As a specimen, yes, he's intimidating! Much like Gaston, there's no one quite like Luke Evans—as his sexy, stripped-down photo shoot with Interview proves. The 35-year-old actor is known for roles in films such as Robin Hood, The Three Musketeers, Dracula Untold and Fast & Furious, and he'll next appear in the movie adaption of The Girl on the Train and Disney's the live-action reimagining of Beauty and the Beast.
His role as Gaston seems to be the perfect fit, since Evans admits that people tend to see him as a bad boy. "The first thing people ask when they realize I'm in the [The Girl on the Train] is, 'Who are you?' More often than not, they guess the wrong character," he tells the magazine. "I don't know what that means about my reputation or what they think of me."
Something that people definitely don't commonly know him as is a singer. In fact, Evans has musical theater experience—he's starred in London and other U.K. productions of shows such as Avenue Q and Rent, in which he played Roger. The actor actually confesses that his "dream would have been to be a solo artist. But it didn't work out like that, and I also love to sing lots of musical stuff; I was really good at that. I've got a big voice."
With the Disney remake coming out next year, the actor is right in saying that more people will find out about his hidden talent! It seems that Evans was really the perfect fit for Gaston. "I had to audition. They wanted to hear everybody. I can tell you huge names that were in the room before me and after me," he reveals. "I was like, 'F--k.' Everybody was being seen for these roles, and for Gaston especially. It's a great role, and he has this big song—well, there are a few big songs."
"I went in and met Bill Condon and it was quite nice...I remember going in and I knew the song and I knew that I could sing it really well—that's what I've done my whole career up until this point. It was one of those moments where I could relax and thoroughly enjoy every minute of it, knowing that vocally I could do it. It was quite nice to see Mr. Condon's face at the end of it smiling away. I was like, 'OK, well I think I've done something right in this room,'" he says. "But I went back twice to try different things and it was great. It's quite nice to audition sometimes."
According to Evans, "When you audition for something you do feel a little bit more legit. It's a validation that you are the right person for the job because they've chosen and they've seen you do something connected to that role. I loved every second of [the film]. It was thrilling. You just felt like you were on a big MGM set of a musical. It's huge and it's breathtaking, some of the stuff that we shot. I can't wait to see the final cut. "
And while we wait for that big musical breakout to discover the singer in Evans, we'll be enjoying his Interview spread.