Interview — Luke Evans

Soundtrack Of My Life

With his pop album, »At Last,« Hollywood actor Luke Evans emerges from the tough-guy cocoon. He explains why music is his first love, why men should go to therapy more often and why we should not try to change our lovers.

3. Dezember 2019 — MYP N° 27 »Heimat« — Interview & Text: Katharina Weiß, Photography: Frederike van der Straeten

On screen, Luke Evans often takes on the part of the tough guy—in “The Hobbit,” “Beauty and the Beast,” or recently in “Midway,” the new blockbuster by Roland Emmerich. All these movies are designed to show him in very assertive and commanding characters.

Beyond the film business, Evans enjoys exploring the facets of human emotions through big ballads. Twelve of them can be heard on his debut album “At Last” now.

We met the artist in the speakeasy lounge of The Marqués, a bar and restaurant in Berlin. This elegant souterrain is a secret escape for lovers of vintage flair and strong cocktails—and the ideal place for a quiet chat with one of Hollywood’s hottest exports.

»I like to take people on a journey.«

Katharina:
At the age of 16, you left school to move to Cardiff and study singing. So, you are not an actor turned into a singer, but a singer turned into an actor. Which of these disciplines brings you more recognition? And which is it that brings you more self-fulfillment?

Luke:
Recognition would definitely come from my acting. Movies have a huge audience in general and I’ve done some very big films in the last 11 years—and these movies have been internationally recognized. When it comes to satisfaction: I like telling a story, I like to perform and entertain, I like to take people on a journey. I can do that through acting, but there is something very special about singing for me—because music is my first love. I sang my whole life. I found my passion for performing and telling stories through singing.

»I was a mystery shopper for Harrods and Harvey Nichols.«

Katharina:
In your early career, you starred in the musicals Taboo, Miss Saigon and Piaf. What memories do you cherish most about these probably pretty wild times being a starving artist?

Luke:
I was never really starving. When I was not on stage, I always did other jobs: I worked in a PR agency, I was a bouncer, I was a mystery shopper for Harrods and Harvey Nichols, I sang in a band. Doing musical theater was a wonderful time because you always used to be with a group of people for 12 months—you become a traveling circus. Everybody in that company will be your friends and family.

»It’s interesting turning a song on its head and stripping back everything that we know about it.«

Katharina:
Your choice of song titles and especially your choice of arrangements have a melancholic touch to it and the instrumentals are quite epic. What kind of esthetic pleasure did you find in creating the album that way?

Luke:
It’s interesting taking a song that people know extremely well, turning it on its head and stripping back everything that we know about that track. Maybe it’s the dynamic production of a song: “Love Is A Battlefield,” for example—a huge track! When you slow down the tempo, you listen to the lyrics in a different way. Or having a man who sings a song like “If I Could Turn Back Time”: You are immediately taken away from the Cher version, and because of that, and because you can’t compare it to anything else, it gets a whole different life.

»People need to be connected to what you’re telling them. Your job is to move them.«

Katharina:
Most of the songs on your new album are powerful tales of love and lost passion. What are the most important artistic skills to sing such songs in a credible way?

Luke:
It‘s about telling a story, in movies and in music: You are trying to relay an emotion on the people listening or watching. Your job is to move that person, they need to be connected to what you’re telling them. I think this was my incentive with that song: to connect with the listeners and to make them relate to the songs because I relate to them very well. They are part of the soundtrack of my life: songs that you hear and you immediately know where you’ve been when you heard them first. Or which lover you were with or what job was going on.

»You can only change somewhat when you meet someone.«

Katharina:
How intense was the journey back to your own experiences while recording the album?

Luke:
There are certain songs on the album that mean an awful lot to me: I remember when I heard “The First Time Ever I Saw Your Face” by Roberta Flack. I was twelve and became an instant fan. I listened to everything she did on her album First Take: her breathing, her technique, her phrasing, her emotional expression. It became extremely powerful to me and showed me what singing can do to somebody—if you really connect with the words and the melody. That song has been with me ever since.

Katharina:
You mentioned in a radio interview that you interpret the song “Changing” as “a powerful song about the challenges people face when in relationships that are perhaps not meant to be.” Then you continued: “Sometimes we find ourselves willing to do anything to make a relationship work, and in the end, you find yourself very unhappy and broken down from all the energy you’ve put in to making it work.” Are these experiences always just devastating? Or have you also found a source of creativity in some of that pain?

Luke:
I think life is full of experiences. Some are easy and some are hard. But if you can, you should learn from these good and bad lessons and become a better person. One thing the song explains very clearly: You can only change somewhat when you meet someone. But they should accept you for who you are—not for who you want to be. “Don’t Go Changing Just For Me,” the song repeats this line twice. Be who you are. And if it’s meant to be, then it will work.
If we are lucky enough to find that person we are falling in love with, we have to accept that there will be a lot of things about that person we are not going to understand. We will look at things differently. And the song tries to tell us: “That’s fine. You don’t have to change to fit into my world and the other way around. Our worlds can work together. We can travel through life and be different people—and can still be one.”

