Kids Said the Darndest Things at Chris Evans’s Meet-and-Greet in Newburyport
Photo by Bryanna Cappadona
Despite that hefty title as America’s Most Wanted superhero, Chris Evans is a simple kind of guy. He’s from Sudbury. He drinks beer. He’s close with his mom, and he’s generally the first one to say, “Let’s take a picture!”
Which made for great atmosphere for the many kinds of fans who went out to his meet-and-greet in Newburyport on Thursday night, an event held before a fundraiser hosted at his cousin’s restaurant, Fifty Water. His family attended the occasion including his mom, Lisa, his soap opera actor brother, Scott, and his two aunts from Somerville and Framingham.
Lisa sat right next to Evans at the meet-and-greet table, and is the kind of lady who is so obviously a mother of four. She encouraged kids to show off their Captain America shields, and clapped when they flexed for the cameras next to her son. “Wait, Chris, look at his star socks! Show Chris your socks!” Lisa Evans might be an actual supermom.
While Evans is no stranger to doting attention from women of a certain age, and general prying into his life from the media, he found himself faced with a different sort of authority. Kids say and do the weirdest things at inopportune times. Last night was no exception.
One boy, no older than 8 years old, walked up to Evans with a T-shirt to sign. “Hey, buddy,” Evans said.
“What kind of car do you have?” The boy asked right off the bat. Evans said he didn’t know then muttered something about not being into cars. “Well, are you a millionaire? What about a billionaire?” the boy asked before being dragged away by his extremely flustered parent, likely dying of inner-embarrassment.
Another boy named Andrew, about three years old, is Captain America’s biggest fan, he told Evans. “Is that right?” Evans asked. “Yes, it is,” said the boy stoically, insulted as any three-year-old could, that he was being questioned about his fan status.
Then, a new mother showed up with her baby strapped to her front, and almost as soon as she approached the table, the infant latched on to Evans’s hair. And didn’t let go. The mother remained casual about it, though, as if everyone should have the opportunity to grasp Chris Evans’s hair. Levels of jealousy within the room immediately skyrocketed, particularly among a couple of groups of fangirls who, of course, were also out in force.
“The younger fans are so great, I love this stuff,” Evans said later that night, when the room shifted into to a fundraiser for The Pettingale House, supporting children and families in need. Then, true to simple guy form, he held out his beer, and said cheers.
50 Water St., Newburyport, 978-255-7109, fiftywater.com.
