Luke Evans reveals Gemma Arterton’s hilarious reaction to him coming out on set

Out gay actor Luke Evans has revealed former co-star Gemma Arterton’s reaction after he came out to her on the set of Tamara Drewe.

The pair starred in the rom-com in 2010, in which Evans played one of Arterton’s love interests, at a time when he was not yet publicly out as gay, despite many of his friends and family knowing.

In his new memoir, Boy from the Valleys: An Unexpected Journey, the Welsh actor addressed his sexuality as “a ‘thing’ to be handled and strategised, rather than simply being just another aspect of my identity,” and wrote that when he “started working in movies, it suddenly became an issue again because at that time you just didn’t get openly gay actors playing straight romantic leads”.

But the Good Grief star has revealed that he did come out to Arterton on-set.

Evans wrote that his then partner Lee only visited him once during filming, “primarily because we couldn’t be open about our relationship,” and was introduced as just friend to people in the industry.

But he “did end up telling [Arterton] who he [really] was,” after the visit.

“Our bedrooms were next to each other in our hotel,” he revealed in the book. “And when I confessed that Lee was actually my boyfriend, she said with a smile: ‘Honey, I’m in the room next door… I know!’

“It was such a relief to be able to be open with her and know that she had my back regardless, because she knew how the industry worked and the pressure I was under. The big American studios were still very much of the ‘a man is a man’ mind-set.”

Tabloid newspapers later ran a story claiming that Evans was in a relationship with Lee, after which he came out to his management.

“My publicists told me not to worry, that they would make sure I wasn’t ever put in any position where I was made to feel uncomfortable. They would not respond to gossip,” Evans went on to say.

“I knew it would come out eventually (and I knew I would never deny it once it did) but I hoped that if I got a good body of work behind me, then the fact I was gay might not change anything.”

Evans has denied claims he went back into the closet to help his career, saying in 2020 that he’s “never been ashamed” of his sexuality.

Boy from the Valleys: An Unexpected Journey is available now.

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