PEOPLE’s newly crowned Sexiest Man Alive adores gushing about his adorable sidekick.
Speaking with PEOPLE for the Sexiest Man Alive issue, cover star Chris Evans shares how blessed he feels to have a pet like Dodger.
“What a lucky thing,” The Gray Man star says of rescuing his 7-year-old boxer mix. “Because you don’t know what you’re going to get. Anyone who is a dog owner knows it’s a bit of a gamble. I hit the lottery.”
Evans, 41, adopted the dog — named after a character from his favorite childhood movie, Oliver & Company — in 2017. The pair met at an animal shelter, where Evans was filming a scene for his film Gifted.
Today, Dodger and Evans are best friends and business partners. The Marvel Cinematic Universe actor is so smitten with his canine companion that he had Dodger’s name tattooed on his chest. And like any devoted pet parent, Evans frequently posts about his pup on social media, sharing photos of Dodger cuddling, enjoying car rides, and dressing up.
“The amount of ones I post is dwarfed by the amount of ones I have on my phone,” Evans says of his extensive Dodger picture collection.
“I post them, so I can delete them because I have so many, and I need to save room on the old camera roll,” he adds of how he makes space for more Dodger photos on his phone.
In early 2022, Evans and Dodger partnered with pet food company Jinx, and both star in the brand’s new ad spot.
The clip features videos of Dodger throughout his life and voiceover work by the dog’s celebrity owner.
“There’s just something special about dogs. They’re just so genuine, so good,” Evans says in the spot.