Hollywood Hunk Luke Evans: 'I Have Never Been Ashamed' of Being Gay

Luke Evans dispels the rule that Hollywood actors cannot be out and be an A-lister.

After appearing in musicals in London's West End, he broke into film in 2010 at the age of 30 playing the god Apollo in the 2009 remake of "Clash of the Titans." In the ensuing ten years he has appeared in some 32 films, including such franchises as "The Hobbit" and "Fast and Furious," as well as such commercial fare as "Beauty and the Beast," "The Girl on the Train" and "Midway," and smaller films as "Professor Marston and the Wonder Women" and "State Like Sleep."

More recently he appears in his first gay role opposite Nicole Kidman and Melissa McCarthy in Hulu's upcoming series "Nine Perfect Strangers," adapted from the novel by Liane Moriarty. (Streaming date to be announced.) He has also released his first CD, "At Last," a collection of classic and modern songs that run from a cover of the titular Etta James classic to Cher's "If I Can Turn Back Time," available at this link.

This week he spoke to Attitude magazine in conjunction with him being awarded their "Man of the Year" Award, where he discussed being gay in Hollywood and his own public acknowledgment of his sexuality, which has elicited controversy. In 2011 EDGE reported how he appeared to go back into the closet when his Hollywood career was on the rise.

While working in the West End, Evans was open about his sexuality, even joking about it while appearing in the play "Hardcore": " "I bought my first [gay porn] film when I was 15 and now I have a good collection and I add to it regularly. I research it almost every night!" When asked what makes a good gay porn star, he responded, "an enormous big fat cock!" But once in Hollywood, his Wiki page was scrubbed of any references to his sexuality. His publicist at the time said that Evans "was an inexperienced, young actor and now with maturity and hindsight, he has learned not to engage the press in his personal life again.."

It was, he admits, a personal decision, not because he wanted to hide his sexuality, but because he wanted to keep some things personal. "My personal life just became the last thing that I had. Also, what was strange was that when people did find out that I was gay, there was a lot of articles and stuff written saying that I was hiding it, and I wasn't."

He continues: "I just wanted to get online and I wanted to pick up the phone and say, 'Do you realise I left home at 16 because I was gay?' I went into the world as a kid, because I had to. I am proud and happy, and I've lived a very big life that I'm super happy with. And I've never been ashamed. And now all of a sudden I was being treated in this way and it was a scary moment because I was, like, oh God, this is horrible. This is not true. None of this is true."

Since then, as his Instagram attests, Evans is now most comfortable with sharing his personal life with his fans, and often makes headlines when he does.

"I hope that I've broken down a lot of barriers, just because I'm trying to represent my community, but I can't represent everybody. And I certainly can't please everybody. I just have to do it my way," reflects Luke.

"I just try and be authentic, because this is who I am. I am this person. I'm not creating another image so that I can portray one to you."

Check out these pics from his Instagram: