Luke Evans shares Gemma Arterton's FLAWLESS response to his coming out

Luke Evans is getting candid about his experience as an actor in his new memoir. One anecdote in particular is already sticking out — the time he came out to Gemma Arterton.

The actor initially came out in 2002, but had stopped speaking about his sexuality publicly for some time. It resulted in a re-closeting of sorts, which left him often having to make a decision as to whether to be truthful to the people around him or just keep his personal life to himself.

"When I started working in movies, it suddenly became an issue again because at that time you just didn’t get openly gay actors playing straight romantic leads," he writes in Boy from the Valleys: An Unexpected Journey.

One such instance was when Evans was cast in 2010's Tamara Drewe alongside Gemma Arterton. He writes that his boyfriend at the time was only able to visit him once on set, where he was generally introduced as a friend, "because we couldn't be open about our relationship."

Evans ultimately decided to open up to Arterton.

"Our bedrooms were next to each other in our hotel and when I confessed that Lee was actually my boyfriend she said with a smile: 'Honey, I’m in the room next door – I know!'" he wrote.

"It was such a relief to be able to be open with her and know that she had my back regardless, because she knew how the industry worked and the pressure I was under," he continued. "The big American studios were still very much of the 'a man is a man' mindset."

Considering Arterton herself has gone on to star in queer films such as Vita & Virginia and Summerland, it's lovely to hear she had such a great reaction to Evans' coming out — and that he had her support when he needed it.