Luke Evans leads ITV's new drama The Party as Martin Gilmour, a scholarship student who grew up poor but found his way into British high society after befriending the wealthy, charismatic Ben Fitzmaurice at boarding school. The five-part drama is based on Elizabeth Day's best-selling 2017 psychological thriller.
The fragile dynamic between the characters fractures during Ben's lavish 40th birthday party at his new palatial country estate. The morning after the celebration, Martin finds himself in a police station being interrogated about a shocking incident that took place during the night.
Luke Evans' Early Years
Pontypool-born Luke grew up in Aberbargoed and has spoken candidly about his time there. In a new interview with WalesOnline he said: "I think when you come from a working class background nothing is delivered to you on a silver platter, right? You don't have the opportunities that middle and upper class kids do.
"I went to a council school, a government comprehensive. I left school at 16. I needed to work, I needed to get a job, and I thought that was the end of my further education."
He later won a scholarship to London Studio Centre before going on to star in a host of West End productions like Rent, Miss Saigon and Avenue Q and then moving into TV and film.
'Dark Place' in Teenage Years
Luke has previously spoken about reaching a "dark place" during his teenage years when he was experiencing difficulties growing up as gay and being a member of the Jehovah's Witness community. In the third episode of the BBC series, Alison Hammond's Big Weekend, Luke opened up about his experience of bullying and conflict between his homosexuality and religion, to the extent where he reached a "dark place" and contemplated suicide.
"I knew I was different, I didn't know I was gay," he explained. "I just knew I was different from the ages of 7, 8, 9, you know, very young."
He continued: "I also didn't have anyone outside the religion to be able to confide in or ask what was wrong. I've been baptised in the religion and that meant if I chose to be openly gay, I would be cut-off from everyone and everything I knew." Luke admitted that the experience was "very complicated" and "very confusing". He said: "I felt very, very isolated."
Alison then asked if he had reached a "dark place", to which Luke replied with: "Oh god, yeah. My teenage years, when it was clear in my mind who I was, and I was just… I had no-one to talk to. It was a very difficult position, place to be. Yeah, I contemplated suicide for sure."
Famous Ex and Current Relationship
Luke is openly gay and he dated Spanish model and actor Jon Kortajarena. Jon has done advertising campaigns for high-profile companies like Just Cavalli, Versace, Giorgio Armani and Guerlain and in 2009 Forbes ranked him eighth in The World's 10 Most Successful Male Models.
Luke is now in a relationship with entrepreneur Fran Tomas. Previously speaking to People, Luke said he considers his boyfriend, who he has been with since 2021, to be his "best friend".
"We're a great team in life. He's my best friend. He's the calm, deep waters, and I am the rushing, bubbly water. And between the two of us, we can solve anything," he shared with the publication.
The Party is on ITV1 and ITVX.
