Melbourne actor Evan Evagora’s new frontier stuns his mother
Rising star Evan Evagora is the first Australian to be in the core cast in a Star Trek TV series and after the first episode aired last week, he has already scored himself a new nickname.
Confidential
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It’s a long way from Kew High School to the final frontier, but Melbourne actor Evan Evagora has boldly gone where no Aussie has gone before.
While other homegrown actors such as Eric Bana, Wendy Hughes and Judith Anderson have guest-starred in the beloved, long-running, sci-fi phenomenon, rising star Evagora is the first Australian to be in the core cast in a Star Trek TV series.
Evagora’s first episode of Star Trek: Picard — playing the Romulan warrior Elnor opposite series veteran Patrick Stewart — aired globally last week to rave reviews and earned the rookie Aussie the nickname “Space Legolas” — a reference to the hunky Lord Of The Rings elf.
“It’s a major honour,” Evagora told Confidential. “It was like a dream come true.”
Evagora grew up a fan of the television series thanks to his Trekkie mother Marie, who at first didn’t believe her son when he told her he’d landed the part.
“I couldn’t tell her to begin with what I was auditioning for — I just told her it was something big and fingers crossed I would get it,” he said.
Evagora thought he knew the power of Star Trek — until he and the rest of the cast appeared at last year’s San Diego Comic Con — ground zero for geek culture.
He said the mad reception made him feel “like one of The Beatles”.
“Walking out on to the stage at Comic Con with thousands of people cheering you on was when I realised that this was something special and we’re actually doing this – we’re a part of this massive family. They are not even fans, it’s a community and it brings people together.”
Evagora says at first he was intimidated at the prospect of working with Stewart, but the with Star Trek: The Next Generation and X-Men veteran soon put him at ease.
“I think the first day on set he said ‘hi, I’m Patrick’ and I said ‘good thanks’. I’ll never forget that. I felt a bit foolish but my first day of filming he put me at ease – and being able to work across from him I have just learned so much and he’s very much like an actor’s actor and all about an ensemble cast and he makes sure everyone realised how important their job is.”
Evagora, whose dramatic first role was playing Rove McManus in a Kew High School play that he wrote and cast himself in, turned away from a promising sports career to pursue acting, having won a state boxing title in his teens and playing in the VAFA and VFA for Fitzroy. After going to film school in South Melbourne, he was scouted by modelling firm that also represented actors, moving first to Sydney and then to Los Angeles, where he landed his debut role in the big-budget movie Fantasy Island, which opened globally last week.
“I love sport and the discipline and as a very good outlet but it just didn’t satisfy my creative needs and that’s what drew me more towards film and television and directing and writing,” he said. “That’s where my passion lies. I would have been happy being the guy who says ‘speed, marker, action’ for the rest of my life as long as I could be a part of this kind of magic.”
But while a second series of Star Trek: Picard, which streams on Amazon Prime Video in Australia has already been commissioned, the proud Collingwood supporter’s heart is still in Melbourne rather than the bright lights of La La Land.
“(I miss) meat pies, the AFL on regularly and a decent pub, the ones where they just have Carlton Draught and the people look like they are part of the furniture,” he said. “And my friends and family.”