Luke Evans Gets a Tony Nod, an ITV Thriller and a Tolkien Question

Luke Evans has been nominated for a Tony for playing Frank-N-Furter on Broadway, and he is already back on British screens in 'The Party', a five-part ITV thriller he also co-produced. The series, adapted from Elizabeth Day's novel and repped for global sales by ITV Studios, is available now on ITVX.

Evans stars opposite Sarah Solemani, who wrote the adaptation and plays his wife, Lucy. The show deals with class, hidden sexuality and the nature of romantic and platonic love. Evans first read Day's novel as a lockdown read during the Covid pandemic and was instrumental in bringing it to screen and in securing Solemani as adaptor.

What changed from novel to screen?

Two structural departures stand out. In the series, Lucy is pregnant, and the screen version of Martin serves time in detention — which he does not do in the book.

'The fact that Lucy is pregnant adds another major layer of weight to what is going on in Martin's head,' Evans told Variety. 'There is a love there, and I think that's another reason why we expanded on their relationship. You see much more of Lucy and Martin together because you want to see that they are a functioning, if slightly unconventional, relationship. I know couples like Martin and Lucy.'

Of the prison change, he said: 'Putting him into detention to pay the price for someone else, it's a scar that — he's tarnished for life. He has a criminal record and lives his life knowing he didn't do it, I mean it's huge. It's massive.'

Evans drew on his own biography for the role. Solemani conducted long Zoom calls with him about his upbringing, and he told her he related to Martin directly. 'I'm a gay man. I've come from a very working-class background, and I was presented with opportunities that I took that put me in very alien situations where I didn't feel comfortable or an insider, but I kept watching, learning, adapting, and trying to fit in,' he said. 'I basically spent my whole life doing that, and that's who Martin is.' Solemani took ideas and real events from his life — his only-child upbringing, his religious background — and turned them into Martin's story.

Could 'The Party' return?

Day revisits the characters in a follow-up novel, 'One of Us', which was published during the end of the shoot. 'There is closure for sure within this arc, of course there needs to be, but there are lots of unanswered questions,' Evans said. 'Who knows?'

Asked why shows such as Richard Gadd's 'Half Man' and Russell T Davies' 'Tip Toe' are exploring male relationships and homophobia now, Evans said progress in the UK is real but fragile. 'But it's not by a long shot safe. What we have right now is not safe. You only have to look at the politics, and you have to look at the parties, and some of them, what they're saying, it's scary,' he said, adding that in his industry suppression of identity still happens 'for a fact'. Evans came out before his film career began, which he said made his own path different from Martin's.

Broadway, Tim Curry and Middle-earth

The Broadway stint — his first musical in 18 years — ran five months earlier this year. 'After not doing a musical for 18 years, to set foot on a Broadway stage with a Broadway audience in six-[inch] stiletto boots, eight times a week, was a cross-country marathon, I would say, but I loved it,' he said.

Tim Curry, who originated Frank-N-Furter, died just after Evans finished the run — a day after Evans's final show. Evans had written him a letter two weeks before closing. 'His team gave it to him, and he said he was very appreciative of the letter, and then two weeks later I finished the show, and a day after that he died,' Evans said. He kept a picture of Curry in his dressing room throughout.

Will Bard return in 'The Hunt for Gollum'?

As for Andy Serkis's upcoming Tolkien feature, Evans noted that roughly 60 years separate 'The Hobbit' from 'The Lord of the Rings', with 'The Hunt for Gollum' set in between — leaving room for Bard the Bowman. His verdict: 'I think Bain, my son, could be in it. But I think Bard doesn't. Take me back to Wellington. I'd love to go!' For now, his screen home is ITVX, where 'The Party' is streaming in full.