Luke Evans Reflects on Marriage (and Divorce) Equality

Out actor Luke Evans, in comments about his new gay drama "Our Son," reflected on how the flip side of marriage equality is another equal right: divorce.

Evans, 44, told British newspaper the Independent that when he first picked up the script for the Bill Oliver-directed and co-written project, "It was the first time I'd read a story like this from two gay people's point of view."

The film, in which Evans and Billy Porter portray a married gay couple with a young son, has been compared to the classic heterosexual drama "Kramer vs. Kramer," which is also a story of divorcing parents coming to terms with how to best care for their child.

"We've seen the celebration of being gay, of gay marriage, of having children and all of those wonderful things, but not so much the splitting up," Evans went on to add.

But marriages ending is just as much part of the story when it comes to same-sex couples as it is when the topic is mixed-gender marriages.

"When gay people were given the right to marry, we were also given the right to divorce," Evans pointed out, adding that depictions of same-sex couples dissolving their legal ties and moving on "are important. They allow everybody just to go, 'We're all the bloody same – we're all dealing with the same things,'" Evans said.

"Evans and the 'Pose' actor Billy Porter are Nicky and Gabriel, a pair of moneyed New Yorkers and the picture of progressive perfection: Gay, married, successful, and raising an adorable eight-year-old son," the Independent thumbnailed.

"Nicky, though, has grown distant, consumed by work at the expense of his family. Gabriel, meanwhile, confesses to a fling that the couple hadn't discussed in advance, then he files for divorce. A custody battle ensues, surfacing all the unspoken resentments in Nicky and Gabriel's marriage."

Yahoo UK offered a different perspective on the film, zeroing in on the divorcing couple's divergent parenting styles.

"'Our Son' puts a spotlight on the highs and lows of parenthood, examining how different parents can be with their child," the Yahoo UK article detailed. "Gabriel is a doting father, always there for Owen no matter what, while Nicky is the breadwinner with a stricter approach to his son as he feels they shouldn't coddle him."

But they are united in one thing: how "they try to navigate the split in the least damaging way for their son, Owen (Christopher Woodley)," the article added.

The film was a hit at last year's LGBTQ+ film festivals and has just opened in the UK.

Evans also spoke with the Independent about working with Billy Porter, noting, "We're both proud gay men in an industry where there isn't so much of this going on, you know? Gay men playing these roles and telling these stories... I thought that was very powerful and important."

Watch the film's trailer below.