Luke Evans Reflects on His Upbringing as a Gay Jehovah’s Witness

Hollywood actor Luke Evans has detailed the challenges he faced growing up as a Jehovah’s Witness while knowing he was gay. Evans disclosed that he concealed his sexual orientation, partly to safeguard his parents. Given that Jehovah’s Witnesses do not condone homosexuality, Evans, a Welsh actor known for films including Beauty and the Beast, The Hobbit, and Fast & Furious 6, understood that revealing his identity would result in his expulsion from the community, with repercussions for his family. He stated, “I just knew that because of the religion it would pose a very difficult situation for us, because the religion would not accept it.” Raised as an only child in the south Wales valleys, he described having a very close and happy relationship with his parents, David and Yvonne. Speaking on BBC Radio Wales’ Lucy Owen programme, he explained that he felt he had no alternative but to try to conform during his early teenage years, despite being aware of his homosexuality. “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. “I was too young to leave home legally. If I’d have left, they’d have dragged me back.” He conveyed that he “didn’t want to put his mum and dad through that” and recognized he had to “try and make the best of a situation,” which he proceeded to do. In his new memoir, Boy from the Valleys: My Unexpected Journey, Evans recounts being bullied at school due to his religion and sexuality, describing it as a “horrible time.” He shared, “I was the perfect target, 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. “When you’re that young and you have to think about why they’re calling you things, terrible word… a kid should never have to think, what’s wrong with me? Why is it me they’re picking on? Because bullies can be brutal.” He mentioned that Jehovah’s Witnesses are very peaceful. “They’re a very pacifist society. They don’t fight, they don’t argue, so I wasn’t really prepared for these big bullies in school. But I just got through it.” His religious beliefs meant that for a considerable period, he was unable to participate in any school shows. “I didn’t do any of that as a Jehovah’s Witness. “For many years, I wasn’t allowed to be in the choir because they sang religious songs. I couldn’t be in any Christmas shows because we didn’t celebrate Christmas. There was no harvest festival… no Easter.” He recalled that when he was 14, the school organized a non-religious performance at the end of the year, which was his first and only opportunity to sing and perform at school. He departed Aberbargoed in Caerphilly county at 16 and relocated to Cardiff, where he commenced singing lessons. He worked as a mail boy in a bank before receiving the chance to study at theatre college in London. He was 19 when he came out to his parents, who continue to be practising Jehovah’s Witnesses today. “We’ve been through a lot together. What we’ve done is we’ve come through two very different journeys in life where love has risen above everything. “Respect, love and understanding, and that’s what we have had to have with each other, because we’ve all chosen different paths, but it doesn’t mean we can’t love each other and be in each other’s lives. “I respect them. They respect me.” He expressed significant gratitude that they had managed to navigate this situation. “It’s not easy, 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.” He further stated that he had lost many friends from the age of 16 and younger. “I have none. I just have one school friend who wasn’t a Jehovah’s Witness.” He is now 45. The Jehovah’s Witness elders discovered he was gay when he was in his early 20s, at a time when he was starring in the musical Taboo and gave an interview for LGBT magazine The Advocate discussing his life in London. He remembers their discovery and subsequent contact. “Somehow it managed to get back to the witnesses who then wanted to speak to me about it. “They wanted me to go back and speak to them, but the time had gone by at that point, and I had been living a very different life, and I was very happy”I was successful and doing my job and something I always wanted to do. That was the moment when I was disfellowshipped from the religion.” Evans remains one of the few openly gay actors cast in Hollywood as heterosexual leading men and action heroes. “When I was doing these roles as a gay man, these macho, straight roles, there was no-one to compare myself to, there was no-one to refer to of my generation doing what I was doing, playing the role I was playing.”It was quite difficult to navigate that and understand what I should do and how I should do it.” Despite all the challenges Luke said he encountered growing up as “a gay boy in the south Wales valleys,” he has achieved happiness and success. He mentioned that it took him months to decide whether to write his memoir, but he ultimately chose to do so to help other people who might relate to a journey similar to his. “I may have started as a bullied kid in a small, little village, but I’ve really fought for what I wanted and for who I am. And I am there now, and I’m very happy… “This the story of hope. This is a story of love. This is a story of overcoming obstacles.”This is a story of just putting one foot in front of the other and keeping going and knowing that there’s something better.” Luke Evans’ interview with Lucy Owen on BBC Radio Wales is scheduled to be broadcast on 13 November and will be available for catch-up on BBC Sounds. Copyright 2024 BBC. All rights reserved. The BBC is not responsible for the content of external sites. Read about our approach to external linking.