Luke Evans Looks Back on His Closeted, Religious Youth in Wales

Luke Evans is opening up about his early life experience as a gay youth growing up in a religious home in Wales.

The out action star, who's new memoir, "Boy from the Valleys: My Unexpected Journey," was just released, looked back on his childhood years, a time when he faced bullying and felt forced by his family's adherence to the Jehovah's Witness faith to deny his fundamental self.

"Speaking to BBC Radio Wales' Lucy Owen program he said he had no choice but to try to fit in during his early teens, despite knowing he was gay," the BBC reported.

"I guess I chose the religion. I'm not sure I believed in any of it, if I'm blatantly honest, but I didn't have much choice," the "Hobbit" star admitted to the show's host.

"I was too young to leave home legally," Evans added, before further noting that he was reluctant to make a stand for authenticity at such an early age because he "didn't want to put his mum and dad through that..."

He decided, he said, to "try and make the best of a situation," the BBC relayed.

But if the situation at home with loving parents was hard, it was much worse at school, where his pacifistic religion – and the vibe on which his school mates picked up – caught the attention of bullies.

"I was the perfect target," the "Beauty and the Beast" star said. "I was a Jehovah's Witness, I was a very quiet kid, I was an only child. I didn't have the ability to fight back."

The way the bullies zeroed in on his being gay was particularly painful.

"When you're that young and you have to think about why they're calling you things, [a] terrible word," Evans said, "a kid should never have to think, what's wrong with me? Why is it me they're picking on?"

His faith prevented him from engaging with the school's theater crowd sooner than he did, the BBC relayed.

"For many years, I wasn't allowed to be in the choir because they sang religious songs," Evans explained. "I couldn't be in any Christmas shows because we didn't celebrate Christmas. There was no harvest festival... no Easter."

That finally changed, the writeup detailed, "when he was 14" and "the school did a non-religious show at the end of the year," which was "the first time he got to do something in school and the only time he sang and performed."

Evans was 16 when he had the chance to spread his wings, moving away to Cardiff and then finding his way to London, where he studied the theatrical arts, the BBC recounted. Eventually, at age 19, he came out as gay to his parents.

"It's not easy," Evans told the BBC, "and I know a lot of ex-Witnesses don't have any relationship with their parents or their families. They've cut them off completely." His own parents didn't do that, however; rather, Evans explained, "love has risen above everything."

"Respect, love and understanding, and that's what we have had to have with each other," the "Fast and Furious 6" actor said, noting that "we've all chosen different paths, but it doesn't mean we can't love each other and be in each other's lives."

As Evans forged ahead with his career, a lucky break came his way with a godly part in the remake of "Clash of the Titans." More big movie roles came his way, a previous report at EDGE recounted, and no one in Hollywood "asked him about his sexuality. If they had, Evans would have told them the truth."

However, "by 2014, Evans was ready to discuss being out. During the promotional tour of 'Dracula Untold,' he was asked by Women's Wear Daily if he was setting a new precedent as an openly gay action star," EDGE recalled.

"It's good for people to look at me and think, this guy is doing his thing and enjoying what he's doing and successful at it and living his life," Evans said in answer to the query – even though, he later recounted, "I thought it could shatter my casting credibility."

"But that was all in my head because the jobs kept coming," Evans added. Indeed, the thesp found he "was getting the roles over my straight counterparts. Some were very pissed off."

Still, it was his ability to come across as "rugged" and "masculine" that gave his career a shot of adrenaline and propelled him into the sorts of action-oriented roles he continues to enjoy.

"There was never a point where I was ashamed," Evans told the Guardian – though there was, he added, "a plan from the age of 12 to escape because I wanted to be the person I am."

That escape came at a cost. "There was a lot of hate," Evans told the Guardian. "I was being treated as if I'd turned my back on my identity and the community I was a strong part of."

Moreover, authenticity cost him friendships from those who remained in the faith. "I just have one school friend who wasn't a Jehovah's Witness," Evans told the BBC.

Still, being out of the closet doesn't necessarily mean making a ruckus, the "Echo 3" star said. In an interview with Red Magazine, the 45-year-old actor mused, "'Openly gay' feels like you're waving a flag and you're screaming it from the rooftops. And, by the way, if anybody wants to do that, good on them, just be careful on the roof."

But he didn't feel a personal need to scream anything, and he suggested that his fans didn't need him to.

"I don't think they care any more," Evans told the publication. "It has given me a sort of a virtual tap on the back.... like, 'Keep going because we like what you do, and we don't care.'"

Still, Evans said, "I am somebody who is definitely visible. I am not going to be dictated to by anyone as to how I live my life. I dictate that, and my only objective is that I'm happy and that there's nothing that's being compromised for my happiness, my partner's happiness, my family's happiness and anyone that I affect in my life. That's all that matters to me."

Though acting in movies, TV series, and stage productions must also matter to some extent; the busy actor certainly has enough work to keep himself occupied. Evans is set to appear in the upcoming "Weekend In Taipei," a George Huang-directed film in which Evans "plays an American DEA agent who becomes entangled in a love affair with a mercenary driver, Joey Kwang (played by Gwei Lun-Mei)."

Evans' memoir dropped Nov. 7, just after an election that many queer Americans find disheartening, if not downright frightening.

"I hope it makes people realize you can find hope even when you think nothing is going your way," Evans told Red Magazine about his memoir.