Luke Evans is a busy man nowadays, and all his busy schedule can be attributed to The Walt Disney Company. He is set to appear in Hulu’s new series Nine Perfect Strangers, recently wrapped the upcoming Disney+ live-action Pinocchio remake, and will return to the role of Gaston next year for the Gaston and Lefou Beauty and the Beast prequel series.
While speaking with hosts Jeffrey R. Epstein from D23, Sheri Henry from Oh My Disney and Tony Morrison from Good Morning America, of D23’s Inside Disney Podcast, Luke Evans shared some exciting new details on Pinocchio and that his character, the Coachman might not look as close to the animated predecessor, unlike his Gaston look.
“Thankfully, he [live-action Coachman] looks nothing like the character in the animation, Evans Continues, in the mind of Bob Zemeckis [Pinocchio], you can imagine, the things are not going to be the same as they were in the animation. They’re very good. The storyline is very, very similar. But there were certain characters that Bob was able to, you know, dramatically enhance and the coachman is one of those. I get to use all my musical theater, experience and skills in this character. I can’t tell you too much because I want it to be a surprise. But there are some really wonderful gifts that he gave me as an actor with the character. You see a coachman in many different ways. I don’t want to give any more than that. But he isn’t just the average human being if that means anything to you. He’s a very unusual creature is rather terrifying. I mean, if you think Gaston is scary, wait til you meet Coachman.”
Read: Exclusive: Alan Silvestri to Compose Disney+’s ‘Pinocchio’ With Glen Ballard Writing New Songs
Alongside Luke Evans Pinocchio is also set to star Benjamin Evan Ainsworth (Flora & Ulysses) as the titular character, Tom Hanks (Saving Mr. Banks) as Geppetto, Joseph Gordon-Levitt (50/50) as Jiminy Cricket, Keegan-Michael Key (Key and Peele) as Honest John, Cynthia Erivo (Harriet) as the Blue Fairy, and Lorraine Bracco (The Sopranos) as Sofia the Seagull, a new character for the film.
The film will be directed by the aforementioned Robert Zemeckis, best known for the Back to the Future franchise and Forrest Gump. He most recently directed the remake of The Witches for HBO Max. Frequent collaborator Alan Silvestri will be working with Glen Ballard to write new songs for the film, though classics such as “When You Wish Upon a Star” will also be included. Chris Weitz (Rogue One) and Simon Farnaby (Paddington 2) also has writing credits on the film alongside Zemeckis. Andrew Miano (The Farewell) is producing.
The film will make its debut on Disney+ in 2022, with a first look at the project expected in November on Disney+ Day!
