Celebrity
Disneys brilliant baddie is booked, Bond-ready, and broody.
Luke Evans is running through his work schedule for the rest of the year.
Then Im going to do another movie at the beginning of December for another week in Acapulco.
And then Im around for press, and then Im flying to Japan to do something there.
And then I get Christmas!
He exhales, shaking his head in mock exhaustion.
It can be done, and while I can and still enjoy it, why not?
He only landed in Madrid a day or so ago.
Before that, he was in Ibiza, and Portugal prior to that.
Tomorrow, hell go home to London for a couple of nights.
Nor is he someone who makes a habit of turning down opportunities.
Hes wearing a navy polo shirt that reveals a thin, tattooed band around his right forearm.
Salt and pepper stubble runs across his jaw.
I have always been a yes person.
He was born in Pontypool, South Wales, and raised in Aberbargoed as a Jehovahs Witness.
How did his parents react?
It was difficult, but we love each other and love overrides everything, he says.
Today, the three of them are very, very close.
In Cardiff, he worked as a mailboy in a bank.
He sold shoes in River Island.
God bless em, they gave birth to a firecracker of a child!
he says of his parents.
Musical theatre was great, but I wasnt at any kind of starry level, he says.
I was saving pennies to afford my rent.
At 26, I said, If Im still struggling at 30, Im giving up.
What would he have done instead?
I come from a family of very practical, working class people… ; I can cut hair.
But, of course, Evans never had to fall back on his plan B.
Not long after, he landed his first film role in a 2010Clash of the Titansremake, playing Apollo.
The parts havent stopped rolling since.
There is a boyish energy to Evans, who talks fast and isnt afraid to poke fun at himself.
As themisogynist Gaston inBeauty and the Beast, Evans inhabited a version of evil shrouded in toxic masculinity.
Why is he drawn to these abominable men?
Well, I dont [get] drawn to them, he chuckles.
I just get offered them.
And why is that?
Im good at them, he shrugs.
Maybe because its so far removed from who I am.
Its much of a deeper dive into a person and the psychology of a human being.
Josh Gad, who playedGastons long-suffering sidekick, LeFou, has his own theory.
Luke is so damn disarming, he says.
Its the second time Evans has played a gay role; the first was in last yearsNine Perfect Strangers.
It was emotionally one of the most traumatic things Ive done, Evans says ofOur Son.
The story is so real.
Of course, there is still room for those stories.
There is also room for stories about everyday life.
Playing a father onscreen is a little workshop for when Evans becomes a parent himself.
He has spoken in the past about wanting to have a child before he is old.
Does he have an age in mind?
I dont want to be [saying], I cant do that because of my back.
I think Ive still got a good decade before any of those things are a problem.
Hes unfazed by the prospect of balancing fatherhood with his frenetic work schedule.
They went to different schools and they just made it work the travelling circus of life.
When it comes to his love life, Evans is understandably guarded.
he says, stiffening slightly.
I can understand probably 90% of what I hear, he says.
When hes not working, Evans surrounds himself with an eclectic group of friends.
(The interior designer Kelly Hoppen was also present.)
Evans flashes a wry smile.
Theres a very simple answer.
Were all ambassadors … Theyre lovely people, and theyre very British, and I miss my British life.
Lorraine Kelly is another unlikely friend.
I stood next to Lorraine Kelly and her daughter.
We had the best evening.
I have one final question for Evans.
Are audiences ready for a gay 007?
In it, he plays a Delta Force special operative soldier from the American army.
Hes being deliberately vague but the subtext is clear: Luke Evans is ready for it all.
Top Image Credits: Dior Men sweater
Photographer: David Urbanke
Stylist: EJ Briones
