has said he knows “several actors” in Hollywood who have chosen not to be open about their sexuality.

The Party star, who came out publicly in 2002, told : “It wasn’t easy being the only one who was out for quite a long time, doing the level of movies I was doing.

“And I know of several actors in Hollywood (who chose not to be out).

“It saddens me that there shouldn’t be a whole smorgasbord of brilliant gay Hollywood actors, but it’s a very insular industry” – Luke Evans

“But you never know what a person has gone through. You don’t know what their family feels or how hard they’ve fought to get a career in the first place.

“Of course I can’t speak for any of them, and yes it saddens me that there shouldn’t be a whole smorgasbord of brilliant gay Hollywood actors, but it’s a very insular industry.

“No-one comes up to you and says, ‘Oh, by the way, this is how you deal with [coming out]’ or whatever it might be. You’re on your own.”

What has Luke Evans starred in?

Evans began his career as a theatre actor before moving into film, with early screen roles including 2010’s . He later joined the  franchise and has also appeared in films including Beauty and the Beast and .

He recently made his Broadway debut as Dr Frank-N-Furter in .

What is ITV’s about?

His next major television role is in , based on Elizabeth Day’s novel of the same name. Evans plays political journalist Martin Gilmour, whose friendship with wealthy Conservative politician Ben Fitzmaurice, played by Tom Cullen, is at the centre of the five-part drama.

The series follows Martin as he attends Ben’s 40th birthday party, with the story moving between the events of the party, the police investigation that follows and the pair’s history together.

Appearing on the cover of Attitude magazine for our September/October issue, Evans opened up about the upcoming drama and his on-.

“It’s all wrapped up in politics, class, the British hierarchy, old money, new money, social climbing, lies, sexuality, death, deceit, corruption and finding your authentic self,” said Evans. “I mean, seriously, how often do you find all that within one story?” Evans added.

A major part of  is the complicated relationship between Martin and Ben. “Yeah, Tom is straight and I’m gay, but there was no discomfort that [our characters] could fall in love, because that story is really the thing that should break everyone’s hearts,” Evans explained.

“We both knew that we wanted this to feel beautiful and passionate and tragic and real. We were also just really good friends, which I think helped a lot.”

The Party is due to air on ITV1 and ITVX in October.