Chris Evans may be Captain America on screen, but off-screen, it turns out he’s just as nervous as the rest of us when it comes to big romantic gestures. The 43-year-old actor recently gave fans a rare peek behind the curtain of his love life, opening up about how he proposed to actress Alba Baptista—and it’s as sweet and awkward as you might expect.
The notoriously private couple tied the knot in September 2023, managing to keep their engagement under wraps until after their intimate ceremony. But while attending the premiere of his new movie Materialists in New York City on Saturday, June 7, Evans finally let fans in on a little of what went down behind the scenes.
Speaking to The Knot at the red carpet event, Chris revealed that he wanted to make the proposal extra special by speaking to Alba in her native language—Portuguese.
“I proposed to my wife in, she’s Portuguese, so I learned how to say ‘Will you marry me?’ in Portuguese,” Chris shared. “And I was so [nervous], and I had practiced all week! I had practiced it so much that, you know, while her and I, I’d be making breakfast and you, you almost just start saying it out loud, like, ‘Oh god! That’s not just a song that’s stuck in my head. It’s gonna let the cat out of the bag.’”
He went on to explain that all his practicing didn’t exactly calm his nerves when it came time to pop the question.
“I got really nervous when it came time to do it and I actually think I screwed it up, but I still know it!” he added.
He didn’t go into full detail about when or where the proposal happened, but it’s clear he put a lot of heart into getting it just right.
Chris and Alba’s romance has been famously low-key since the beginning. The pair were first linked in 2021, and although rumors swirled for a while, they didn’t make things Instagram official until January 2023 when Chris shared a sweet video montage of the two scaring each other in their home.
They went on to tie the knot in a private ceremony at their home in Massachusetts in September 2023, surrounded by close family and friends. But that wasn’t the only celebration. Chris revealed that they actually had two weddings—one stateside and one overseas.
According to reports, the second ceremony took place in Alba’s home country of Portugal, giving both of their families a chance to celebrate together and honor both of their cultures. Although the couple hasn’t shared many personal details or photos from either event, they’ve gradually become more open about their relationship over time—at least a little.
For Chris, settling down has been a long time coming. In interviews leading up to his marriage, he often spoke about wanting to prioritize family and step back from the spotlight a bit. “That’s absolutely something I want: wife, kids, building a family,” he told People in 2022. “When you read about most of the best artists, whether it’s actors, painters, writers, most of them admit it wasn’t the work they made that they’re most proud of, it was about the relationships—the families they created, the love they found, the love they shared.”
Now it seems Chris has found exactly that with Alba—and even if his Portuguese was a little wobbly, it clearly worked out just fine.
