Evans, the daughter of educators and the granddaughter of a coal miner, was born in Bristol, to British parents, mathematician David Evans and Janet Evans. She was raised in Bristol, along with her two brothers, Anthony and Philip. She graduated from University College London with a 2:1 in French and Italian.
After graduation, she enrolled at the Cours Florent in Paris. She gained work in French television, with her breakthrough role as French student Susan in the popular French sitcom, Elisa Top Modele, which ran for 18 months. Next, she went to Italy to play "Nathalie", in the 1998 Italian miniseries Le ragazze di Piazza di Spagna. Her first English-speaking role was in the Highlander episode 'Patient Number 7'. After making her first film, Monsieur Naphtali (1999), Oscar-winning director Claude Lelouch cast Evans as Macha in Une pour toutes (1999), alongside Samy Naceri and Anne Parillaud.