TV Ties: Captain America The First Avenger 

It’s always nice to see faces we’re familiar with on the small screen make it to the big screen. Now I must admit part of the reason I’m doing this is because I have a huge crush on Chris Evans. I had no idea he has a few television credits to his name until I started doing some research.  Which other familiar faces have we seen on the small screen?  There are a lot of British (and one Australian) faces where so I hope you’re familiar with British TV as well as American. Let’s investigate.

Hayley Atwell plays Sgt. Peggy Carter. She’s a strong female in a time when that’s not considered a good thing and a potential love match for Steve. America audiences might recognize this Brit from The Pillars of the Earth mini-series, where she played Ailena, or The Prisoner. Any fan of BBC America – or British TV in general – may also recognize her from Any Human Heart. I haven’t seen any of her TV work but I do recognize her from Brideshead Revisited and The Duchess. I’m a fan.

Sebastian Stan plays Steve Rogers’ best friend “Bucky” Barnes. If you haven’t seen the movie yet, I won’t spoil anything for you here but Bucky proves his mettle during the war effort. Where have you seen his face before? I remember him as Carter Baizen from Gossip Girl. He was always stirring up trouble but fell for Serena for a while. Relationships with her never end well, so he was eventually kicked to the curb. You may also recognize him from the short-lived series Kings, where he was a series regular. He also guested on Law & Order.

Tommy Lee Jones really doesn’t do much TV at all but I managed to find a recent television credit. He plays White in television movie The Sunset Limited and shared the screen with Samuel L. Jackson. In Captain America, Tommy Lee Jones plays Col. Chester Phillips. He’s a very strict military man with surprising wit and compassion.

Hugo Weaving plays Red Skull. I enjoyed his portrayal of a character right on the edge of madness. What a great foe for Cap. I’ve never seen Hugo Weaving on the small screen but fans of animation may recognize his voice from Generator Rex or as the voice of Megatron from The Transformers movies. He also guested in the Australian TV series Rake. He’s been on my radar since The Matrix. He makes an excellent villain.

Dominic Cooper plays Howard Stark. I love that both Stark men were visionary scientists, way ahead of their time and both playboys. The more I get to know about Howard Stark the more I like him. You may recognize Dominic Cooper from sketch show Horne & Corden or Masterpiece where he played Willoughby in Sense and Sensibility.

Stanley Tucci plays Dr. Abraham Erskine.  He was chased out of Germany by Hitler partly because he hadn’t yet perfected the serum that turns Steve Rogers into Cap. I’d love to see Stanley Tucci on the small screen more often but I’m just as happy to see his feature career going so well. Relatively recently we’ve seen him ER, 3 lbs, and Monk.

Richard Armitage plays Heinz Kruger. He manages to infiltrate the military’s inner circle and kill Dr. Erskine, but not before seeing the serum is a success. We see the first display of Cap’s power on Kruger as he tries to get away. I am a relatively new devotee to Richard Armitage. I’m not embarrassed to admit (ok, yes I am. A little) I’ve seen North and South six times. You may also recognize him from MI-5, Strike Back, Moving On, or Robin Hood.

Toby Jones plays Dr. Arnim Zola, second in command to Johann Schmidt. I won’t say he’s a sympathetic character, but I felt myself fearing for him and caring just a little about whether or not he’d make it out alive. You may recognize him from Agatha Chrisite’s Poirot, Doctor Who, or Elizabeth I.

Neal McDonough, Derek Luke, and Kenneth Choi  play soldiers Steve Rogers liberates who later go on to be recruited as members of his team.

Neal McDonough has been on a number of TV shows. Most recently he’s guested on Law & Order: Criminal Intent and Terriers. He had an arc on Desperate Housewives, where I believe he was married to (and tried to kill?) Nicollette Sheridan’s Edie. He also starred in Boomtown and Band of Brothers.

Derek Luke plays Dr. Miles Bourdet on Hawthorne and also appeared as a regular on Trauma. He got his start guesting on The King of Queens and Moesha.

Kenneth Choi has appeared on Sons of Anarchy, Hawthorne, Glee, and Burning Hollywood.

Natalie Dormer plays Pvt. Lorraine. She doesn’t have a big part, but when Peggy finds her kissing Cap, it makes for some very good tension. I was excited to see Natalie Dormer in this because I loved her as Anne Boleyn in The Tudors. I thought I might see her again on the small screen in Poe, but it wasn’t pick up to series. I’m consoling myself with the fact that she’s be on Game of Thrones next season. I can’t wait.

As I mentioned earlier, I had no idea Chris Evans had done any work in TV. You can hear his voice on an episode of Robot Chicken. He also guested on Boston Public, did a pilot called Skin, and appeared as a regular in Opposite Sex.

What did you think of the movie? Are you as excited as I am to see The Avengers next summer?