Wyatt Russell talks Captain America, anti-John Walker memes in 'The Falcon and the Winter Soldier'

In the new Disney+ series, The Falcon and the Winter Soldier, a new Captain America has arrived.

John Walker, played by Wyatt Russell, is taking up the stars and stripes shield, an act that's proved divisive, to say the least, on social media. Russell recently spoke to Yahoo Entertainment about how he landed the role and what he thinks about the internet's anti-John Walker stance.

"I am not here to say you should like him or you shouldn't like him," Russell said, although he adds that if there isn't some backlash to a performance, "you did something wrong" as an actor.

Watch more from Russell in the video above.

Video Transcript

- John, I think the first thing everyone wants to know is, what is it like being Captain America? Do Eagles fly overhead wherever you go?

WYATT RUSSELL: Yes.

KEVIN POLOWY: Congratulations. You are killing it thus far. People are all heated up about John Walker. I love it. I can't wait to get into it. Wyatt, I think the first thing everyone wants to know is, what is it like being Captain America? Was this a childhood dream to play an iconic superhero for what's likely a very brief period of time?

WYATT RUSSELL: Yeah. No, it wasn't just because I didn't know comic books were still a thing. When I was a kid, I didn't know anyway who liked comic books. I mean, honestly. I didn't know anybody who read comics. So I didn't grow up with it. I grew up with sports and athletes. Bo Jackson was a superhero.

KEVIN POLOWY: You actually auditioned to play Steve Rogers though back in the day, right? I mean, what do you remember about that experience?

WYATT RUSSELL: I think I was just brought in to read. They probably auditioned a million people. And it was like anybody who had legs and could walk and could talk was auditioned to play Captain America. But it was fun. I don't remember too much. I do remember that it was same cast director, Sarah Finn, who has been unbelievable to me in my career. She did cast me in my first movie, ended up being my first movie. But I kind of knew this is happening.

KEVIN POLOWY: What was the tell tale?

WYATT RUSSELL: That I was not good at acting probably. That I wasn't going to be in a Marvel movie and I'd been in two short films and a student film. It was just an idea of, can he be any good? I think that was sort of-- a lot of times that's what end up happening. It's like, here. Read this. You're not going to get it. Don't worry. And you might end up being all right with it.

KEVIN POLOWY: I want to talk about your entry into the series. It's the cliffhanger at the end of episode one. I didn't recognize you at first.

WYATT RUSSELL: Well, very rarely have I ever looked like that. And there's certain things we did do with makeup that gave a different look to the character. I have never been in shape like that. I probably lost 25 pounds to be honest.

KEVIN POLOWY: Oh wow.

WYATT RUSSELL: So I got in shape but a lot thinner. And it was great. I love when people don't know that that's the guy from, "Everybody Wants Some" or that's the guy from whatever they know me from, "Black Mirror" or whatever the hell it is. But so yeah. There were little tweaks. But it was a new look for me. For sure.

KEVIN POLOWY: I mean, you kind of expect to hate this guy from the get go. But he's not all that bad. I mean, he's got some very redeeming qualities. You bring your own natural charisma to him. How do you look at him? I mean, is he a good guy? Is he a villain? Is he a hero? Tell us how to feel, Wyatt.

WYATT RUSSELL: I really don't like doing that. I don't like telling people how to feel because it's like explaining your art. It sounds cheesy. But it is. You go out and you do it. And however you feel is how you're supposed to feel. I am not here to say, you should like him.

KEVIN POLOWY: Have you been following the social media reactions to John Walker? I mean, there's a good amount of hater-aid out there for John.

WYATT RUSSELL: What'd you call it? Hater-aid? Yeah. That's funny. I've never heard of that. People send me some funny things that I think are absolutely genius and hilarious. But social media, it's not for me.

KEVIN POLOWY: I mean, it's part of the contract, though. The second you sign up for a role like this, you're going to be memed. It's going to happen.

WYATT RUSSELL: Oh, yeah. God. If you don't, you did something wrong.

- [BLEEP]

KEVIN POLOWY: You make a hell of an entry into the series. On first appearance, very briefly momentarily it looks like you're an innocent hostage until you start just wrecking superheros left and right. I mean you punch the crap out of Captain America at one point, or at least Captain America for now. Is that a more surreal moment than most you've had onset given sort of the iconic nature of that character?

ERIN KELLYMAN: Yeah. I feel like any time that I'm with any of the boys when they're wearing their outfits that I've seen them in for so many years, it's such a weird, weird feeling. It's so surreal that I'm actually in it rather than just watching it on TV. Yeah. Any time when I was with them was crazy to me.

KEVIN POLOWY: The flag smashers are not your usual antagonists. They're definitely not mustache twirlers. They're portrayed almost more sympathetic revolutionaries. How do you look at them? I mean, are they good guys? Are they bad guys? Is it not that simple?

ERIN KELLYMAN: I don't think it's that simple. And I think that will play out more throughout the series and people will understand. They are really-- I feel like I understand them. And so that already drives them away for me. It drives them away from being a villain because I can empathize with them.

AMY AQUINO: Rule number two.

- What was rule number two?

AMY AQUINO: Nobody gets hurt. It's a big one.

- Then why isn't that rule number one?

KEVIN POLOWY: I don't know why, but the minute you came on screen the first time, it conjured up in my head thoughts of Dr. Melfi, Lorraine Bracco's character in "The Sopranos". Did that ever come up to you? Was that a reference point for you at all?

AMY AQUINO: It wasn't at all because it actually never occurred to me. It occurred to my husband recently. He said, well, it's a whole, it's a "Sopranos" thing. I'm like, what? Oh. Yeah. I guess so. Kind of. Yeah. Except that to me, this situation is very different in that this is court ordered therapy that he would not be doing. In "The Sopranos", this is a guy who is trying to figure out what's going on with him and how do I try to make sense of his life. And in this case, if Bucky didn't have to do it, he absolutely would not be doing it.

- Oh, come on. Really? You're going to do the notebook thing? Why? It's passive aggressive.

AMY AQUINO: You don't talk, I write.