Evangeline Lilly offers rare insight into leaving Hollywood: 'I’ve always hated being famous'
LOS ANGELES, CALIFORNIA: Evangeline Lilly has opened up about her decision to leave Hollywood despite a successful career.
The 47-year-old actress revealed that she would “much prefer a quieter position.”
Evangeline Lilly would like to 'tell stories of my own'
During a recent interview with the Christian Broadcasting Network, Lilly said, “I love telling stories, but I’d like to tell stories of my own instead of being in front of the camera. I’d much prefer a quieter position.”
“I’ve always hated being famous. I never made any secrets about that. I’ve always said being famous is the cost of the wealth that you can get as an actor. Like that’s what you pay for — the wealth,” she shared.
Evangeline Lilly kept her retirement private until 2024
Lilly, who was seen as Kate Austen in ‘Lost’, further mentioned that she actually stepped away from the limelight in 2020 before sharing about it publicly in 2024.
“It’s been six years now. When I was 26, I was saying … all the things I wanted in my life … and I did it … I’m there. I’ve already retired [by 2024 when the retrospective came out]. At that point, I’ve been retired for four years … it’s been a long time of adjusting,” she explained.
Evangeline Lilly admits being fearful while leaving her acting career
The ‘Ant-Man and the Wasp’ star, however, admitted that she felt fear initially as she “let go of so much … power, influence, and potential money.”
“When you’re successful at something, it feels really good when the world says, ‘We love you! You’re amazing!’ Like, this is a wonderful feeling. How do you walk away from that? And I’ve had moments of … gripping fear of like, ‘What am I doing?’ But, ultimately, the decision was one that was made in great conviction,” Lilly noted.
Evangeline Lilly talks about her new project
Though Lilly has left Hollywood, she’s now linked to a different type of project.
She has given her voice to Queen Bernice in the film ‘Legend of Destruction’, which was originally made in Hebrew in 2021.
“I actually was able to see the fully completed piece before I came on board for the English version. I didn’t understand what I was looking at. I didn’t understand what I was being invited into, but I watched the film, and within the first…three to four seconds of the film, I felt like I was just completely immersed in a way that most films don’t do for me anymore,” she mentioned.
Lilly asserted that the movie’s “story was so intense and beautifully told, and then also incredibly timely because it’s talking about a society divided into itself. So a society that’s really broken and in civil strife and how that leads ultimately to mutual destruction amongst all of its people.”
