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<\/p>\nLuke Evans Nonchalant on Being Gay in Hollywood: \u2018It\u2019s Private\u2019<\/b><\/p>\n
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Actor Luke Evans gave a slightly defensive\u00a0interview in the premiere issue of British luxury magazine\u00a0The Jackal<\/em><\/a> on the life of acting, particularly as an openly gay<\/a> man<\/a>.<\/p>\n The 37-year-old Welshman was seen most recently as the camp villain in Disney\u2019s live<\/a> action\u00a0Beauty and the Beast<\/em>, with the film itself having drawn attention for its passing nod to gayness<\/a>. Evans came out at 22 to\u00a0The Advocate<\/em>, while still primarily a stage actor\u2014his crossover to film came later, seven years ago. Having made his entree\u00a0through\u00a0action-centered roles such as those in\u00a0The Clash of the Titans<\/em>,\u00a0Robin Hood<\/em>, and\u00a0The Immortals<\/em>, he has more lately made the shift into more brooding, complex characters, in films such as the independent\u00a0High Rise<\/em> and the husband in last year\u2019s blockbuster\u00a0The Girl on the Train<\/em>.<\/p>\n When pressed, he seems diffident, almost resentful, on assessing his sexuality and its relevance to his career:<\/p>\n Given that his films have grossed close to four billion dollars overall, Evans\u00a0seems content to be nonchalant about his sexual identity, at least in this one interview. The complex discussion of Hollywood\u2019s ambivalent treatment of LGBTQ characters and issues in its films<\/a> remains one on which his input might have been more thoughtfully contributed, perhaps, but instead his success speaks\u00a0for itself.<\/p>\n The post Luke Evans Nonchalant on Being Gay in Hollywood: \u2018It\u2019s Private\u2019<\/a> appeared first on Towleroad<\/a>.<\/p>\n\u201cI try to keep my personal life and my private life separate,\u201d he says, his tone now more controlled, but not frosty. \u201cNot for any reason other than there\u2019s a clue in the title \u2013 it\u2019s private. As an actor you have to keep some sort of enigma and mystery. There\u2019s a dignity to keeping private. I\u2019m trying to keep a bit of dignity to my private life and to protect the people in my life. Like my family. They don\u2019t do press. They don\u2019t do interviews. I don\u2019t get photographed with them. Although everyone knows they\u2019re my mum and dad in the Valleys. It\u2019s the choice I\u2019ve made.\u201d<\/div>\n<\/div>\nCan Hollywood cope with the idea of a gay<\/a> action hero? \u201cThat question is difficult to answer,\u201d he says. \u201cI don\u2019t know how \u2018Hollywood\u2019 as you call<\/a> it, thinks. I don\u2019t think about it. I don\u2019t feel they\u2019re connected. Talent, success, what you do in your personal life\u2014I don\u2019t see how one should have an effect on the other. I don\u2019t think I\u2019d be in this business if I felt that I was not being employed because of who I am in my personal life.\u201d<\/div>\n<\/div>\nPerhaps because of his stance, he is one of the first openly gay<\/a> actors not to be labelled as such. Or perhaps this is simply a sign that audiences have moved on. Either way, there\u2019s a more pressing issue at hand, which is Evans\u2019s future. What does it look like? And where does he fit in among that mid-to-late 30s generation of British talent, compared to whom he\u2019s still less well known, at least on this side of the Pond?<\/div>\n<\/div>\n\n<\/a><\/p>\n<\/div>\n