luke Evans talks about playing the legendary character first portrayed by Universal in 1932. The biggest challenge for him was to look good ‘out of clothes’
From Fast & Furious to The Hobbit and now Dracula Untold, it has been a whirlwind experience for you...
Yeah, it’s been the fastest six years of my life. I sometimes stop — not very often — but sometimes stop and take stock of what I have actually achieved and I am very proud of it and this moment in my career feels like the icing on the cake — to be helming my own film and to be playing the title role of a famous character that’s been played by some fantastic actors throughout the generations. I feel very lucky to be doing it and it’s an honour to be now the new Dracula on the block.
This is your first leading role. Do you see it as a challenge or find it intimidatingIJ
No more intimidating than anything else I’ve ever done. It’s a role. You have to give everything to every job you do. You have a responsibility to do the best job you can and make sure you honour the script and the writers and both directors’ and your ideas. I have been playing with this script for about nine months which is quite a long time before starting a movie. And working with Gary on the script and talking to him on a weekly business from wherever we were in the world, there’s been a lot of dialogue and conversations about his journey and a lot of changes in that time. It’s been great for that reason. I feel very invested in it. Even though I’ve been doing other projects like finishing The Hobbit and doing another movie…in my mind, I was still setting pieces of the jigsaw puzzle in my head, so that when I arrived here, it wasn’t too daunting. I have been working very hard to gain a reputation of sorts in this film business, which I’ve only been doing for about five years now and I felt like I’m ready for it. I’ve been acting since I was 20, so it’s not like I just jumped into playing a lead role. But it is a lot of responsibility. It’s a legendary character who was first portrayed in 1932 by Universal. It’s an exciting thing. I am just lapping it up and enjoying every minute of it.
Tell us about the physical preparation for this role.
Muscles don’t stay big. They tend to shrink, which is really annoying. My trainer is with me all day. We train before I come to work and then I just keep training all day. There’s quite a lot of semi-naked stuff in the film. It’s not just about looking good out of your clothes. Again, honouring the character I am playing, he was a warrior. He went to battle. He wasn’t one of those that sent his men to battle, he was on the front lines. He was an active leader. So I wanted him to — and so did the creative team — look correct out of his clothes. And I have a lot of scars in the beginning of the film before I become a vampire. It was all about a certain look. That means that I started training for this job in May. My trainer’s been following me since then and we’ve trained through two movies. He’s been to New Zealand with me and he’s here every day on the film. And we train after work, every day. And my diet is specific. But if you’re playing a leading role, that is required. So I’ve brought it to the table.
Share something about your character ‘Vlad the Impaler’ and his transformation into Dracula.
You meet Vlad at the beginning of the film and he’s in a good place. He’s had 10 years of peace. He’s in a loving relationship with his beautiful wife. He has a good kid and his people are happy and everything is prosperous. And then the threat comes of the invasion of the Ottoman Empire and Mehmed (played by Dominic Cooper), he loses his security. He becomes quite vulnerable. The cracks start to show. Then he gains this ‘gift’, the powers that he has, after he chooses to become a vampire and you see a different sort of character. He becomes more confident, he has hope, all of a sudden, in a different way. He also has these abilities which he didn’t have before, which no one else knows about, but he’s aware that he can do these things. He can speak to you without opening his mouth and you can hear what he’s saying. He can fly and jump. He’s immortal and his wounds heal. As we go further into the film, I get to play those internal, confident, boding moments. He transforms but he doesn’t realise the powers immediately. It’s sort of a revelation. As the plot goes on and his journey progresses, he becomes aware that he can do certain things and that certain things happen to him.
Tell us about your personal style statement.
A guy’s biggest style mistake is definitely trying to look too cool. As long as you’ve got a good pair of jeans, a good pair of boots and a few good shirts, you’re fine. If you’ve got a good piece of clothing or a good accessory, it’ll work with everything. I’ve been lucky enough to wear a lot of nice suits in the past few years — I like a snug fit, single breasted all the way. Trousers, I like them to be quite fitted, the sharper the better.