Chris Evans perfecting New York accent with new cop friends

Actor Chris Evans has befriended a few New York City police officers to help him perfect his Big Apple accent for his Broadway play Lobby Hero.

The Avengers star had to learn how to speak like a real New Yorker to portray a local cop in the Kenneth Lonergan play, and he decided to turn to the boys in blue for a little assistance after realising he would have his work cut out ditching his twang as a native of rival city Boston, Massachusetts.

"It's been hard, it's a challenge," Chris told TV show New York Live. "I've befriended a few New York City cops, I was trying to listen to them and I'm getting to a point now that when I have a couple bears, normally I slip into (a) Boston (accent), I think I'm slipping into (my New York accent)."

Lobby Hero marks Chris' Broadway debut, and the 36-year-old admits starring on the Great White Way has taken him on a trip down memory lane.

"It's exciting," he said. "As a kid, coming to New York from Boston, we'd do these big family trips, and in a way it kinda feels full circle."

The Broadway production, also starring Michael Cera, Atlanta actor Brian Tyree Henry, and British actress Bel Powley, is a revival of Lonergan's 2001 play, which revolves around a security guard at a Manhattan apartment complex, his strict supervisor, and an overbearing cop and his young female partner, who are part of an ongoing murder investigation.

Lobby Hero, directed by Trip Cullman, officially opened on Monday night (26Mar18) to generally favourable reviews, with the New York Daily News reviewer noting Evans' accent was "passable".