‘Evita' Star James Olivas on Taking the Show to Broadway, That Infamous Balcony Scene and the 'Manufactured Outrage' Directed at Rachel Zegler

Yahoo

05-08-2025

Nearly three decades ago, James Olivas' mother and father met during a production of Andrew Lloyd Webber's political musical Evita.
'It's a fun little coincidence that we have going on,' the theater star tells The Hollywood Reporter. 'And it makes me doing the show now especially exciting for them.'
More from The Hollywood Reporter
'Celtic Utopia' Shines a Spotlight on New Wave of Irish Folk Music Made "to Scare Priests and Politicians"
Kukla's 'Fantasy' Invites Women to "See Themselves Through Their Own Lens" (Exclusive Locarno Clip)
'Dreams,' 'Sentimental Value' Among Sarajevo Film Festival's Open Air Lineup
As if by fate, Olivas now finds himself as one of three leads in the West End production of Evita that's taken London by storm since mid-June: he plays husband to Rachel Zegler's Eva Perón, Argentine president Juan Perón, who rose to power in 1946.
Director Jamie Lloyd — best known for his Tony-winning Sunset Boulevard revival as well as the Tom Holland-starring Romeo and Juliet — breathes new life into the 47-year-old Andrew Lloyd Webber-Tim Rice musical with a sharp, sexy take on Eva's life and career. It tackles head-on the couple's climb up the political ladder, beginning with a 15-year-old Eva as she sets about to leave behind a life of poverty, and culminates in the birth of Peronism, a nationalist ideology and movement that continues to shape Argentina to this day.
West Side Story star Zegler shines as the actress-turned-First Lady of Argentina, beloved by the working class, whose tragic death from cancer at just 33 devastated a nation. She takes center stage alongside fellow Americans Olivas and Diego Andres Rodriguez, playing Che, a cynical member of the public intent on exposing Eva as a fraud. Che's fixation is obsessive as he attempts to point out the disastrous results of Juan Perón's policies: its treasury is bankrupt, a once-thriving beef industry is wilting, and critics of the regime are muzzled.
'We had this idea of this authoritarian politician, some version of a scary, moustachioed man very far away that presents as evil,' Olivas says about his conversations with Lloyd and music director Alan Williams about the Juan Perón they wanted to showcase. 'But this is 2025, and that is not the state of politics. Through Perón, we are trying to portray a version of a politician that is extremely engaging and very charming — that people watch and think, 'I can get a beer with this person,' or, 'I might even be attracted to this person.''
The 28-year-old, a Mexican American, whose family split their time between Texas and California growing up, continues: 'We have politicians that are very good at winning popular support and still implementing very dangerous policies and legislation that's very bad for their constituents. I think it is far more insidious than a lot of people recognize. So this version of the show, I think, is very relevant for Western audiences in 2025.'
This suave model of Perón is achieved, in part, thanks to Olivas' impressive physique: broad, tall and strong, he towers over Zegler on stage, donning a crisp, uncreased shirt and braces with quiet authority. Eight West End shows a week will get you in shape — there's no doubt about that — but Lloyd takes it up a notch by having his entire production set across a stage-spanning staircase. 'It is beautifully brutal,' Olivas tells THR. 'Fabian Aloise is such a visionary choreographer and it's some of the most amazing dancing I've ever seen… [But] these platforms are unforgiving; people get injured, strain things and throw muscles out. You have to live like an athlete.'
Olivas is well-trained, having graduated from UCLA with a degree in theater. But the stage hadn't always been the plan. His parents hoped he'd follow in the footsteps of his father, who has a PhD in mechanical materials engineering. 'To have a very reliable source of income was kind of the understanding,' Olivas explains, 'as is [the tradition] in a Mexican American household.'
After continuous sports injuries, Olivas had to find something else to keep him busy. 'I'd grown up playing guitar and trumpet, so I had a bit of a musical background, but being on stage was still very new to me,' he says about his first foray into theater. 'And I ended up falling in love with the show and falling in love with performing. That's where the bug got me, and it was a snowball effect after that.' (Luckily, his parents are 'extremely' supportive.)
Before landing a major role in Evita, the actor had just finished a stint in L.A.'s Deaf West Theatre company, a non-profit arts organization that hires deaf and hard-of-hearing people to make up half of their casts. Olivas starred in the Green Day-inspired rock show American Idiot, the entire production performed in both American sign language and spoken English.
