Over 100 Ranker voters have come together to rank this list of What MCU Actors Are Really Like, According To Their Co-Stars
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Vote up the most memorable behind-the-scenes stories about MCU stars.
The Marvel Cinematic Universe has established itself as one of the most profitable and dominant franchises in Hollywood. Each subsequent film and TV series manages to accrue significant box-office or ratings success, critical praise, and audience popularity. One of the most appealing aspects of the MCU is its stars, and from the beginning, it has managed to attract some of the top talent working in Hollywood.
Though the superheroes of the MCU may be larger than life, the various actors chosen to portray these characters are often very different from their on-screen counterparts, and they are happy to speak about their experiences working with one another.
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Danai Gurira Said Chadwick Boseman ‘Made Everyone Feel Loved’
The late Chadwick Boseman was easily one of the most respected actors of his generation, and he was as skilled in biopics as he was as Black Panther in the Marvel Cinematic Universe. His character, who hailed from the fictional country of Wakanda, cared deeply about justice and his people.
Before his tragically early passing, Boseman made an impression on his co-stars. Danai Gurira, who played the character of Okoye in Black Panther, had nothing but praise for Boseman:
I always marveled at how special Chadwick was. Such a pure-hearted, profoundly generous, regal, fun guy. He made everyone feel loved, heard, and seen.
Photo: The Falcon and The Winter Soldier / Disney+
As Bucky Barnes/The Winter Soldier, Sebastian Stan exhibits a swagger and a cockiness, both of which help to explain his character’s enduring appeal among fans of the franchise.
However, according to one of his co-stars, he is not nearly as aggressive in real life. Anthony Mackie - who appeared with Stan in the series The Falcon and The Winter Soldier - once jokingly said:
Sebastian is such a relaxed guy… he’s such a mild-mannered guy… He does nothing.
Florence Pugh's Yelena Belova has appeared in two MCU properties so far, the film Black Widow and the series Hawkeye. There is undeniable chemistry between Pugh and her co-star Scarlett Johansson, who plays her adopted sister, Natasha Romanoff.
Unsurprisingly, the two got along famously well off screen as well. According to Johansson:
One of Florence’s great qualities is she could basically talk to a houseplant. She has something to say on any subject.
In the first Iron Man, Terrence Howard plays Tony Stark's friend James Rhodes. Though he is clearly very fond of Stark, he’s also not afraid to reprimand him. Jeff Bridges plays an equally important role in the first Iron Man film as Obadiah Stane, the primary antagonist.
While they might have been rivals in the story, Howard recounted how he and Bridges bonded on set:
[Bridges] took me in his trailer and we smoked cigars and drank some vodka and played guitar for four hours after wrap. He's a brilliant musician and a great songwriter. Jeff is beautiful, and he kept giving me hints on how to play my character, which I loved.
In the many MCU films in which he has appeared, Robert Downey Jr.’s Iron Man has been one of the series’ most liked characters. Though he often adopts a prickly attitude, Tony Stark truly does care about both his fellow Avengers and the fate of the world at large.
As it turns out, Downey is as compassionate as his on-screen counterpart. Both Zoe Saldana and Chris Pratt have remarked on the actor’s generosity to them when they were ill. Saldana, for example, said when she was sick, Downey delivered a care package:
I was so sick, to where people were just afraid to come over and say hello. I was like this pathetic green thing on set. There was a knock on my trailer. It was Robert's assistant dropping off a whole bunch of supplements he had put together for me as a get-well little package.
Pratt shared a similar incident on the set of Infinity War when he had a sore throat:
Within 10 minutes, there was a person here giving me all these herbs and taking care of me. He offered me the use of his trailer where I could sit down and use some of his high-tech healing gadgets. It was amazing. I'm living my best life.
Even though Bruce Banner's alter ego the Hulk is prone to violence and seems capable of few emotions other than anger, Mark Ruffalo still manages to bring out the green guy's inner humanity. In reality, Ruffalo can be as soft-spoken and easily intimidated as Banner, particularly when it comes to some of his co-stars. In fact, he was so intimidated by Samuel L. Jackson on the set of The Avengers, he finally told Jackson, who plays Nick Fury, the truth of how he was feeling.
