has stayed within our culture for a long time. These characters have grown and I can see that there’s a real passion in that for a lot of people. Also, the development and quality of the artwork, how it started and how it is now, is extraordinary; really beautiful pieces of art.
AGW: And how was the Peggy Carter character presented to you?
 Hayley: I hadn’t actually read the script when I first went in, but (director) Joe (Johnston) said it’s really important that there is a reality to these characters, that there’s something grounded and strong about them, so they are three-dimensional, so that the audience can relate so they seem more human in this kind of fantastical world.
I think that’s one of the reasons why he wanted to cast me in it, because I wouldn’t want to do anything else apart from trying to make it real in some way. So Peggy on the page, I thought, was just incredibly strong and determined and capable and kind of like a kindred spirit to Steve (Rogers, later Captain America).
AGW: In our time Peggy would be 80-something but have they talked about you reprising Peggy for another Captain America movie (before he is in our time)?
Hayley: That’s a possibility. We talked about that when I first signed the initial contract for this film. I would have to do it again if they were to make some kind of spinoff or a second one. I know that there are very, very early talks about it, which I haven’t been privy to yet.
AGW: She’s a crack shot. Had you ever picked up a gun before this and how much fun was training for this?
Hayley: No I hadn’t (picked up a gun before). I loved it! Some people are just born to do something, I just was like, ‘This is my gun, it’s an extension of me.’ It was really good. I was started off with a pistol, and then (director) Joe (Johnston) filmed it, and he wanted to send it to the producers, going, ‘Look, she’s confident with it.’ Because there’s nothing worse than a girl meant to be badass holding a gun and then just flaking where you can see that kind of terror, so that was important.
AGW: But she’s rocking a machine gun too!
Hayley: Yeah, so then Joe kind of just went, ‘Do you fancy a machinegun instead?’ I said, ‘Yes!’ I had done all this physical training which made my arms really strong, which meant I could hold one for a long period of time, because they’re really heavy. At first I would kind of jump back from the pressure of it so I had to kind of hold my ground with it. That felt like that was the character right there. It was like, ‘Get her holding that gun and get it convincing and strong, and that’s Peggy’.
AGW: You and Chris Evans have great chemistry. Did you get a lot of time to spend with him off set? Did you have a lot of rehearsal time together? What’s he really like? He seems a lot like his character. He’s so nice.
Hayley: What was lovely was the team of us; Stanley (Tucci) and Dominic (Cooper), Hugo (Weaving), Toby (Jones) and Chris and Sebastian (Stan) were all living in London and so we made sure that we had a social aspect of it, which is very important as part of the bonding of the team, so we felt that once we got on set we could trust each other and take risks. We had a nice social circle really for that time.
I found Chris to be so talented. I don’t know how he feels about me saying it, but he’s a fantastic singer, he’s a really good tap dancer, he’s a very good musician, he plays piano and I think guitar as well. And he’s very funny. I think he probably, in his career, will be showing many different aspects of his talent, and it’s great. It’s so nice to have extra things up your sleeve.
 AGW: Can you talk about working with him when he was playing more wimpy Steve, before he turns into Captain America? Were you working with Chris’s double?
Hayley: I was. Leander Deeny, a lovely theatre actor, was early Steve. He’d watch the first initial takes of Chris and he would copy every facial expression, every voice, every breath. He would watch every time Chris broke the sentence to breathe to get the match right. He really invested so much in it.
AGW: But Chris’s CGI’d face is on him. How did that exactly work? Must’ve been weird for you.
Hayley: I would do takes with both of them, which was surreal. There would be sometimes, when for CGI purposes, they needed my eye-line lower, so we had to have points put on Chris’ neck, so I’d be talking to someone like that (she lower her eyes). It was a very odd thing to be talking to someone and not be making eye contact.
At one point, I had to turn away from the camera and Chris had to squat, so I turned away again and I saw him go like that (she makes her neck shorter), like a turtle (laughter). I was going, ‘What are you doing? I’m just going to go with it.’ The great thing about something like this is it’s so fantastical that you’re asked to do so many bizarre things in unnatural situations and that’s part of the fun, part of the roller coaster (ride).
AGW: Crazy! Let’s talk fashion. How hot was that red dress you wore and did you keep it?
Hayley: (laughs) I should keep it, shouldn’t I? It was made for me. I don’t know where it is. I think they’ve probably archived it somewhere.
AGW: The guys were certainly turning their heads in that scene. Was it cool to be the only girl in a lot of the scenes?
Hayley: (The guys) were trying to be kind of cool, but I also felt like I was one of the team, and a bit more of a tomboy really.
 AGW: Not in that dress!
Hayley: I know! That was the work of Anna Sheppard, a brilliant costume designer. She was like, ‘You know darling, we should have a moment where you have something fabulous, none of this uniform (stuff).’ We came to the scene and she had, just in time, made this exquisite red dress and just a kind of flash of color just so that you can imagine what their date would have looked like if they had ever had one.
AGW: It was so heartbreaking that Steve misses the date with Peggy. On the flipside, how do you think Peggy felt missing her date with Steve?
Hayley: I think it’s so close and she’d finally been able to kiss him and to give him something to hold on to and I think it would be an absolute heartbreaker. I like to think that it’s a glimpse for her of the possibility of a first love and probably something that she never forgets for the rest of her life. It’s such a dramatic, tragic thing to go through that kind of thing, I imagine, I don’t know. Yeah, I think she would be heartbroken.
AGW: Have you ever felt like Peggy, that you’re just fed up with being underestimated by men?
Hayley: Yes, a couple of times. It’s weird because my mum’s very strong. We come from a very strong family of women and I’ve never seen myself as a victim. So it’s not something that I felt head-on a lot. There have been a couple of times, especially for a young female actress where, (men think) ‘What could you possibly have to say or contribute to this conversation’? There is definitely a feeling of that. But it just makes you work harder to, I think, become witty and become a little bit more savvy and a little bit more clever. I think the challenge can be turned around into a positive one if you want it to.
AGW: Aside from hopefully The Avengers and a Captain America sequel, what are you working on right now?
Hayley: I’m back on stage in London in a new play called “The Faith Machine” at the Royal Court, and it’s a very short run, only for about a month. I’m about to start rehearsals next week for that.
AGW: Would you ever like to do “Doctor Who”?
AGW: Do you know what? I’ve done a lot of ‘Doctor Who’ radio. In fact, two weeks ago I was in London doing a ‘Doctor Who’, and I played the President of the Universe. I’ve done about five of them now. I also played this woman who was completely bald and, for radio, obviously I didn’t have to worry about doing that. But in the press pictures they had taken my hair off and I had a big old bald head, it was great. It was like, ‘Wow.! Kind of very Sinead O’Connor’.
Uncredited photos copyright and courtesy Marvel Studios, 2011
This movie is rated PG-13
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