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POPSessions: Why a 'Big Bang' Character Is on Luke Evans's Enemies List



As you can see in our exclusive "The Hobbit: The Desolation of Smaug" Blu-ray clip above, Bard the Bowman is one heck of a character.

And as we found out in our POPsessions interview below, so is the man who plays Bard: Luke Evans.

Evans phoned in to promote next week's home-video release of the middle "Hobbit" film, and we took the opportunity to find out the Welsh actor's pop-culture likes and dislikes. And what an unexpected journey he took us upon...

What was the first movie you remember seeing?
Luke Evans: I'm trying to remember. "Bambi." I think it was quite tragic, it was very sad. Yeah. I also remember Thumper and I remember getting a rabbit, which I named Thumper after that.

What movie do you absolutely always stop and watch if you see it on cable?
"Shawshank Redemption." Because it's awesome. It's an amazing, brilliant film and I mean it just was an all-time best movie.

[Related: See all of Yahoo Entertainment's POPsessions Interviews]

What movie makes you cry?


I know there's lots of movies that make me cry. I remember the first movie that ever did make me cry. It was on the television and I must have been about 13, I think. It was "The Elephant Man." I remember it shocking me that humans could be so cruel. It was such a brilliant portrayal of such a tragic figure. I've never forgotten that. I got to work with John [Hurt] a few years ago in "Immortals" and I remember just sitting with him and chatting about that role and that character. It's amazing.

What did he say about it?
Well, that it was incredibly hard going. That was prosthetics before prosthetics became what they are today. It was incredibly hot, he said. And creating the voice of the character and all that. It was really interesting to listen to him talk about it.

What movie or TV character would you hate to be trapped in an elevator with?
Probably that dude from "The Big Bang Theory," the know-it-all, Sheldon. I think I'd probably kill him.

If you were kidnapped, what movie or TV character would you call to save you?
Bruce Willis in "Die Hard." Because he's invincible. The man, he's a hero. He'll save you. Definitely Bruce, definitely.

What's your TV guilty pleasure?
Ah, TV guilty pleasure would be "Family Guy." I can watch a whole season in one night.

What was your first concert?
My first concert was. Orchestral Maneuvers in the Dark, OMD. I remember being in the crowd ... and I'd never actually been in a room or an arena with that amount of people all there for the same reason. And ever since, going to a concert, whatever it is, it's always an overwhelming, powerful, electric experience, knowing that every single person in that room, counting at 20-, 30,000 people, they are there just to watch sometimes one person singing on stage. It's electrifying. I've always loved it. I love live stuff. I see as much as I can.

Do you have aspirations of being a rock star?
No more than the next person.

What about being a karaoke star? What's your karaoke song?
Um, my karaoke song would probably be Queen, [Singing] "Tonight I'm going to have myself a real good time..." What's that one? "Don't Stop Me Now!"

The Beatles or Rolling Stones?
The Rolling Stones. Just because, I don't know why. I like them. I like their rebellious nature and they're still going as a band and they seem to still be as crazy as ever and the music is brilliant.

What song should they play at your funeral?
"Another One Bites the Dust."

Have you ever done a choreographed dance from a music video?
Yes, "Macarena." No, that's not a video, is it? Yeah. It probably was at one point.

Did you lead?
No, no, I hid well in the back, actually.

What book changed your life?
I don't think any book has changed my life. I think one book did sort of change my perception of what I believe in. I didn't realize it had until I chatted with somebody else who read the same book and had a completely different vision of what they'd read and what impact it had had on them. And that was the "Life of Pi."

I remember reading it because doesn't it say something in the beginning of that film, or that book, that says this story will make you believe in God, or not make you believe, or something. It's about faith. It's about what you'd like to believe in and does it actually mean that it's true. ... It made me think differently about what I believe in and what I don't.

Who is the most random person you follow on Twitter?
You know, I only follow people that I meet. And they usually go, "Oh, follow me on Twitter," and I'm like, "OK." I don't follow anybody. I really don't. Who did I follow recently? I dined with Kim Cattrall and so I now follow Kim Cattrall. She is new to Twitter and I think she started following a fan of mine instead of me for a while. Bless her.

I hope that fan was a good Tweeter.
I think the fan did say something very lovely like, "You're following me but I think you need to be following the real Luke Evans." Very honest of him, I thought.

[Related: 'Lego The Hobbit' Trailer Turns Middle-Earth Into 'Ocean's Eleven']

For somebody impersonating you, yes. Has another celebrity every made you star-struck when you met them?
Yeah. Quite often. It's so weird when you meet somebody that you know their face so well and then you actually meet them. It's quite weird, surreal. But then often you realize they're just normal people and they're not that weird. It's a strange thing.

I remember the first one was probably meeting Liam Neeson, because it was the first time I'd been on a film set. He was playing Zeus, my father [in "Clash of the Titans"], and I had to have a scene with him. And I remember, as much as I wanted to enjoy the day, I couldn't wait for the day to be over so I could pick up my phone and call my folks and tell them who I'd been working with all day. You know? I remember that being a very cool day. And he's a very nice man as well. So that was nice.
 
You wouldn't want him to save you from an stuck elevator?
Actually, Liam's next on the list. Liam is my speed dial No. 2.

What did your parents say when you told them you were working with Liam Neeson all day?
They were happy. They giggled and were like, 'Wow.' It's a very strange world, this world I live in right now, the film industry. It's just crazy who you meet and the people you get to work with. It's crazy.

See Luke Evans and his "Hobbit" cast mates play Guess the Feet with Yahoo Movies: