How Evangeline Lilly Really Felt About Her Storylines On Lost
"Lost" has a well-established reputation for its convoluted plot, a strange timeline, and mysterious smoke monsters. But the ABC show's greatest strength is rooted in its characters and interesting exploration of their pasts over the course of its six seasons. The series stars Matthew Fox, Josh Holloway, Terry O'Quinn, Naveen Andrews, and Daniel Dae Kim. The general "Lost" premise follows a group of apparent strangers who try to survive on an isolated island following a plane crash. As they work together, each character's secrets are revealed.
Among the group of survivors is Kate Austen, played by Evangeline Lilly. Kate is on the run after killing her abusive father and keeps much of her past a secret. She is also one of the most capable members of the group. Fairly quickly, she ends up at the center of a love triangle between two of the other survivors, Jack (Fox) and Sawyer (Holloway), who frequently compete for power. The "Ant-Man" actress played the "Lost" character for all six seasons, and, while she felt like doing the show was her destiny, she didn't always enjoy playing Kate.
Evangeline Lilly felt Kate became more 'predictable' and 'obnoxious' as Lost progressed
In an interview with "The LOST Boys" podcast, Evangeline Lilly talked about her time on the series and some of Kate's storylines she took issue with. She shared, "As the show went on, I felt like she became more and more predictable and obnoxious. I felt like my character went from being autonomous — really having her own story and her own journey and her own agendas — to chasing two men around the island," and added, "I wanted her to be better because she was an icon for strength and autonomy for women, and I thought we could have done better than that."
Lilly did work with what she was given, though. She remarked, "I think I tried very, very hard to take what I was given and always find the way to show her strength, find the way to have her own thoughts and opinions and ideas, and to take moments that I thought might be a bit whiny and somehow make them not whiny."
"The great thing about that is that she was flawed, and that's so important," she continued. "If you don't have flaws in the women on screen, then what you're telling the world is that women have to be perfect if they're going to be lovable. If you have flawed women on screen who are also icons of femininity, [and] are also beloved, then it gives us all permission to be flawed."
There was a particular kind of scene Lilly didn't like to film
While much of Kate's behavior simply annoyed Evangeline Lilly, some scenes made her deeply uncomfortable to film. On one occasion, she had to be partially nude for a scene but didn't want to do it. She told The LOST Boys podcast, "In Season 3, I'd had a bad experience on set with being basically cornered into doing a scene partially naked, and I felt I had no choice in the matter. I was mortified, and I was trembling, and when it finished, I was crying my eyes out, and I had to go on to do a very formidable, very strong scene immediately thereafter."
Later, there was another scene that required Kate to be in a state of undress. Lilly said she tried to gain control over the scene but was unable to do so. After that, she refused to take her clothes off again for the series. More recently, Lilly has seen playing Hope van Dyne, aka the Wasp, alongside Ant-Man in the MCU. She said Hope's full coverage suit makes her feel "very safe."