Anna Daniels
Former Captain America Chris Evans stars as a character he calls a “jerk” in his new movie Knives Out. The Last Jedi’s Rian Johnson directed the film, which deals with a group of wealthy, entitled characters who are suspected of murder. While reviewers are raving about Knives Out for its acting, writing, and cinematography, the costume designer should also take a bow.
Movie-goers can’t stop freaking out about a particularly-patterned fisherman sweater that Evans dons in the film. Here’s what Twitter revealed about the meaning behind the now-iconic cable-knit pullover.
‘Knives Out’ movie-goers were obsessed with cast members Chris Evans’ character’s sweater
In October, Entertainment Weekly interviewed Evans about his role in Knives Out. Evans portrays a character called Ransom Drysdale, whom he calls a “spoiled playboy.” Ransom’s “terrier-kicking, fisherman’s-sweater-wearing evilness” is what made Evans want to do the movie. And the sweater part was pretty key to the 38-year-old actor.
“It’s been a long time since I’ve done a movie where I got to wear nice clothes!” he said.
Evans told Entertainment Weekly that normally, his costumes are “boring.” The former Marvel star also said the attire for Knives Out helped him get into character.
“The clothing, the hair, all of it helps tons,” he shared.
Evans’ fans agreed. One even threw shade at fellow Marvel Cinematic Universe actors Chris Pine in his tweet about the sweater.
“Chris Pine’s sweater in Wonder Woman just told Chris Evan’s sweater in Knives Out to back tf up,” they joked.
However, another Twitter user was just distracted by the sweater’s meticulously-detailed pattern.
“i spent the entirety of knives out thinking about just how deranged you’d have to be to design and produce the sweater that chris evans’ character wears,” they wrote. The Knives Out viewer then followed up with a second sweater-related tweet.
“That sweater is a knitter’s cry for help. it’s the yarn equivalent of signing an email with thirty exclamation points,” the user tweeted.
Twitter users pointed out something interesting about Captain America’s fisherman sweater
Another movie fan on Twitter offered a possible explanation for the “deranged-knitter” design. They wrote that the “crazy mix of patterns” on the sweaters derived from something rather morbid.
“Fishermen’s sweaters are like this because people died at sea a lot and sometimes this was the only way to identify the body,” the user tweeted. “… whoever made it for you loved you enough to want your body identified.”
But their followers soon pointed out this concept was a myth. A researcher accepted the urban legend as fact, and the rumor took off.
However, another Twitter user might have the real secret behind the crazy cable-knit piece of clothing.
“My only contribution to this is that my father-of-Norwegian-descent learned to knit as a child, ” they tweeted. “That was what the men did on the fishing boats when they were bored.” Considering fishing can leave a lot of downtime, and the fact that humans love to win, knitting the craziest sweater pattern became a kind of competition.
“I can completely see it becoming a competitive kind of thing, make it as difficult as possible.”
Another tweeter responded to this with their own example.
“In the ‘ye olde days’ in Iceland everybody (man, woman, children with developed motor skills) knitted through the winter,” they wrote. The Twitter user assumed knitting sweaters “probably kept them from getting murderous cabin fever.”
‘Knives Out’ has 97% on Rotten Tomatoes and is doing well at the box office
Knives Out came out in November to glowing reviews from movie-goers and critics alike. The movie also scored the number 2 spot at the box office over Thanksgiving weekend, only trailing Frozen 2.
Evans told Entertainment Weekly playing the role of Ransom in Knives Out was a great time.
“I’m usually tasked with playing guys who are a little more noble, and this guy is a little bit more vile,” he said. “It’s fun.”
Evans found character inspiration from people he’s met in real life.
“I’d be lying if I said I didn’t know people who are just like [Ransom],” he said. “He’s born into privilege and he’s also equipped with a victim’s mentality, and I think that combination is very dangerous.” Evans said he modified the way he held himself physically in order to adopt Ransom’s personality.
“There’s a certain physicality of a person who is soaked in confidence, truly marinated in that kind of entitlement,” he said.
Sounds like a particularly fabulous sweater helped mold that physicality–and fans noticed.
Written by: Cheat
