Ant-Man & the Wasp star Evangeline Lilly reveals ‘price' of fame during Perth Supanova visit
Speaking exclusively to The Sunday Times at the Supanova pop culture convention in Perth, Lilly said the decision to retire from acting last year was an easy one because it was never about the fame.
'I've never been somebody who's looking to be a celebrity. In fact, I always felt that was the cost, the price, I had to pay to be able to be an artist for a living,' she said.
Though the 45-year-old Canadian has never sought the limelight, it certainly found her when she was cast as the lead actor in Lost, JJ Abrams' high-concept creation that became the most popular TV show on the planet in the Noughties.
And, as a relative newcomer to the industry at the tender age of 24, Lilly admitted she wasn't prepared for the attention.
'It was really overwhelming,' she said.
'There was nowhere to hide, it was just fan attention all over the world, and I wasn't prepared for it, and I don't think I dealt with it very well, to be honest.'
However, this baptism of fire was the ideal preparation for the fan fervour that came with playing Tauriel, the fearsome Woodland elf in Peter Jackson's Hobbit movies, and Hope van Dyne (aka the Wasp) in the Ant-Man franchise and Avengers: Endgame.
'I actually don't think anything has ever eclipsed the fan attention I got from Lost,' Lilly said.
Having decided to walk away from acting despite a future in the MCU beckoning, Lilly is excited to pursue new opportunities.
'Life is too short for me to do one thing throughout my whole career, and I've had such a great career, it's not like I would ever be able to look back with any regret,' she said.
Asked if she could ever be tempted back onto a film or TV set in the future, she pointed out that Jackson coaxed her out of a previous retirement with the aforementioned role in 2013's The Hobbit: The Desolation of Smaug.
'It's possible that something else will call me out of retirement again, but it would have to be really, really exciting, because I'm ready for other things,' Lilly said with a smile.
Supanova continues on Sunday at the Perth Convention & Exhibition Centre.
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