Chris Evans: Saying 'to infinity and beyond' feels like 'wearing someone else's clothes'

Ever since it was announced that Chris Evans would be voicing Buzz Lightyear in the eponymous movie instead of Tim Allen, some of us might be wondering — could "To infinity and beyond" be his new favourite catchphrase, after "Avengers, assemble"? 

The 41-year-old shared his experience taking on the role of Buzz during the recent press conference for Lightyear. 

"As proud as I am to play this role and as honoured as I am to be a part of this universe now, that line belongs to someone else. It almost kinda felt like I was wearing someone else's clothes or something," he commented. 

"So you do your best to honour it and put your own spin on it. But let's be honest, that's Tim Allen's line. So personally, at least [for] 'Avengers assemble', I was the first one in the pool for that one." 

A huge fan of Disney himself, Chris added: "I love Buzz Lightyear, I loved Toy Story. When Toy Story came out, it kinda kicked the doors down in terms of a new approach to the medium. So I was thrilled and excited to know what there was more to come." 

Lightyear is a sci-fi action adventure which follows the origin story of Buzz Lightyear, a space ranger who is marooned on a hostile planet 4.2 million light years from Earth. As he tries to find a way home through space and time, he's joined by a group of ambitious recruits and his charming robot companion cat Sox (voiced by Peter Sohn). 

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Chris also talked about Buzz's chemistry with Sox: "I like the idea of someone like Buzz who's this very autonomous, austere kind of guy, but he's given an emotional support cat... just to address problems that he may otherwise overlook." 

He added: "I think that's a nice metaphor, whether it's therapy or just the fact that we need those emotional support moments. We all need to talk about our problems and vent to something, some way. And I just like that relationship, that kind of juxtaposition of someone like Buzz who's so independent needing someone like Sox, the way we all do." 

Interestingly, Chris also has an "emotional support cat" in real life — his boxer-mix rescue dog Dodger, which the actor says is "sick" of hearing his problems. 

Cast member Taika Waititi — who's also the director of Thor: Love and Thunder — also mentioned how he is similar to his character Mo Morrison in his younger days. 

"[I was] a little aimless and trying to focus on something, I was interested in a thousand different things and I wanted to do everything all at once. But I never really finished my projects. That was something I learnt how to do later on," the 46-year-old explained

"It was easy to tap into that [for Mo] because I feel like I'm someone who works a lot but also wrestles with this part of me who doesn't wanna work at all ever again. Those two sides of me are always in conflict."

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The movie's director Angus Maclane also brought some personal anecdotes into the movie. 

During the press conference, Angus, 47, revealed that Alisha Hawthorne (voiced by Uzo Aduba), Buzz's commander and best friend, is actually inspired by his maternal grandmother. 

"She was a single parent who was the bureau desk chief... She smoked like a chimney and unfortunately died from emphysema.

"But she was such a tough, no-nonsense character who had no time for children. It was just really such an inspirational thing. And I found out years later, she was actually a codebreaker during World War 2." 

Lightyear premieres in cinemas June 17. 

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ALSO READ: 'Should be at least M18': Lightyear's NC16 rating in Singapore sends internet buzzing

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