Happy Birthday to Out Welsh Actor Luke Evans

Image Source: Getty / Samir Hussein

Luke Evans was born today, April 15, in 1979. He is a Welsh actor. Evans began his career on the stage, performing in many of London's West End productions such as Rent, Miss Saigon, and Piaf before getting his Hollywood breakthrough role starring in the Clash of the Titans 2010 remake. Following his debut, Evans was cast in such action and thriller films as Immortals (2011), The Raven (2012), and the re-imagined The Three Musketeers (2011).

As Gaston in Beauty and the Beast

In 2013, Evans starred as the main antagonist Owen Shaw in the blockbuster Fast & Furious 6, and also played Bard the Bowman in Peter Jackson's three-part adaptation of J. R. R. Tolkien's The Hobbit. Evans also portrayed the vampire Dracula in the character's film origin story, Dracula Untold. In 2016, Evans appeared in the thriller film The Girl on the Train, co-starring Emily Blunt.In 2017, Evans starred as Gaston in Disney's live action adaptation of Beauty and the Beast, and portrayed American psychologist William Moulton Marston, creator of fictional character Wonder Woman, in the biographical drama Professor Marston and the Wonder Women. In 2018, Evans stars in TNT drama The Alienist, as newspaper illustrator John Moore.

Performing in Rent

Evans was born in Pontypool, and brought up in Aberbargoed, a small town in the Rhymney Valley, Wales. At the age of 17, he moved to Cardiff, where he studied under the supervision of Louise Ryan, an established singing coach. In 1997, he won a scholarship to London Studio Centre, then in Kings Cross, London. He graduated in 2000.

From 2000 to 2008, Evans starred in many of London's West End productions as well as several fringe shows in London and at the Edinburgh Festival. In 2008, he landed his most significant theatre role playing Vincent in the play Small Change written and directed by Peter Gill. For his performance he gained recognition from film casting directors and U.S. agencies and was nominated for the Evening Standard Award for best newcomer. Later that same year he did his second show at the Donmar Warehouse, Piaf, in which he played Yves Montand.

Evans is an out gay man. In a 2002 interview, he said, "Everybody knew me as a gay man, and in my life in London I never tried to hide it," and that by being open he would not have "that skeleton in the closet they can rattle out". In 2004, he said his acting career had not suffered by being out. In 2014, Evans acknowledged the importance of marketability, and that, although he does not hide his sexuality, he is reticent to discuss it with the media.

According to a recent article in the Daily Star, Evans current boyfriend is actor Victor Turpin (pictured at right in a recent episode of Will & Grace). Evans, who is working with director Tate Taylor on a new film, Ma, helped get Turpin a part in the film.