Evangeline Lilly explains leaving Hollywood
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The gist
Actress Evangeline Lilly says she has considered herself retired since 2020 and always hated fame.
Her exit highlights the pressures of Hollywood fame on actresses.
Background
Evangeline Lilly is a 47-year-old actress known for playing Kate Austen in Lost, Hope van Dyne (the Wasp) in Marvel's Ant-Man movies and Tauriel in The Hobbit; she was nominated for a Golden Globe. She announced in 2024 that she was taking an indefinite break from acting to focus on her family, and her last role was in 2023's Ant-Man and the Wasp: Quantumania. The topic resurfaced after CBN News published an interview in which she discussed the decision, with outlets picking it up in the following days.
How it unfolded
- 2020Lilly considers herself retired since 2020, having walked away from Hollywood about six years before the CBN News interview.
- 2023Her last role was in Ant-Man and the Wasp: Quantumania, reprising Hope van Dyne.
- Jun 3, 2024She shared a video originally recorded in 2006 in which she discussed plans to eventually leave acting to raise a family and pursue humanitarian work.
- 2024She announced she was taking an indefinite break from acting to focus on her family.
- Oct 19, 2026CBN News published the interview in which she discussed leaving Hollywood.
- Oct 20, 2026Page Six and Fox News published stories on the interview.
- Oct 21, 2026Just Jared and syracuse.com published stories on the interview.
Who’s saying what
- Actor
- Lilly said she has always hated being famous, calling fame the cost of the wealth acting can bring, and that stepping away has been liberating and improved her health.
- Expert
- Film critic Christian Toto told Fox News Digital that leaving a successful acting career is extremely uncommon, citing the pressures of fame and Hollywood's treatment of actresses over 40.