Evangeline Lilly | The Canadian Encyclopedia

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Evangeline Lilly

Evangeline Lilly, actor (born at Fort Saskatchewan, Alta 3 Aug 1979). Evangeline Lilly graduated from W. J. Mouat Secondary School in Abbotsford, BC, and then resided in a number of cities both in Canada and abroad. For a time she devoted herself to humanitarian work in the Philippines.

Evangeline Lilly

Evangeline Lilly, actor (born at Fort Saskatchewan, Alta 3 Aug 1979). Evangeline Lilly graduated from W. J. Mouat Secondary School in Abbotsford, BC, and then resided in a number of cities both in Canada and abroad. For a time she devoted herself to humanitarian work in the Philippines.

She attended the Yaletown Actors Lab in Vancouver and worked as a model while studying international relations at the University of British Columbia. Her acting career began with mostly uncredited bit parts on several American television shows, including Tru Calling and Smallville, and on the feature film Freddie vs. Jason (2003).

In 2004, Evangeline Lilly was cast as criminal-at-large Kate Austen on the hit primetime American television series Lost. The fantasy/drama, about a group of passengers who literally fall from the sky and onto a phantasmagorical island amongst the debris of a massive commercial jetliner, propelled the young Lilly to instant stardom shortly after the first few episodes were broadcast. Even in the show's large ensemble cast, Lilly's remarkable beauty and sensitivity stood out, earning her a 2007 Golden Globe nomination for best performance by an actress in a television series.

Evangeline Lilly has also appeared in the existential drama Afterwards (2008) and the multiple-award-winning war film The Hurt Locker (2009). She returned to the science fiction/fantasy genre with prominent roles in Real Steel (2011) and as the willowy elf Tauriel in The Hobbit: The Desolation of Smaug (2013) and There and Back Again (2014).