Luke Evans says he 'wouldn't have a career' if only gay actors played gay roles

Luke Evans has said he wouldn’t have an acting career if only gay actors played gay roles and straight actors only played straight characters.

The 43-year-old Welsh actor has a lengthy list of acting credits to his name, including roles in The Hobbit, Dracula Untold and Nine Perfect Strangers, as well as performing in numerous West End productions.

However, Evans, who is gay, has said he doesn’t necessarily believe that only gay actors should play gay characters on screen, and pointed out that most of his characters have been straight.

Evans was asked his views during a recent interview with the Telegraph after Doctor Who showrunner Russel T Davies said he thought gay actors should play gay characters.

When asked if he agreed, he said: “I’m not sure about that.

“Gay people have definitely missed out on gay roles, for sure. Russell spoke very powerfully, passionately, about this point. I get it, and I totally think that things do need to change.

“But from my perspective: firstly, I wouldn’t have had a career if gay people played gay roles and straight people played straight roles. I’d have played two roles out of the 36 projects I’ve worked on, or whatever [the number] is.”

Pictorial Press Ltd / Alamy Stock Photo

He went on to stress that in his opinion, the best actor should land the role, regardless of their sexual orientation.

Evans said in his view ‘the right person gets the job'.

He continued: "Talent and ability, and a bit of luck and timing. That should be the reason why you get a job. It shouldn’t have anything to do with anything else."

In January last year, Davies, who wrote Channel 4 drama It’s A Sin about the 1980s HIV crisis, said he thought that straight stars shouldn’t play gay characters.

He told the Radio Times: "I'm not being woke about this... but I feel strongly that if I cast someone in a story, I am casting them to act as a lover, or an enemy, or someone on drugs or a criminal or a saint.

Amazon Prime Video

"They are NOT there to 'act gay' because 'acting gay' is a bunch of codes for a performance. It's about authenticity, the taste of 2020.

"You wouldn't cast someone able-bodied and put them in a wheelchair, you wouldn't black someone up. Authenticity is leading us to joyous places."

If you’ve been affected by any of these issues and want to speak to someone in confidence, contact the LGBT Foundation on 0345 3 30 30 30, 10am–6pm Monday to Friday, or email [email protected]