GQ: Diesel celebrate Luke Evans!

Diesel celebrate Luke Evans!

On the occasion of his 32nd birthday, Welsh actor Luke Evans is set to star as both a Greek god and a French literary legend. Soon to be seen on screen as Zeus in The Immortals and Aramis in The Three Muskateers, Evans recently celebrated another remarkable year in the company of Diesel. Held at their spectacular King’s Cross offices, Evans was surrounded by family, friends (including Katherine Kingsly, Holly Goodchild and Tonya Meli) as well as Giacomo Nicolodi and Sophia Kokosalaki from Diesel. Here he he talks to GQ.com about how to lose weight like a deity, small talk with Christoph Waltz and what Aramis has in common with Batman…

GQ.com: For The Immortals you transformed your physical appearance. How did you lose 33 pounds in three months?
Luke Evans: That was quite intense. I remember turning up on the first day to see 16 stuntmen who had been training for four months already and thinking “What have I done? I’ve made a massive mistake here…” But I put my head down and basically got on with it. We had three trainers and did a mixture of chapala yoga and kung-fu, gym and so much cardio. I did it day in, day out for seven weeks for four to five hours a day. I was like an animal — wake up, train, eat, train, shake, train, sleep. It was full on. The dramatic change was extreme.

What was the hardest part of the training?
I always find cardio the most monotonous. Running on a treadmill shows me why hamsters are so crazy. My trainer tried to make things more interesting — once a week, he’d wake me up at seven in the morning and before breakfast we’d run 21 flights of stairs in the hotel three times. Also you’re constantly feeling hungry because you’re only eating what your body can burn off — you don’t want to store anything. You’re just like a processing machine. But we did have our “cheat days” — there was a really good steak restaurant that Henry Cavill and I would frequent once a week. We’d have a great rib-eye steak, chips and couple of pints — we relished it!

What was it like going to comic fair WonderCon for the first time?
Really interesting because these people live for movies and this the only time you get to see them face to face. It’s quite nice because I come from theatre, so I’m used to immediate interaction, response and seeing them at the stage door. In film you don’t get any of that. The fans were very well informed — most of their questions were better than half the journalists! Obviously we had Superman [Cavill] with us as well, which is obviously a highlight…

Are you looking forward to seeing fans dressed up as your Immortals character
I think it wouldn’t be as interesting as seeing people dressed up as Jedi Knights. I don’t think I can see too many overweight Darth Vaders walking around the place.

What did you make of Mickey Rourke?
To be honest I never met him! I met his dogs — they were all over the places. I never had a scene with Mickey. I remember he had an incredibly deep voice, like rolling thunder. Everybody who worked with him thought he was quite the legend.

Are you getting a bit of tired of people comparing The Immortals with Clash of the Titans?
I can’t get too tired as I’m only beginning the press for this movie and it only comes out 11.11.11! I have to bear with it. People are going to make the comparison — it’s Greek mythology — but the finished product is extremely different. It’s a very different telling of the story.

You told Movieline that your Apollo originally had a much greater role in Clash of the Titans. What didn’t make it onto screen?
Actually I think most of those clips are online now! Basically Apollo was more of a mediator between Olympus and Zeus and Perseus on Earth. He played much more of an active role. On paper it was quite an interesting character — but you can see them all on Youtube!

What was last play you really enjoyed?
Gemma Arterton in Isben’s “The Master Builder” at the Almeida — she was absolutely brilliant. Ibsen’s difficult and quite hard to follow but she just brings the stage to life. There was a great cast as well. I don’t see enough theatre — I wanted to go and see “Frankenstein” at the National but I couldn’t get a ticket for. But I’m off to see Keeley Hawes in “Rocket To the Moon” next week.

On set of The Three Musketeers, how long did you hang out with Christoph Waltz before mentioning Tarantino?
Because Christoph is such a modest humble man, you feel almost like you can’t talk about the work he’s done! He’s just so normal and incredibly decent human being. I actually didn’t mention it although I really wanted to. We talked about German politics more than we talked about Tarantino. He’s a really great guy — he’s got great comic timing.

