Luke Evans talks about his roles in “No One Lives” and “Fast & Furious 6”

Luke Evans is a name that might sound familiar but you may not be able to put a face to the name…yet. This guy was the star of last years “Immortals”, which he played the role of Zeus. Since then he has taken on the lead villain role in “Fast & Furious 6”, worked with Peter Jackson on “The Hobbit: The Desolation of Smaug” and “The Hobbit: There and Back Again” and recently become attached to the remake of “The Crow”. But before all those films, he did a gritty horror film called “No One Lives from WWE Studios. Media Mikes had a chance to chat with Luke about his role in that film and comparing it to his upcoming larger scale projects.

Mike Gencarelli: What was the drawing factor for you to play “Driver” in “No One Lives”?
Luke Evans: When I read the script, I couldn’t help but really get behind this character. He had such a great switch from being the typical guy to this crazy psycho. I thought it would be fun to be able to tackle both of those aspects of him. He really does some sick things in the film but was real blast to play.

MG: How did you prepare for the role to get into mind of the crazy son-bitch?
LE: Well to be honest, I tried more not to stay in the mind of this “crazy son-bitch”, as you say. I am an actor, so I would get into the character and do my scenes and then flipped the switch back. Some of the things he does in this film are pretty crazy like hiding inside of a body. So I didn’t want to spent too much time inside Driver’s head [laughs].

MG: What was you biggest challenge working on the film?
LE: I would have to say it would have to be some of physical things that Driver has to do in the film. I was literally covered in blood throughout. I even remember that my fingernails had a permanent red coating for the entire shoot. So that took some getting used to.

MG: I’m a big fan of “Versus”.. How was it working with the director Ryuhei Kitamura on his only second U.S. film?
LE: It was great actually. When we met we really hit it off and we really understood each other. I liked his ideas for the character and he liked the way I was planned to execute it. We had a very symbotic relationship and it made things easier during the shoot.

MG: Sticking with playing the bad guy, we go to your role of Owen Shaw in “Fast & Furious 6”. What do you enjoy most about taking on these villanious roles?
LE: It is great to play the bad guy. Owen Shaw in this film is just such a great villain. This guy never wants to go down and fights really hard. Also there is a lot that you can do with roles like this that gives you as an actor a lot of room to grow and develop.

MG: How was it going from going from a low budget film like “No One Lives” to two gigantic epic films like “Fast & Furious 6” and the two upcoming “The Hobbit” films?
LE: It is quite different. But I really enjoyed doing both kinds of film. When we were shooting “No One Lives”, it was in the middle of the blistering Summer in Louisiana and it was extremely hot. Literally when I finished that shoot I went straight to New Zealand to start working on “The Hobbit” films, so it was a real transition. I do not mind if I do not have a large trailer with catering service while working on a film. I just enjoyed though the change and being able to switch between the two very different types of production.

MG: You have been on every news page I’ve seen this week about you becoming attached to the remake of “The Crow”; are you excited about taking on this role?
LE: Yes, I am very excited for this film. It is going to be great and I can’t wait to start shooting. I hope the fans of the original are going to enjoy it as well.