Luke Evans 'wouldn’t remember' Owen Shaw’s name without Fast & Furious fans

Luke Evans admits to Yahoo UK that if it weren't for Fast & Furious fans he'd have a hard time recalling the name of Owen Shaw, the villain he played three times in the franchise.

The actor first took on the role of Deckard Shaw's (Jason Statham) brother in 2013's Fast & Furious 6, with the former SAS soldier turned mercenary coming face-to-face with Dominic Toretto (Vin Diesel) and his crew on a number of occasions. The character even joined a long line of villains to become allies with the group in The Fate of the Furious, but apparently, the villainous role wasn't memorable enough.

"I think they're great," he tells Yahoo of the many blockbuster franchise films he's appeared in. "They still get shown on TV a decade later, which is a lovely thing, and they're also the roles that people recognise me for on the street, and that's a very weird thing that.

"I'm sure I wouldn't remember Owen Shaw's name if it wasn't the fact that I walked down the street and teenage boys shout my name, 'Owen Shaw!' I wouldn't remember his name if it wasn't the fact it was such a successful [franchise] and the people really resonated, in a strange way, to these bad guys."

Read more: Luke Evans says Hollywood has a 'responsibility' to tell queer stories

Evans, who is now set to appear in LGBTQ+ drama Our Son, added that he "enjoyed" appearing in blockbuster franchises like Fast & Furious, The Hobbit and Beauty and the Beast "very much", but he didn't quite imagine the scale of the response to them.

The actor explained: "They were just huge, bigger than I realised when I was making them, [I didn't realise] how big they were going to be but I enjoyed the roles very much. But my life is about performance, my life is about delivering the best performance I can.

"Finding the roles that allow me to push myself and challenge myself, and whether that's in a big blockbuster or on stage in the West End, or on a TV screen in the UK, or on a streamer, I don't notice the difference between them.

"My job is to choose and find these interesting roles in different stories, and whatever medium that comes in is fine by me. I'm proud of the things I've done in those movies."

In Our Son, Evans takes on the role of Nicky a workaholic publisher whose husband Gabriel (Billy Porter) files for divorce. In the aftermath he and Gabriel must contend with their relationship and also fight to do what is right for their son, Owen (Christopher Woodley).

Our Son will be released digitally on Monday, 25 March. The film will also be screening as part of BFI Flare on Tuesday 19 and Wednesday 20 March.

Watch the trailer for Our Son: