‘Evita’ Star James Olivas on Playing a New-Era Juan Perón, Political Parallels, and Puzzles
“In college, I stopped and thought, It’s theater or engineering. I took a leap of faith. So here we are, on the West End.”
They’re now well into the run, one that’s enraptured both the Palladium’s sold-out crowds, and any passersby lucky to catch Zegler’s now-very-viral balcony scene. As it plays out on London’s Argyll Street, inside, Olivas sits on the stage’s bleachers, a quiet force.
Here, James Olivas speaks with Vogue about embodying a new, ever more urgent Juan Perón, the show’s political parallels with our current moment, and his penchant for puzzles.
Vogue: Hi, James! How have you settled into your role? It’s a very different kind of Juan Perón than we’ve seen before.
James Olivas: Well, due to the nature of my character, I can’t throw a whole bunch of energy into it—which is something that would be my default. If I’m confused, I try very hard. But this character is antithetical to that; he’s deliberate, emanating an energy of solid, absolute confidence. And I think that as the weeks have gone on, I’ve been able to settle more into this sense of presence.
The big challenge for me was trying to figure out how, in the absence of any monologues and songs, do you still leave an impact on the audience? It’s been a big growing journey for me as an actor, and one that I think has been beautiful—I hope I’ve gotten somewhat decent with it. The traditional casting is usually an older, established actor. We wanted to make it relevant to 2025, and to politicians as we understand them now. I think many people have the idea that they’ll know something bad when they see it: that when it pops up on TV and is giving some speech, it’s going to be really scary. There might be a moustache. No, [those figures] are charming.
Has that been reflected in how you’ve seen audiences respond?
A lot of people will come out after the show and say to me, “Oh, great job, but I have to be honest—I didn’t like your character.” Well, you’re not supposed to! I still appreciate when people don’t get that, but the goal isn’t for me to win you over with my charm. For me, it’s for you to still recognize what I am despite the veneer. Hopefully we’re helping people gain a greater sense of media literacy in real life.