Though his parents' love story began at a production of Evita, Olivas had only ever seen the 1996 film with Madonna, Antonio Banderas and Jonathan Pryce. Then, while casting, this show got some star power of its own: 24-year-old Zegler, who played Maria in Steven Spielberg's West Side Story and recently led The Hunger Games: A Ballad of Songbirds and Snakes and Disney's live-action Snow White, came aboard.
'It was our [Olivas and Rodriguez] first time in the U.K., and she was taking us on tours through the city,' Olivas says about his relationship with his on-stage wife. 'She has been so warm and and welcoming. Rachel really came into this with the idea that she wanted to be stellar. And she has been that every step of the way, all throughout rehearsals. She's always the hardest worker in the room and I cannot be prouder of her for getting the response [she has]. It's so rightfully deserved.'
The conversation turns to backlash Zegler has received in recent months following the release of Snow White and in her pro-Palestine activism. Even as Evita kicked off, the Latina actress garnered criticism for a portion of the show where Lloyd has her leave the stage to perform outside on the Palladium balcony for Londoners on the streets below (hundreds now gather on Soho's Argyll Street each night to see her sing showstopper 'Don't Cry For Me, Argentina'). The audience inside the theater is left with a beautifully orchestrated livestream — but a small number of people still complained about paying hundreds of pounds only to miss out on the number.
Olivas rails against Zegler's haters. 'I think Rachel became very notorious prior to the show. In very similar ways to Eva Perón, she was loved and hated,' he says. 'Prior to coming to London, my understanding of her was that she was being dogpiled on a little bit by the media… I did some actual research, like, 'What is this scandal? What are the big controversies?' and found that there's nothing of merit. It's people just choosing to be angry at her because she is a woman of color, and she is young, an easy target.'
Regarding Zegler's Evita balcony performance, Olivas says the actress has been unfairly targeted: 'Even in her press run for Snow White, [people were] saying, 'Rachel Zegler hates traditional Snow White, so she changed it, and she doesn't want a prince!' I think it speaks to people's ignorance… Do you think that she's the writer? Do you think she's the director? She's an actor, she was given lines, she was given a job. And same thing in this production. [They say], 'How could Rachel Zegler do this to paying customers?'
He describes the uproar as 'such manufactured outrage,' and says most comments were coming from those who would never and will never actually see the show. 'It was this game of telephone that was never rooted in truth — there's not been a single person that has come to see the show that has anything less than loved what that moment is in the theater and how it reads outside.'
Olivas is right — it's an expertly-crafted segment of Lloyd's production, masterfully executed by Zegler and captures perfectly the power that Eva Perón had over her own people. 'How people feel about her, ultimately, is extremely empowering to a lot of people,' he says of why Evita resonates. 'The case of this woman not coming from means, and through sheer determination and willpower was able to climb her way to becoming what she was at the time: the most famous woman in the world.'
As buzz continues to swarm around the West End's hottest summer production, Olivas describes working on a Jamie Lloyd set as 'an actor's dream.' He's loved getting to know London, though has been surprised to see some rowdy audiences over the 16-week-run (the American was warned plenty on how well, usually, Brits follow proper theater etiquette). Some of his favorite moments have come as he is stopped by fans at the stage door or on the tube home. 'You have a lot of the Latino community flying over because this is such a significant moment of representation for them,' he tells THR. 'It really means a lot when you have [them] seeing the show, because they're so giving. It very much feeds my soul to have these interactions.'
This London era of the show winds down in September — Olivas says he's trying to soak up every moment until then — but the big question remains: will Evita be coming to Broadway? 'That's always in the water,' he responds. 'We've received no official word yet on that, but from my understanding, it's what people are pushing for.'
He ponders over the perfect Manhattan balcony for Zegler's big solo. 'Oh, it would be a nightmare,' he laughs. 'I struggle to even think about it. The U.K., they won't show that they're upset. But if you blocked off a block in Midtown, people would lose their minds.'
Jamie Lloyd's Evita runs at the London Palladium until Sep. 6.
Best of The Hollywood Reporter
Seeing Double? 25 Pairs of Celebrities Who Look Nearly Identical
From 'Lady in the Lake' to 'It Ends With Us': 29 New and Upcoming Book Adaptations in 2024
Meet the Superstars Who Glam Up Hollywood's A-List
Solve the daily Crossword