Over the summer, Jenny Slate and Chris Evans rocked the world with news that they were dating after meeting on the set of Gifted. While the two stars were relatively quiet about their relationship, the rumour mill was not. In fact, a new profile in Vulture revealed that this was one of the reasons their relationship came to an end earlier this year. For the first time, Slate was totally candid about the things in their relationship everyone had been speculating, and why, ultimately, it didn't work out.
"I remember him saying to me, ‘You’re going to be one of my closest friends,'" she said about when they first met for a "chemistry read" to see if they worked well together. "I was just like, ‘Man, I fucking hope this isn’t a lie, because I’m going to be devastated if this guy isn’t my friend.’"
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And they did become friends, but it was never something Slate saw as romantic.
"Chris is a different speed than me — I think he really did just jump out of a plane for an interview," she said, before realising that this is what made him such a special person. "He is a straight-up 35-year-old man who wants to play games. That’s it. I was like, 'I’d better not discount this, because this is purity.'"
They had a lot in common. They both grew up in Massachusetts, they were both feminists, and they both had this innate, unexplainable kindness.
"Chris is truly one of the kindest people I’ve ever met, to the point where sometimes I would look at him and it would kind of break my heart," she said. "He’s really vulnerable, and he’s really straightforward. He’s like primary colours. He has beautiful, big, strong emotions, and he’s really sure of them. It’s just wonderful to be around. His heart is probably golden-coloured, if you could paint it."
But this didn't mean they were a perfect match, and the fan reaction to their relationship put a spotlight on their differences.
"If you are a woman who really cares about her freedom, her rights, her sense of being an individual, it is confusing to go out with one of the most objectified people in the entire world," she said, referencing the way people reacted to their relationship and how they'd approach them on the street. "I’m considered some sort of alternative option, even though I know I’m a majorly vibrant sexual being."
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While they were in the same industry, they came from very different backgrounds — Slate, comedy, and Evans, action movies.
"For him to go to a restaurant is totally different than for me to go," she said. "I sit in my window and I say ‘Hi’ to people on the street. I have more freedom because I’m not Captain America. I’m mostly a cartoon."
This meant they could never really go out, and when they did, Slate stressed about how this wasn't normal. Eventually she realised things never could be, and their relationship ended.
"This is what I needed to do to feel normal," she said, sitting in her solo apartment. "To be alone."
They're still friends, or at least they hope they can be. Soon, they'll reunite for the press tour of Gifted, and they'll have to figure out where they stand.
"We’re not on bad terms, but we haven’t really seen each other, spoken a lot,” she explained. "I’d love to be his friend one day, but we threw down pretty hard. No regrets, though. Ever."
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