Actor Luke Evans has 'terrible anxiety' over his body

Welsh actor Luke Evans has revealed that he has “terrible anxiety” over insecurities about his body.

“I still sometimes go to the gym and just feel very anxious,” he said during an appearance on the podcast How To Fail With Elizabeth Day.

“I look at myself in the mirror and just go, ‘you don't look good enough’, or ‘you're letting it go’.”

The 45-year-old Hollywood star is known for roles such as Gaston in Disney’s live-action Beauty and the Beast, and the title role in Dracula Untold.

“I look at my face - the terrible part of my industry is that you're just reminded constantly of the decades of film you've done when you had not a crease on the face and not one grey stubble, whereas all my stubble is now grey,” he said.

“And just so many things I keep being reminded of, so I've had to learn to be kinder to myself, but I have terrible anxiety about feeling good enough physically.”

“Part of that isn't completely bad, I think it gives you a little something to fight for, but it can be overwhelming.”

Evans was born in Pontypool, and is known for a variety of physical roles.

He recently spoke about his experience of growing up gay as a Jehovah’s Witness, and remains one of only a few out gay actors cast as straight leading men and action heroes in Hollywood.

His breakthrough role was in 2010 when he starred as Apollo in Clash of the Titans. He followed this with a stint as action baddie Owen Shaw in Fast & Furious 6, returning to the role for Fast & Furious 8.

Despite this, he revealed that he can still feel uncomfortable showing his physique.

“I've been on a beach just recently and I didn't want to take my T-shirt off,” he said.

“I don't want to be in that place. I know I shouldn't feel like that, but you know, we are sensitive creatures, we're very delicate.”

“As hard as I may look, I am quite delicate."

He said that if he was not an actor, he would “probably let it all go.”

“Staying fit and in a certain physical fitness level now is definitely doing my job,” he said. “I wouldn't care so much, but it is part of my job.”

“I get cast in certain roles that require a certain amount of physical strength and aesthetic. It's been good because it's probably kept me on the straight and narrow.”

He most recently starred in the action flick Weekend in Taipei, which was directed by George Huang, who co-wrote it with Luc Besson.