Katharina:
You have the charm of an all-around entertainer. Tastewise, I found some parallels to the work of Hugh Jackman. He is also starring in blockbuster productions, but he uses his spare time to travel the world with his The Man, The Music, The Show production. You met Jackman on The Jonathan Ross Show—could you see yourself doing a world tour like Jackman? Have you maybe even exchanged experiences with him at some point?

Luke:
Hugh Jackman is an incredible performer. He has an amazing ability to adapt to many forms of artistic expression. And he has built up an incredible fanbase. He has done The Showman and Les Misérables, so he has done his work. And now he is reaping the benefits of taking it to a world tour and filling The O2 in London. I admire and respect this a lot. So, when it comes to my aspirations: Who knows.

»I have chosen that the wardrobe to go with is much more about my personality.«

Katharina:
On screen, you often portray classic models of manhood. Will your stage performances also be influenced by patriotic Hollywood glamor and gentleman stereotypes like Frank Sinatra?

Luke:
I just want to be myself. Often as an actor, when you go on the red carpet, they dress you up in a suit or a tuxedo. But on At Last, it’s just me singing the songs that I love: my voice, my face, and my energy. So I have chosen that the wardrobe to go with is much more about my personality. Maybe I spare the classic attire for when I do a jazz album.

»My generation is still caught in old role models.«

Katharina:
Speaking of gender: In an interview last year you talked about psychotherapy and mental wellbeing. You were quoted: “We all carry baggage around with us, men carry it way deeper than women most of the time. We’re not good at talking about it and opening up.” Did you—after the interview—experience a lot of colleagues opening up to you about their own struggles?

Luke:
I wouldn’t say that people came to me after the interview to open up. But I definitely had friends that have lived through difficult moments, just like I have. And I have often recommended therapy to them. It helps me to keep me in a healthy mind space. Sometimes it’s just good to offload it to somebody you don’t know. Because friends or family members will always take a side, they will have an opinion, whereas a professional stranger can help you to see which thing you have to process. And sometimes you discover things you never thought were the reason you went into that room to talk about.
And even though times are changing and men can become more fluid with their emotions, I think my generation is still caught in old role models: In the South of Wales where I came from, men were told to have a stiff upper lip, be the men of the house, play rugby, don’t cry. It’s rubbish and ridiculous. We are all born with the same set of emotions, we are all born with the ability to love and to get hurt. And we will carry these emotions around with us till the day we die. So, there is no point in hiding, there should be no shame in it. And when you have problems with your mental health or you’re dealing with a lot of stress: There is help. Me and lots of people I know have immensely benefitted from seeing a therapist.

»Friends are the family you choose.«

Katharina:
You recently premiered the last song on your album, “Bring Him Home,” from the musical Les Misérables on British TV. Why is this title so special to you?

Luke:
I missed that song very much. It was the song that I sang when I was 16—and it gave me the scholarship to go to musical school.

Katharina:
Our current issue is dealing with the German word Heimat and feeling home somewhere. Which pictures come to your mind when you feel homesick?

Luke:
Some memories go back to our family house in Wales where my mum and dad live. But home is also London. I built a lovely home there and I have friends all over the town who are like my extended family. I’ve known them since I was 17, and what do they say: Friends are the family you choose. They are very supportive and care for staying in contact. That’s home to me: Being around the people I love.

»Everybody should choose their religion when they are old enough to understand what it is about.«

Katharina:
At the same time that you moved to London, you left the religion you were raised in. How did growing up as a Jehovah’s Witness influence your view on the world?

Luke:
It was a good upbringing. I was very loved, and I was brought up with a good set of standards. And weirdly, the way Jehovah’s Witnesses are obligated to knock on doors or to read the Bible in church—it was a great sort of formal training. I learned how to deal with rejection, I got doors slammed in my face. I learned how to speak in public. Weird but interesting: We did not celebrate Christmas or birthdays. Leaving home meant a completely new start. And I was a very ambitious young man, even at 16. But I was ready to go and spread my wings and discover new worlds. My opinion on religion now is: Everybody should choose their religion when they are old enough to understand what it is about. Religion can be very good and very bad, so it should be everyone’s individual choice and not part of the upbringing.

»I celebrated my first Christmas when I was 18.«

Katharina:
Even though you didn’t celebrate Christmas as a child, the album has been released at the beginning of the Christmas season. I assume it isn’t a coincidence that you’ve chosen such festive evergreens. Are you a big Christmas fan?

Luke:
Yes, I adore and love it. I celebrated my first Christmas when I was 18. And the holidays got bigger and bigger ever since. We travel for Christmas because people don’t make movies over the season. We’ve been to Colombia, Panama, Mexico. Sometimes with 16 people. This year it will just be me and my partner in Hawaii.