Actor Luke Evans has said he has “terrible anxiety” over insecurities about his body, despite “staying fit” for “physical” roles.
The 45-year-old told the How To Fail With Elizabeth Day podcast that despite his muscular appearance, he still “didn’t want to take my t-shirt off” on a recent trip to the beach.
During his career, Evans has played hunter Gaston in the 2017 live action adaption of Beauty And The Beast, Count Dracula in Dracula Untold (2014) and American Second World War aviator Wade McClusky in Midway (2019).
The Welsh actor explained on the podcast: “Inside, I still sometimes go to the gym and just feel very anxious.
“I look at myself in the mirror and just go, ‘you don’t look good enough’, or ‘you’re letting it go’.
“I look at my face – the terrible part of my industry is that you’re just reminded constantly of the decades of film you’ve done when you had not a crease on the face and not one grey stubble, whereas all my stubble is now grey.
“And just so many things I keep being reminded of, so I’ve had to learn to be kinder to myself, but I have terrible anxiety about feeling good enough physically.
“Part of that isn’t completely bad, I think it gives you a little something to fight for, but it can be overwhelming.
“I’ve been on a beach just recently and I didn’t want to take my t-shirt off. I don’t want to be in that place.
“I know I shouldn’t feel like that, but you know, we are sensitive creatures, we’re very delicate.
“As hard as I may look, I am quite delicate.”
He went on to say that if he was not an actor he would “probably let it all go”, as: “Staying fit and in a certain physical fitness level now is definitely doing my job.”
Evans added: “I wouldn’t care so much, but it is part of my job.
“I get cast in certain roles that require a certain amount of physical strength and aesthetic. It’s been good because it’s probably kept me on the straight and narrow.”
It comes after the actor released his book Boy From The Valleys: My Unexpected Journey this month, which sees him speak about being bullied in his youth and his sexuality.
The full interview can be heard on the How To Fail With Elizabeth Day podcast, available on Spotify, YouTube and Apple Podcasts.
