GP Theatre Child Actor "Stars" in Avengers

Evan Kole may not have super powers, but he is now on a first-name basis with Captain America. Make that Chris Evans, the hunky actor who played the title role in the movie Captain America and again in the most anticipated superhero movie in recent history--The Avengers, which opened Friday, May 4.

“I asked him if I could meet him,” said Kole, 9, who participated most recently in Grosse Pointe Theatre’s Youth on Stage winter production of Schoolhouse Rock. “He said, ‘Yeah, nice to meet you. Just don’t steal my thunder.’”

It’s a comment forever etched in the young Harrison Township boy’s mind. Steal Captain America’s thunder? Quite possibly, the darling brown-eyed boy may.

For those who have followed the Marvel comic-based movies, such as Iron Man, Thor and Captain America, there is usually a young boy rescued by the superhero. That young boy in The Avengers is Kole, who portrays Joey. Joey is shocked and terrified when, while riding in the back of his parent’s car, he is nearly kidnapped by a villain.

“Evan was in a car going 70 miles per hour down an alley,” said Evan’s mom, Cindy Kole. “It was pretty amazing.” As were the pyrotechnics they witnessed during the one day of shooting for Evan. “They were blowing up things the day we got there,” Cindy said. “They were dropping fire on a car, and it was near to where Evan was.”

Cindy and husband, Matt, quickly learned that the Disney production staff could perform amazing effects, all while under control, even the scene of the car racing down the alley.

“It was really windy,” Evan recalled. “It was kind of like riding in my dad’s Mustang!”

Kole got the role after auditioning for it last August at the Detroit Casting Company. He is represented by agent Curt Howe, with Charlie’s Talent Agency, now located in Grosse Pointe Park. Kole was one of a small handful of Detroit area boys selected after auditions by Casting Director Dayna Polehanki. Ultimately, the movie’s executive producer made the selection of Kole.

During the audition process, the boys were told by Polehanki that she had already searched far and wide – from California to Cleveland – for someone to play the role of Joey. She could not find a boy who could look terrified enough. Kole certainly fit the bill. And, according to Cindy, the experience could not have been any better, or more thrilling.

“It was really rather surreal,” she said. “We went to Cleveland the first day for wardrobe. They put us up at the Ritz Carleton. We were wondering why there were so many paparazzi there. As it turned out, Chris Hemsworth, who plays Thor, was already at the hotel.

“On the set, Evan had his own production assistant to get him food, a teacher – even though it was summer they had to have a teacher there – and his own trailer. At first Evan was in awe, but in typical Evan style he was being silly between takes just like he did in Schoolhouse Rock. But when the camera went on he got right into character.”

That was Kole’s trick for dealing with any butterflies.

“I was a little bit nervous at first,” he said. “But then I thought about going down the ally really fast and meeting Captain America. That helped.”

Even though he is in the film, Evan will not be the first Kole to see the movie. His mom planned on attending the midnight show on Thursday night. Evan, who had school on Friday, had to wait until Friday night.

Unfortunately, as it sometimes goes in the movie business, Evan's scenes were omitted from the final cut. Despite that, Cindy said he still will always remember his phenomenal time on the set with all of the "A" actors.