Question: Who played gaston in the movie beauty and the beast?

Disambiguated questions and answers:
context: Gaston appears in the 2017 remake as played by Welsh actor Luke Evans. During an interview with "Empire" magazine, Evans said that Gaston would retain his hunter background, yet would also be a former soldier in the French army. He also implied that this version of Gaston is darker than the original. In the film, Gaston plays out the same role as in the animated movie, though with a few differences. Bored with his peaceful life after returning from the war, Gaston pursues Belle, determined to marry her, as she is the most beautiful girl in the village and the only one good enough for him. He also finds her independence to be a thrilling challenge, and shows obvious disgust with the bimbettes who constantly fawn over him purely because of his appearance. He accosts her at her home, subtly offering his hand in marriage for when Maurice dies, but she turns him down. Gaston sulks in the tavern until LeFou cheers him up with a song. Maurice appears, claiming that Belle has been imprisoned by the Beast. Intrigued, Gaston offers to help Maurice free her as means of gaining both Maurice and Belle's favor. Gaston comes to doubt Maurice's claims and reveals the only reason for helping him was so he could give Gaston Belle's hand in marriage. When Maurice refuses to allow Gaston to marry Belle, Gaston ties him to a tree, leaving him to the wolves. He hopes by doing this, it would coerce Belle into marrying him, as he tells Lefou that after Maurice dies there will be no one to take care of Belle except for him. Maurice later accuses Gaston of his crime, but Gaston fools the people into thinking Maurice is mad and arranges for him to be locked up in the asylum. He privately offers to put a stop to it if he lets him marry Belle, but Maurice still refuses. When Belle turns up and proves the Beast's existence with the mirror, Gaston's jealousy drives him to rally the people to storm the castle and kill the Beast, but not before he orders Tom, Dick, and Stanley to lock Belle alongside her father to prevent her from warning the Beast. He confronts the Beast alone and shoots him in the back. Belle appears and the Beast fights back, holding Gaston over a chasm, but Gaston begs for mercy and is spared. Instead of leaving, Gaston stands on a nearby stone bridge and shoots the Beast again, this time fatally. In response to the Beast's life fading, the castle begins to crumble and the bridge where Gaston is standing breaks into pieces, sending Gaston falling to his death. Unlike in the animated movie, Gaston's death is shown onscreen.
question: Who played gaston in the 2017 movie beauty and the beast?
short_answers: Luke Evans

Luke George Evans
wikipage: Gaston (Beauty and the Beast)

context: Gaston is a fictional character who appears in Walt Disney Pictures' 30th animated feature film "Beauty and the Beast" (1991). Voiced by American actor and singer Richard White, Gaston is an arrogant hunter whose unrequited feelings for the intellectual Belle drive him to murder his adversary, the Beast, once he realizes she cares for him instead. Gaston serves as a foil personality to the Beast, who was once as vain as Gaston (but not being as immoral) prior to his transformation.
question: Who played gaston in the 1991 movie beauty and the beast?
short_answers: Richard White
wikipage: Gaston (Beauty and the Beast)

Long answers:
long_answer: Gaston is a fictional character who appears in Walt Disney Pictures' 1991,  30th animated feature film "Beauty and the Beast". Voiced by American actor and singer Richard White, Gaston is an arrogant hunter whose unrequited feelings for the intellectual Belle drive him to murder his adversary, the Beast, once he realizes she cares for him instead. Gaston also appears in the 2017 remake, and is played by Welsh actor Luke Evans.