After playing archer elf Tauriel in the ‘Hobbit’ movies and Hope Van Dyne/The Wasp in the two ‘Ant-Man’ movies, Evangeline Lilly has proven she is one of the most badass female actors around, but there was a time when the British Columbia native didn’t wield as much power and that was during her rise to fame portraying Kate Austen, the female lead on the TV series ‘Lost’. Despite the fact that she was the female lead on the show, she was still subject to the male gaze, which she recently opened up about.
Lilly appeared on The Lost Boys podcast and discussed the painful experiences she underwent on the prime time ABC series:
“In season 3, I’d had a bad experience on set with being basically cornered into doing a scene partially naked, and I felt had no choice in the matter. And I was mortified and I was trembling when it finished. I was crying my eyes out and I had to go on to do a very formidable, very strong scene thereafter.
“In season 4, another scene came up where Kate was undressing and I fought very hard to have that scene be under my control. And I failed to control it again. So I then said, ‘That’s it, no more. You can write whatever you want — I won’t do it. I will never take my clothes off on this show again.’ And I didn’t.”
Lilly went on to express that even though she had the luxury of refusing any project that calls for nudity, that she felt for female actors that were just starting out and couldn’t have as loud a voice in the matter. She did state that she felt that things were changing in Hollywood, however, and hopefully female actors would not be required to trade on their physical appearance but would rather be allowed to simply act.
Lilly can currently be seen in ‘Ant-Man and the Wasp’ and will reprise her role in next year’s ‘Avengers 4’.
Source: Entertainment Weekly
