Chris Evans Reportedly Dating Actress: ‘It’s Serious’

Chris Evans is reportedly dating actress Alba Baptista. The two have been dating for over a year and their relationship is “serious,” a source told PEOPLE Thursday. Baptista, 25, is a Portuguese actress who made her English-language acting debut in the Netflix series Warrior Nun and starred in Mrs. Harris Goes to Paris.

Evans, 41, and Baptista are “in love,” the source said, adding that he has “never been happier.” The Captain America star’s friends and family “all adore” Baptista, who is the daughter of an engineer and translator. She speaks five languages and won the Berlin Film Festival’s Shooting Star award last year.

The report on Evans’ dating life comes just days after PEOPLE named the Boston native the Sexiest Man Alive for 2022. Evans told the magazine he was “very content” with his life as it stands now, but he “absolutely” wanted to get married and start a family. “When you read about most of the best artists, whether it’s actors, painters, writers, most of them [admit] it wasn’t the work they made [that they are most proud of], it was about the relationships; the families they created, the love they found, the love they shared,” he told the magazine. In his 41 years, Evans said he has learned that “those things are the most important.”

Evans also mentioned that he has been a better romantic partner lately, although he didn’t mention dating anyone specifically. “You spend a lot of time learning what’s been helpful and what hasn’t been,” Evans explained. “We all have patterns, hang-ups, or baggage that repeat and echo, so I’ve really been able to kind of identify where I need improvement and what works.”Evans was previously linked to actresses Jenny Slate, Minka Kelly, and Jessica Biel.

Evans starred as Captain America in the Marvel Studios movies before saying goodbye in Avengers: Endgame. This year, he voiced Buzz Lightyear in Disney/Pixar’s Lightyear and starred opposite Ryan Gosling in Netflix’s The Gray Man. His next movie is Red One, an Amazon Prime Video Christmas movie co-starring Dwayne “The Rock” Johnson and directed by Jumanji: Welcome to the Jungle director Jake Kasdan.

Elsewhere in his PEOPLE interview, Evans admitted that he missed playing Captain America. “It’s been one of the greatest joys of my life to kind of dive in and prepare for these movies,” Evans said. “They’re challenging but the beauty is the movies are great and you get out what you put in. It’s been a wonderful very symbiotic relationship so I’ve been thrilled to do it. When the movies end, you’re very happy to have a break but very quickly you miss it. I miss it now. But I’m very grateful, very happy to have been a part of them.”