Did you bond with the other Musketeers?
We trained every day together. I class Ray [Stevenson] and Matthew [Macfadyen] as the brothers I never had now. They’re fantastic guys — I hope we get to do a sequel.

What was it like working with James Corden?
He’s another good friend of mine now! He plays Planchet who was our man servant. Basically James was forced to carry all our luggage around on a daily basis and be our general dogsbody. But the guy is hilarious and he was so funny on set.

You’ve described Aramis as a “Casanova” with “cat-like” qualities… which reminds us of Antonio Banderas as Puss in Boots in Shrek. How do you reclaim the character from parody?
[Laughs] He comes over as a Batman-esque ninja! He’s really stealthy and has a real James Bond style about him. All his stunts are all very dramatic. He still has all the attributes we associate with Aramis from the book — his Machiavellian qualities, he’s very studious, he comes from a very religious background, is very loyal. I used all of that and with the help of Paul W. S. Anderson, who had a very clear idea of what he wanted from each Musketeer to be portrayed and used the technology and choreography to bring it into the 21^st century.

Did you study previous cinematic versions of The Musketeers?
I didn’t study them but I’ve seen them all! It’s one of my favourite stories but I didn’t use them too much — it’s good to come to a character who has been played before with fresh eyes. It’s me playing it, nobody else and I’ve got to find something that I can bring to the character to make it different. I referred to the book rather than anything else.

Orlando Bloom is a great actor, but he seems quite reserved in the press. What’s he like on set?
He’s great guy and we hung out a lot. We got to know each other — you have to onset or else you’re going to be very lonely! He’s a really decent man — he’s got a little boy now I hear. Miranda Kerr is absolutely lovely. She was very pregnant when we were shooting The Three Musketeers. They are a lovely couple, very sweet.

We’ve seen 3D used and abused by directors. What excites about about it?
The technology we were using on Musketeers was the Vince Pace/James Cameron technology that was developed for Avatar. We’re using the most advanced technology that there is right now, in a film you would not expect it to be used on. We shot on locations around Bavaria that had never been put on film before. It really does benefit the film. I am not so sure about post-3D conversion anymore — I think that has a lifespan and it’s coming to an end. As an actor though it doesn’t make any difference — although It was quite funny sitting there as the three musketeers in ancient with glasses on watching big plasma screens.

What are you reading at the moment?
I’m actually half way through The Amateur American by J Saunders Elmore, which is the film I’m playing later this year. The book is very different to the script — it’s way more political — but it’s great to have more reference. I’m meeting the director soon [Ross Katz] who is apparently a character in his own right. It’s a really great story.

What’s the status of No One Lives?
It’s another very interesting story! I’d love to do it, it would be great to do it, but it’s getting all the scheduling and all that stuff to happen. It’s a brilliant script and it’s a horror/thriller, a genre I’ve never stepped into. A fantastic role, I’d love to play it but it’s hard to get an independent film made. I don’t want to talk about it because it’ll jinx it.

How did you come to get involved with Diesel?
I met Giacomo Nicolodi in Cannes last year when I was there promoting Tamara Drewe. I was at a party and got introduced to him. To me, growing up in South Wales, a pair of Diesel jeans were the thing to have. If you could afford them. I didn’t own a pair till I was in my twenties. I mentioned this to Jackimo and a couple of weeks later I was invited to a dinner when I met Renzo and Sophia Kokosalaki. I love their clothes and the people who work for Diesel are fantastic they always look after me so well. I was lucky enough to go to their fashion show in the Spring — it’s a very nice relationship. You can always tell a pair of Diesel jeans — their cut, their fit, the look of them. You can never get bored when you go into a Diesel store — you can go from a stunning suit to a pair of distressed jeans. Renzo is incredible — whenever I’m in his company, he’s so inspirational to be around. He does so much for charity — he got so many things for other people he does. That’s admirable. He’s got this energy, he surrounds himselves with good people and they’re Italians — so they’re fantastic.

• Diesel, 130 New Bond Street, Mayfair, London W1. Tel: 020 7520 7799

By Andy Morris for GQ Magazine.

(Source: gq-magazine.co.uk)