Luke Evans has challenged assumptions about LGBTQ+ people and discussed the debate over who should play gay characters on screen.
In ITV’s latest series The Party, Evans portrays Martin Gilmour, a married political journalist who is secretly gay and haunted by his feelings for his former schoolfriend, Ben Fitzmaurice, now a Right-wing politician played by Tom Cullen.
Discussing the drama’s themes, the actor was asked whether the assumption still exists that gay people—including those who keep their sexuality private, such as Ben—will automatically vote Left.
“Just because you are gay yourself doesn’t mean you have to be woke,” Luke said. “Your sexuality is one part of who you are, but our opinions on society and life differ in every single person.
“I’ve got very woke gay friends and very unwoke gay friends. We don’t all agree on the same thing.”
Luke, who is gay and lives in Lisbon with his partner of six years, Fran Tomas, also said he was grateful to have moved away from the UK. “I love it there. Life is so simple. That resonates with me,” he said.
Luke Evans has addressed LGBTQ+ stereotypes and explained why he does not believe gay roles should be reserved exclusively for gay actors, saying: “Just because you are gay doesn’t mean you have to be woke.”
In ITV series The Party, Luke Evans plays Martin Gilmour, a married political journalist who is secretly gay and tormented by his love for his former schoolfriend, now Right-wing politician Ben Fitzmaurice.
The conversation then moved to the continuing Hollywood debate over whether gay characters should be played exclusively by gay actors.
Although Luke, 47, has portrayed gay characters during his career, he told The Telegraph: “I’ve played mostly straight macho roles my whole career, and I’ve loved it.”
He continued: “If gay people only played gay characters, then I’d have had no career. But I understand there’s also not enough opportunities for gay actors to play gay characters, or for trans actors to play trans characters.
“And I do think the time is over for famous big Hollywood actors to play a trans character. That shouldn’t happen any more.
“Or straight actors playing a gay character by amping up all the clichés, which I think is offensive. But some of the most compelling, profound performances I’ve ever seen have been straight actors playing gay characters.”
Asked whether the same principle applied to non-Welsh actors taking on Welsh roles, the Pontypool native replied: “Yes, of course. The problem is a lot of people who think they can do Welsh accents do very bad Welsh accents.”
Luke was previously reported to be in contention to become the next James Bond. At the time, he said he was delighted to be “breaking boundaries” by being included among the actors considered for the role as a gay Welsh actor from the Valleys.
“Nobody knows – that’s part of the fun of it all … For a Welsh boy, from the valleys – a gay kid from the valleys – is in that small group of actors that’s up for playing Bond,” he said.
“That in itself is boundary-breaking [sends] a message to the youth of my country [that] anything can happen.”
He also joked about fans who had already placed bets on him becoming the next big action hero.
“You may win some money, but don’t come to me when you lose it,” Luke said.
Luke Evans, who is gay and lives in Lisbon with his partner of six years, Fran Tomas (pictured), said: “Your sexuality is one part of who you are, but our opinions on society and life differ in every single person.”
Luke knew his sexuality from a very young age but was too afraid to come out to his parents Yvonne and David in case they ‘disowned him’ because of their religion.
He admitted he suffered an ‘extremely painful’ childhood, having been bullied in school for being Jehovah’s Witness and gay.
Speaking on the Queerphoria podcast, Luke described the trauma he endured after suffering for years in silence about his sexuality.
He said: ‘When I was born in 1979, I was born to very young parents. They were newly Jehovah’s Witness, their life was all about that.’
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‘I knew from such a young age that if I was going to have any happy life I had to leave and I knew that I would have to lose people and start again,’ he added.
Luke spoke about the time he sought help from the Samaritans one night after school at the age of 14.
He said: ‘I’d been into the yellow pages at age 14 and I had enough money to go to have one consultation with this psychologist. My friend at the time drove me there, I confided in her that I had these feelings.
‘I went to the Samaritans office and this very nice gay man opened the door and I sat with him. And he said very few words, he said “You are not alone, I am a gay man and I am very happy, I have lots of friends, I have a good life and you will too. You will just have to get through”.
‘I went home and somehow got through the next two years, knowing there were people out there like me. I just knew I needed to leave home and not hurt my parents. I knew by 13 or 14 I was clearly gay.’
Recalling the moment he came out to his mother, Luke was overcome with emotion as he read a chapter of his memoir, Boy From The Valleys: My Unexpected Journey.
Talk then turned to the ongoing debate in Hollywood as to whether gay roles on screen should exclusively be played by gay people (pictured at the 2026 Met Gala)
Luke mused: ‘If gay people only played gay characters, then I’d have had no career. But I do think the time is over for famous big Hollywood actors to play a trans character. That shouldn’t happen any more’ (pictured: Eddie Redmayne playing a trans character in The Danish Girl)
He read: ‘After wandering for over an hour, we eventually ended up at the bottom of our street. I was painfully aware that to my mother what I just told her was effectively like holding my suicide note.
‘I was gay, so I would die at Armageddon. To her it was as simple as that.
‘I knew she wasn’t upset at the fact I liked men, but because being gay meant that while she and dad got to live in paradise on earth, they were going to lose me. It’s still something my parents think to this day.
‘Mam did try to bring up religion during our conversation. As a Jehovah’s Witness it was her duty to protect the flock from any rotten apples and as an openly gay man, I was right up there with the worst of humanity.
‘Part of me still feared my mother might turn her back on me but during the course of that conversation I was beginning to believe that she wouldn’t.’
Beginning to tear up, he continued: ‘When we got back to the house, mam took me in her arms and I felt so…’
Struggling to get his words out, he said: ‘Sorry.’
Continuing to read the book, he said: ‘I felt so much love and acceptance in that hug and I started to cry.
‘Lying in bed that night, my overwhelming emotion was one of relief. Finally one of the two people I love most in the world knew the real me.
‘Mam now understood the trauma I had suffered over the years. I no longer needed to hide about who I really was.’
Luke said: ‘It’s really hard to read. I’ve read it so many times and then it still takes me back to that moment.
‘There is so many moments. You put yourself back in the moment, it was euphoric in a way because she didn’t turn her back on me. I was ready to be thrown out and it didn’t happen.’
Asked what his childhood was like, Luke said: ‘Extremely painful. It made me angry that I couldn’t talk about it. I was a skinny kid, I wasn’t competitive, I wasn’t good at any sports, I was one of two boy Jehovah’s Witness in a school of 500.
‘I was the one who got bullied, I was called “Jovy”, Jehovah’s Witness slang.
‘As much as I tried to be nice, nobody wanted to mix with me. The boys were horrible and made my schooling unpleasant every day of my school existence.’