 A frail , sickly young man who is enhanced to the peak of human ability by an experimental serum in order to aid the United States war effort . Evans , who previously worked with Marvel as the Human Torch in the Fantastic Four film series , said he declined the part three times before signing a six @-@ picture deal with Marvel , explaining that , " At the time , I remember telling a buddy of mine , ' If the movie bombs , I 'm f — -ed [ sic ] . If the movie hits , I 'm f — -ed ! ' I was just scared . I realized my whole decision @-@ making process was fear @-@ based , and you never want to make a decision out of fear . I can 't believe I was almost too chicken to play Captain America " . He ultimately agreed to the role , saying , " I think Marvel is doing a lot of good things right now , and it 's a fun character . ... I think the story of Steve Rogers is great . He 's a great guy . Even if it [ were ] just a script about anybody , I would probably want to do it . So it wasn 't necessarily about the comic itself . " Regarding the extent of the character 's abilities Evans remarked , " He would crush the Olympics . Any Olympic sport he 's gonna dominate . He can jump higher , run faster , lift stronger weight , but he can be injured . He could roll an ankle and be out for the season . He 's not perfect , he 's not untouchable . So a lot of the effects , if I 'm going to punch someone they 're not going to put them on a cable and fly them back 50 feet , but he 's going to go down , probably not getting back up , which I think humanizes it . It makes it something that , again , I think everyone can relate to a little bit more , which I really like . " Theater actor Leander Deeny was the body double in some shots for Steve Rogers ' pre @-@ transformation physique as well as appearing as a bartender . 
