LUKE Evans is lying on his stomach on a bed, chin resting on his arms, listening to the song he wrote being played on the radio for the first time. The look on his face is a combination of excitement, awe, humility and, above all, pride.
Subscribe now for unlimited access.
or signup to continue reading
It's a feeling he struggles to describe but will never forget.
The song is called Horizons Blue and it's one of two original songs on his new album, A Song For You, that he co-wrote with Amy Wodge (who has written with the likes of Ed Sheeran, Andrea Bocelli and Diana Ross).
"That moment was very real, and lovely, and my partner's mum filmed it," Evans says from his London home.
"I didn't know if I was going to post it or not but there was a sense of pride and achievement, satisfaction, it's like 'I did it, I got a single out and it's on the radio'. I'd wanted to do it for a long, long time.
"My success as an actor allowed me to record an album in the first place, and then a second album from the success of the first. Its been a wonderful, joyous experience, I have to say."
We've come a long way with technology but there's nothing like hearing your song on the radio for the first time?
"Yes, exactly. You're exactly right. That's what it's all about. It's like 'That's the song I wrote' and you're giving something that came from your own emotions. It was very special."
The Welshman is in huge demand as an actor, both in the UK and internationally. From cinematic thrill-ride to prestige TV drama, classic big-screen animation to small-screen police procedurals, action to comedy to thriller, Evans has done it all. But give him half a chance and the star of The Hobbit, Nine Perfect Strangers, The Alienist, Fast and Furious 6, Anna, Dracula Untold, Echo 3, The Pembrokeshire Murders and Beauty and the Beast will do what he's always loved first and foremost: sing.
Evans began his career on the stage, in musical theatre. Having won a scholarship to the London Studio Centre, he went on to perform in West End productions including Rent and Miss Saigon before making his film debut in the Clash of the Titans 2010 remake.
"My voice is holding up well - I've put it through its paces more than I have ever done before in my life but, you know, I've got good training behind me and I know what it's like to sing 16 numbers every night, six nights a week, and twice on a Saturday and twice on a Sunday," he says.
A Song For You is a collection of songs that mean something to Evans. Songs that he has an emotional connection with. The title track is his re-imagining of Donny Hathaway's classic. It's a stirring, almost haunting introduction to the album.
"It wasn't very long after he recorded that song that he tragically died, so it comes with very poignant memories," Evans says.
"It's a powerful song, but it's such a personal song. He can sing it to 10,000 people but it feels like he's talking to one person. That's what I love about it.
"I can sing it to a 1000 people, and I have, with this show I did for the BBC for Christmas, but when I'm singing it, and looking at every single person, I'm thinking 'This is for you. For each and every one of you'. I love the energy and the power of the song, and the lyrics ... 'I love you in a place where there's no space and time' ... it's like woah.
"His voice is magical and a lot of the songs he did with Roberta Flack are favourites of mine as well."
Evans recorded two duets on A Song For You, one with Welsh vocalist Charlotte Church and the other with Australia's own Nicole Kidman. He and Kidman met during the filming of Hulu mini-series Nine Perfect Strangers in Byron Bay. They spent five months working together, bonding through a shared love of music.
"I already had the song Say Something in my head because I knew that it would fit Nicole's voice very well, that I could blend our voices," Evans explains.
Kidman and husband Keith Urban recorded Kidman's part in Urban's Nashville studio.
"He sent me a little video of her in the booth recording and she loved every minute of it. She was so grateful that I'd asked her. I was, like, 'Grateful? You have no idea how grateful I am!' But she's a lovely woman, and a friend, and very generous with her time," he continues.
"That's the thing about working with a singer that's an actor, they don't just sing, they connect to a lyric, and she really connected to the words.
"When you listen to a storyteller singing that song, it becomes more then a song. It becomes a journey. It lifts you and drops you to the plummets of despair and the heights of happiness. That's my challenge every time I sing a song - to connect to the lyric."
He's not finished talking about his love of singing just yet, and speaks from the heart.
"Singing is such an organic thing, you make that sound. It's not scripted. It comes from within you, and everyone's voice is unique to them," Evans says.
"Some people have big voices, some people have little voices, everyone's voice is different but it's always very unique. Mine is my voice and I love that - when I sing, it's connected to something much deeper inside me, especially when I'm singing those songs on the album.
"I wanted to choose songs that remind people of good times, of sad times.
"These songs are very well known, they're very memorable, and a lot of them resonate with me. They're rousing, emotionally connective, powerful and thematic style songs."
I ask Evans if there is any truth to the rumour that he is in the running to take over the James Bond role from Daniel Craig.
"Oh, I don't know," he replies, laughing.
"I've been identified in this group of actors that people have been talking about ever since we knew that Daniel Craig was coming to the end of his residency.
"They're just rumours. Nobody knows. That is the closest kept secret in the industry, as it should be.
"For me, it's just nice to be a part of that small group of actors who basically could be Bond. It's just an honour to be talked about in that way."
He could write and sing the theme song as well?
"Yes, I could save them a huge sum of money, a two-for-one deal."
