Gifted (2017)
- Before Chris Evans was cast, several major A-list stars turned down the lead role because they felt the script was too risky.
- Eagle-eyed viewers have noticed a hidden easter egg referencing Marc Webb's previous film in the background of the opening scene.
- The original script for Gifted was written over a decade before production finally began in 2017.
Gifted is a 2017 American drama directed by Marc Webb. Chris Evans stars as Frank Adler, a boat mechanic raising his prodigiously talented seven-year-old niece Mary, played by Mckenna Grace, in a modest Florida community after her mathematician mother's suicide. Frank's determination to give Mary a normal childhood โ friends, school, sunshine โ is challenged by his mother Evelyn, played by Lindsay Duncan, a formidable British woman who wants Mary enrolled in special schools to develop her extraordinary mathematical gifts, believing the girl may be capable of solving one of the Millennium Prize Problems that her late daughter was working on.
Chris Evans delivered one of his most endearing non-superhero performances, bringing warmth and dry humor to a man whose love for his niece is expressed through his fierce protection of her right to be a child. Mckenna Grace was a revelation as Mary, balancing adult-level intelligence with believable childlike behavior. Gifted earned $43 million worldwide on a $7 million budget.
