The Falcon and Winter Soldier Actor Shares Emotional Moment Wielding Captain America’s Shield: “Straight Up Tears”

In superhero cinema, few things are as iconic as Captain America’s shield. In fact, it’s a prop that transcends the silver screen — it’s something likely recognizable by anyone with even the slightest working knowledge of pop culture. That’s why when The Falcon and the Winter Soldier’s Desmond Chiam got to hold the shield on set one day, he shed a tear because of what it meant to him.

In a beautifully crafted Instagram post shared Friday evening, Chiam recalled a childhood friend that passed away, a moment him on a mission to becoming a real-life superhero. That led to him landing a role in a Marvel Studios show, even though he plays a Flag Smasher — one of the radicals currently going toe-to-toe with Sam Wilson (Anthony Mackie) and Bucky Barnes (Sebastian Stan).

With a picture of himself holding the shield, Chiam recalls the classic Hollywood tale of coming close to landing the white whale of jobs only to lose it all and start back at the beginning.

“They do this thing in Hollywood when you’re the final three or four up for a big role where they have you sign the contract for your whole deal, and if you don’t get it – into the trash it goes. I’ve spent the last two years chucking out too many of those,” Chiam says.

That’s when he reveals the Marvel propmaster gave him a piece of the paint that’s chipped of Captain America’s shield. Chiam currently carries that paint chip in his phone case so he takes it everywhere he goes.

“I’m still trying to figure out why Cap means what he does to me, and I’m edging around a theory. Maybe it’s all the stuff I said before, but maybe it’s also his place as a human amongst gods,” Chiam adds. “For a guy who would be below second on any tier list, he does all right. And I think that’s a message that means a lot to me, personally – I’m human, yeah, I’ve failed and lost and fucked up a lot, either by standard metrics or the crazy Asian ones our parents pass down to us – but hey. It’s fine.”

Watch The Falcon and the Winter Soldier on Disney+.

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