Luke Evans on Our Son: "I've never seen this from the gay point of view"

The film tells the story of Nicky (Evans) and Gabriel (Billy Porter), a married couple whose collapsing relationship ultimately leads to messy divorce proceedings and a fight for custody over their son, Owen (Christopher Woodley).

For Evans, it was the chance to explore a common experience from a fresh perspective that enticed him to the project.

"It's a story that we're so used to seeing in huge Hollywood movies, but from the straight point of view," he tells RadioTimes.com during an exclusive interview.

"I've never seen it from the gay point of view – a gay couple going through a very normal, common experience. But it felt important."

He adds that it was the "honesty" of the script by screenwriter Peter Nickowitz and director Bill Oliver that made the project jump out at him – and which made his character so instantly relatable.

"[They] did such a great job of just finding the right detail of dialogue that felt painfully real... it's not sensational in any kind of way," he says.

"It's a sadly very normal, common story. But it's nonetheless extremely painful and traumatic: couples break up no matter how much love there has been, sometimes the love just goes or changes. And reading it, I just had such empathy for all of the characters, but especially Nicky."

He continues: "I understood him. I understood his confusion, I understood his mistakes, I understood his choices. I am always looking for those characters that I can relate to somehow - and with Nicky, I understood him implicitly."

Beyond that implicit understanding, Evans was determined not to do too much preparation for the role. For example, he had no intention of speaking to any divorce lawyers – or to anyone that have been through a divorce themselves – to get a better understanding of the topic, in part because he wanted his own experience to mirror that of Nicky's.

"He didn't know how to navigate it, so the knowledge wouldn't have helped me," he says. "In a way, I wanted to feel as [if I was] living this moment as Nicky was living – every day waking up, not understanding or knowing how he was gonna get through that day, not understanding his son, this confusion and this lack of communication.

"Finding the humanity in any character, sometimes it's easier than other times, depending on the character, who they are. But with this character, you know, I'm a gay man. Nicky is a gay man. And not that I've been through a divorce, but I've been through break-ups. I've been through that confusion, and desperation of hoping that you can fix it, and it just can't be fixed.

"So I had empathy for him, I understood him, but I wanted to live every day as Nicky was living and discover and learn and try and find a map out of it."

Although the film provides a specific LGBTQ+ perspective on an age-old topic, Evans notes that he's watched the film with many friends and each of them have found it immensely relatable, regardless of their sexuality.

For example, he recalls attending one particular screening with two friends – a straight couple – and being moved by their reaction.

"They watched it with me and they saw themselves, because they've been through something very similar many years ago," he explains. "They managed to get through it, but they saw themselves in these two characters quite profoundly.

"Which is what's interesting about this story – or not interesting about this story – it's just two people, gay, straight, whatever, it's a universal experience that, sadly, people go through on a daily basis all over the world."

As well as the difficulties of divorce, one of the main themes of Our Son is fatherhood, with the film exploring how there's not one, perfect way to be a good father.

This is expressed not just in Nicky and Gabriel's differing approaches to parenthood, but also in one touching scene that sees Nicky and his friends discuss their own upbringings and relationships with their dads.

It was another aspect of the film that appealed to Evans as soon as he got his hands on the screenplay.

"That's the beauty of this script," he says. "And I think that's probably why I fell in love with it the second I read it... [It] really touches on some very powerful universal things like fatherhood, parenthood, childhood and how there is no right and wrong. There is no clear textbook journey through being a dad.

"And obviously then if you're a gay kid growing up in a household... I'm a gay man, and I remember feeling different at a young age. But the life I was in was a straight life and everybody around me was straight. I had no opportunity to say, 'Oh, I feel a bit different.' You know, gay kids sadly don't – sometimes they do, but it's quite rare.

"[So] I just thought it was very interesting to see everybody's perspective in that lovely scene with his friends. And after that dinner they're sitting there talking about how their dads treated them, and how some of them have lost relationships with their families. It was so touching and so understandable. I think that's why it it's such a beautiful story."

As mentioned above, Evans's career has been incredibly versatile, and he says that he's always looking for "different platforms to be creative". In addition to his work on film and TV and his music career, he has recently launched a fashion brand, something he says he's been "dreaming of doing for a very long time".

"They all come from a creative source," he says. "And I feel very good, I feel very happy when I'm performing, I feel very happy when I'm creating something important and special and unique and for me.

"And it's a wonderful job, it really is. It can be exhausting at times and pull you away from everything, but that's also part of the challenge as an actor, to throw yourself into things and challenge yourself with roles and stories and psychology. It allows me to dip into different worlds all the time, which is a really special thing."

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One world that Evans recently dipped into was that of Michael Sheen's directing debut, the three-part BBC One drama The Way, which debuted earlier in 2024. He had only a minor role – "in and out", as he puts it – but he found it an intriguing project to be a part of, and was impressed by his countryman's directing chops.

"It is a very, very interesting subject matter," he says of the series, which saw him play a mercenary known as 'The Welsh Catcher'. "I mean, a lot of people that have watched it have thought how scarily real it is, how something could escalate in the wrong hands being manipulated by the media, or the government, or whatever it is.

"Michael Sheen has directed something very interesting, very unusual, and triggering in a way, and thought-provoking. All those wonderful things. He started conversations. And I think that's what real storytelling is about, I think there's stories that make people question and doubt and imagine."

As for what's next, Evans teases that later in 2024 he'll be starring in an adaptation of "a very well known book" that hasn't yet been announced, while he has the lead role in an action flick produced by Luc Besson that should be arriving at some point before the year is out.

Meanwhile, he's also working on producing and developing projects with his own production company, an experience he says has been "really fulfilling and satisfying creatively".

But one project that sadly won't be going ahead is a prequel series to Disney's live-action Beauty and the Beast film from 2017, in which Evans played the villainous Gaston.

The show – which was set to see him reprise his role alongside Josh Gad's LeFou – had been announced as a Disney Plus original, but Evans has now confirmed reports that it won't be happening after all.

"Unfortunately, it fell apart," he says. "We were very, very close to shooting. There was a lot of love for it. But at the moment, I don't think it's gonna go. It's a shame because we were very excited about it, but I can't say much else about it!"

However, one past role that Evans could yet return to is another antagonist: his Fast & Furious character Owen Shaw.

Owen – the brother of Jason Statham's Deckard Shaw – first appeared in the sixth instalment of the ongoing saga, and has gone on to have smaller roles in two subsequent films.

And with the franchise's final film looming, Evans isn't ruling out another appearance.

"That world... they get bigger and bigger and crazier and crazier, and the more bad guys they bring in the less chance that Owen comes back," he says.

"But the Shaw family is still there. And obviously, [there's] Jason as Owen's brother and Helen Mirren as his mother – so the family really has probably the longest legacy of a bad guy family in the franchise."

He adds: "I'd go back if they invite me, I think it's very fun. It would be very fun to reprise the role. Although, he's now got all these scars on his face. So it'll be hours in prosthetics. I'm not entirely sure I want to do that!"

Our Son is now available to download on digital platforms. Check out more of our Film coverage or visit our TV Guide and Streaming Guide to find out what's on.

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