Happy Birthday to Luke Evans!

Happy Birthday to Welsh actor Luke Evans, who turns 35 today!

Luke Evans was born on April 15, 1979 in the town of Aberbargoed, Wales. He grew up in the countryside of South Wales as the only child of Yvonne and David Evans. Both acting and singing had always been a passion of his, though he never dreamt that he would be able to form a career from these passions. After leaving school at age 16, he worked in a shoe shop where he would save 15 quid each week to pay for singing and acting lessons. In 1997, Luke won a scholarship to the London Studio Centre in Kings Cross, London. Three years later at the age of 21, he graduated and continued to pursue his dream of an acting/singing career.

For the next eight years, he took on various theatre roles and starred in many of London’s West End productions such as Rent, Taboo, and Miss Saigon. One of his first big breaks was in 2009 when he auditioned for and landed the role of Apollo in Clash of the Titans. Less than a year later, he captured a lead role in Tamara Drewe starring opposite Gemma Arterton, Dominic Cooper, and Roger Allam.

Life got very busy for Luke starting in 2011 when his career really took off! He seized yet another Greek god role as Zeus in the film, Immortals. In 2012, he portrayed Detective Emmett Fields in the successful thriller, The Raven starring opposite John Cusack. The following year gave him not one but two major blockbuster films, both of which topped box office charts for multiple weeks. He played the antagonistic Owen Shaw in the Summer 2013 hit film, Fast & Furious 6. His second blockbuster film of 2013 is one you may have heard of called The Hobbit: The Desolation of Smaug.

Luke brings Bard the Bowman to life in the second two installments of Peter Jackson’s The Hobbit trilogy. Those with a keen eye will also recognize him portraying Bard’s ancestor, Girion, in the flashback of Smaug’s attack on the city of Dale.

You can check out Luke’s interview with Middle-earth News right here and follow Luke on Twitter, Facebook, Instagram, Google +, Tumblr, and WhoSay.

The Middle-earth News Team is pleased to wish Luke a very Happy Birthday!