Jeremy Strong was almost puny Steve Rogers in Captain America

In one of the more interesting casting missed opportunities, Succession actor Jeremy Strong almost played Captain America. Well, OK, just his body would have been used…and it would have been for the puny version of Steve Rogers.

In the earlier days of his budding screen career, Jeremy Strong was strongly considered for the role of Steve Rogers’ body in the first act of 2011’s Captain America: The First Avenger. “They needed someone to play Captain America’s young body, before he turns into a superhero. They said they needed a transformational actor and would use CGI to put the actual actor’s face and voice over my own.”

It’s a fun before-they-were-stars story of pre-fame glimpses of success, but Jeremy Strong ended up turning down the role–maybe he thought it would conflict with his surname? It would go to a fellow named Leander Deeny. Hey, considering most of us haven’t heard of Deeny and he’s not the star of one of the best shows on TV, it seems Jeremy Strong made the right call. (Deeny does at least have an a page on the Marvel Cinematic Universe Wiki.)

As it turns out, both Jeremy Strong and Chris Evans grew up in Sudbury, Massachusetts. When The Times—who interviewed Strong—brought this to Evans’ attention, Evans said, “Oh no! It just goes to show the industry is so unpredictable. But I’m so happy things worked out, because I don’t think there was ever plan B for Jeremy.” Plan A, it turns out, was to win Emmys, Golden Globes and SAG Awards.

In the same interview, Jeremy Strong recalled botching his Cowboys vs. Aliens audition because he showed up dressed as a cowboy. Hey, could’ve been worse, right?

Jeremy Strong can currently be seen opposite Anne Hathaway and Anthony Hopkins in Armageddon Time, which our own Chris Bumbray gave a 9/10.