Comic book fans will know Wyatt for playing John Walker/Captain America in the new Disney+ series The Falcon and the Winter Soldier.
Solid Goldie
The rest of us may know Wyatt Hawn Russell for being the son of Goldie Hawn and Kurt Russell. He’s actually the longtime couple’s only child together, but he has three half-siblings: Kurt’s son Boston Russell, from his marriage to Elvis costar Season Hubley, and Hawn’s children from her relationship with ex-husband Bill Hudson, Kate and Oliver Hudson.
Wyatt’s late grandfather Bing Russell also had his share of the spotlight as an actor and baseball player, but the 34-year-old star has worked hard on building his own career. He first appeared onscreen at age one in 1987’s Overboard, a romantic comedy his parents made together. OK, it wasn’t a starring role; he’s just spotted in the background. Ice hockey, not acting, was initially his true passion. But when his athletic career ended due to severe injury, he decided to pursue acting as a full-time job.
When Wyatt auditioned for The Falcon and the Winter Soldier, he didn’t realize he was being considered for the role of John Walker.
“I didn’t know it was for Captain America,” he said. “They don’t tell you who you’re trying out for. You get the part, and then you have to ask who it’s for.”
Wyatt also said of playing the new Captain America, “It would be an honor to be disliked.”
Little did he know, though, that the role would lead to him receiving death threats! Turns out some fans have been unable to separate fiction from reality; Marvel Cinematic Universe (MCU) fans took to posting on Wyatt’s official Instagram account, wishing him dead. The posts have since been deleted, and when news spread about the hate mail, more, let’s say, discerning fans started posting messages of support.
So, no, he’s not quitting.
“Everyone’s feeling a personal connection to people that they like, and that they identify with,” Wyatt told reporters. “A lot of people really love Steve Rogers and Chris Evans’ version of him, and now it’s like, ‘Somebody else is that guy? It should have been Falcon.’ It’s fun to put your version of what you don’t like onto somebody because it feels good to direct it to a person and have valid points about why you don’t like them. It’s not every day you get to be villainized in the Marvel world. I take it as a compliment.”
Yep, never let the haters get you down.
You may, of course, always let Disney+ get you up. Costs eight bucks a month, but you can cancel any time. That means you can join, binge all six hours of season one, and then back out until season 2 (with a new name) arrives. When was the last time you could take your entire family — with friends — to a movie for eight bucks?
Should you be interested in this particular famous offspring, you might check out Instagram. Should you wish to see his parents in action — albeit to be clear not the action resulting in Wyatt — Overboard would be the most famous, but you should watch their first co-starring role in Swing Shift. (The Kurt character has a really awesome name in that one.) Whatever your take-away here, Wyatt Hawn Russell has a really fun family.
