Get the biggest stories sent straight to your inbox Sign up for regular updates and breaking news from WalesOnline Thank you for subscribing We have more newsletters Show me See our privacy notice Invalid Email

Welsh actor Luke Evans hopes that his story of overcoming bullies to become a Hollywood star will help encourage youngsters who are going through the same thing.

The star of The Girl On The Train, The Hobbit films and the upcoming live action Beauty And The Beast told The Guardian that his days as a youngster in Aberbargoed were spent avoiding bullies, who he regularly came face-to-face with during door-to-door Jehovah's Witness outings on the weekend.

“Imagine. You’re knocking while they’re watching He-Man on a Saturday morning," said the 38-year-old. "Who wants to be interrupted when they’re watching He-Man?

"I don’t blame my parents or their religion but I hated it. I absolutely hated it. There were streets I wouldn’t walk down in case the bullies were there. I wouldn’t play out in the evening with my friends. I’d go half an hour out of my way to avoid those streets.

See the trailer for The Girl On The Train

Video Loading Video Unavailable Click to play Tap to play The video will start in 8 Cancel Play now

"Then I’d have to stand on a bully’s doorstep in a suit with my parents behind me on a Saturday morning. That’s not what you want to do as a kid."

But the star, who has played masculine, brooding, calm characters on the big screen - shows that people can succeed despite the bullies and he hopes he can inspire others going through a tough time.

He said: "If a bullied kid reads this article and sees that someone like me went on to play these quintessential, masculine characters… well, maybe that shows you don’t have to let it affect you. That bully is only one person you will meet out of thousands in your life."

Evans also spoke about how he feels most at home when he is kicking back in Wales with his family.

"I mean, I can put it on. For a day, a week, an event, a dinner. But in the pub with my cousin or in the garden drinking cheap booze by the bonfire – that’s where I’m at home."

The actor is certainly at home in the Valleys, during the past few years he's made visits to Troedyrhiw as part of this Save The Children ambassador role and surprised Blackwood cinema-goers by popping up at a The Hobbit: The Battle of the Five Armies screening.

Apart from Beauty And The Beast, in which he plays Gaston, Evans is staying on the dark side, in keeping with The Girl on the Train and recent release, High Rise, as he stars in revenge thriller Message from the King in which he is a sociopathic dentist.

Watch Luke sing Gaston with Hugh Jackman

Video Loading Video Unavailable Click to play Tap to play The video will start in 8 Cancel Play now

Then in State Like Sleep he is a sleazy nightclub owner, a role for which he had to dye his hair bright blonde. For the character Richard Wilder in High Rise he had full mutton chops and a Magnum moustache - he notes that changing his appearance is something that helps him completely submerge into a character.

“It’s the final layer. I’ve always felt a part of me is still on show until those touches are in place. Then I can disappear.

"(Your hair) really is the lid to the box, isn’t it? That’s what my hairdresser says. ‘How’s your lid?’”

His The Girl On The Train character Scott is also erring on the dark side of the tracks, with the film being “about broken people struggling with their demons," says Evans. He plays opposite Haley Bennett as Scott's wife Megan.

“They’re madly in love but he knows something isn’t right," he adds. "They argue fiercely. He loves her and wants it to work but she’s given up. He doesn’t have a lot of people in his life. She’s everything. I felt sorry for him.”

The Girl on the Train is released on October 7