Celebrity

Luke Evans: I want sexuality to stop being a ‘novelty thing’

The 41-year-old actor is openly gay and says people often talk about him in regards to his sexuality rather than his talents, which he would like to see changed in the future.

Luke Evans wants people to stop seeing sexuality as a “novelty thing”.

The 41-year-old actor is openly gay and says people often talk about him in regards to his sexuality rather than his talents, which he would like to see changed in the future.

He explained: “Who you are doesn’t have any impact on your talent or your success, or where you go in life. It’s a part of you, but it doesn’t have to be the first thing people say about you.

“If you’re talented, you’re a talented actor, you’re a talented scientist, you’re a CEO of a tech company – oh, and you happen to be gay. That’s how it should be. And until that day happens, it’s always going to be this novelty thing, and I didn’t like that. I just didn’t want it to be a thing at all. But that’s my hope.”

The ‘Nine Perfect Strangers’ star also lamented the fact that parts of the world are “going backwards” when it comes to equality for LGBTQ people.

View this post on Instagram

A post shared by Luke Evans (@thereallukeevans)

He added: “We live in a world where sometimes things go backwards, there are societies and there are countries where things are going backwards for equality and acceptance of LGBTQ, as well as many other kinds of inequalities.”

And Luke would love for young LGBTQ people to rise above the criticisms they receive and “have any career [they] want”.

Speaking to Attitude magazine, he said: “I want that message to relate for the young community who are dealing with so much more s*** than we have to deal with.

“You can be happy with yourself and you can also be whoever you want. You an have any career you want and nothing should dictate what you do because of your sexuality.”

Luke is currently in Australia filming “Nine Perfect Strangers”.