Luke Evans parties with Gandalf and has no fear of The Crow 'curse'

The Hobbit star Luke Evans says he is not worried about being killed on set when he undertakes the lead role in a remake of ‘cursed’ film The Crow.

The 34-year-old Welshman – whose Fast & Furious co-star Paul Walker died in a car accident last month – says he does not fear suffering the same fate as Brandon Lee after he was accidentally shot dead on the set of the 1994 original.

‘I’m not one of those superstitious people,’ he told Guilty Pleasures in an exclusive chat, brushing off claims the film is cursed.

‘It is incredibly sad that [Brandon] died making the movie. He was a very talented actor. It is a very beautiful story, The Crow. It is a very tragic story with huge emotional themes. We plan to tell the story differently and with a lot of integrity to the original comic book.’

Superstitions aside the actor proves himself quite fearless, taking on most of his own stunts during the making of Hobbit sequel The Desolation Of Smaug and using his time off set in Wellington to chase thrill-seeking activities.

‘I used to take my car and go down to the South Island for five or six days and climb glaciers and jump out of planes and jump off bridges and go white water rafting – a bit of thrill seeking,’ he said, sounding something like an unofficial ambassador for New Zealand’s tourist office.

Indeed, filming of The Hobbit sounds more like a holiday camp than a demanding film set.

‘We were all neighbours on the same street. It was like Coronation Street in Wellington. Ian McKellen had the biggest house. Orlando Bloom had the next biggest house. I had the little rickety wooden one in the middle, but there was a hot tub out the back and the sea was out the front. We all lived on the coast. It was amazing,’ he boasts.

And when he was not kicking Orc’s butt in front of the cameras or chasing adventures of his own, Evans could be found lording it up with Sir Ian who returns as Gandalf in the film.

‘Ian was like the gel. He brought everyone together and would have dinners and parties in his house. It was a really great experience,’ he said.

[Originally published Metro, Guilty Pleasures, Tuesday 10 December 2013]