Disney's Beauty and the Beast would not have been as alluring as it was without the presence of Luke Evans, who played the character of Gaston, the arrogant hunter. But, Evans had some other plans for the role. The Midway actor wasn't sure about Gaston's role and rather wanted to play the character of the Beast, played by Dan Stevens, in the blockbuster.
Speaking about the iconic role that catapulted him to stardom, Evans said: "I really wanted to be able to merge my singing career with my film career. But I didn't know whether Gaston was the right role for that."
Turned down the role three times
"One of my mates said, 'Mate, Gaston's a brilliant role'. One Sunday they came round and we watched it with the kids. I watched this character and thought I could do something fun with this. I'd already turned down the role three times. I thought maybe it was the Beast I should be playing but they'd already cast the Beast Then I thought, 'I'm going to make them love me then absolutely despise Gaston!", said the 40-year-old actor.
In one of the earlier interviews, Evans who played the role of Bard the Bowman in the The Hobbit trilogy, said: "The casting director knew Gaston was for me. It was always going to be Gaston, but it was hard to get my head around because he's a freak of nature, isn't he? He's a larger than life man."
'At Last' ushers a new beginning for Evans:
The actor who essayed the role of newspaper illustrator John Moorein TNT's The Alienist, released his album titled 'At Last'. Maintaining that majority of the songs reproduced by him in the album were originally sung by women, Evans said: "The songs sound completely different coming out of a man's mouth."
The album offers an array of classic and modern songs, personalised by the 'Fast and Furious' actor. Some of the iconic songs include Maria McKee's Show Me Heaven and Cher's If I Could Turn Back Time. The album itself derives its name from Etta James originally sung At Last.
Revealing the reason behind his choice of songs, majorly sung by black female artists, Evans said, "There is something about - I've always said this and always will - there is something about a black women's voice. They sing from this depth and purity that you only hear from a black woman. I don't know what it is."
Songs inspired from moments in personal life
The highly private star said that the choice of songs was made on the moments from his personal life. "Songs are emotional landmarks for good moments and bad moments, and these songs definitely have a key to the landmark moments of my life. There are songs connected to moments in my life and that's why songs stay with you.
"Like the song you danced to at your wedding or the song you play when you first get your heartbroken," said the Welsh star adding that he was not worried about the speculations being made on his life by public.
