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Nicole Evangeline Lilly (born August 3, 1979 in Fort Saskatchewan, Alberta) is a Canadian actress best known for her role as Kate Austen in ''Series/{{Lost}}''. Since the end of the series, she has been seen in movies such as ''Film/TheHurtLocker'' and ''Film/RealSteel''. She appeared in Creator/PeterJackson's ''Film/TheHobbitTheDesolationOfSmaug'' and ''Film/TheHobbitTheBattleOfTheFiveArmies'' as a new character, the elf warrior Tauriel. She's currently enjoying success in the Franchise/MarvelCinematicUniverse as the Wasp.

Before acting, Lilly worked as a flight attendant and as a Christian missionary in the Philippines.

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!!Selected Filmography
* ''Series/{{Lost}}'' (2004 – 2010) as Kate Austen
* ''Film/TheHurtLocker'' (2009) as Connie James
* ''Film/RealSteel'' (2011) as Bailey Tallet
* ''Film/TheHobbit'' trilogy as Tauriel:
** ''Film/TheHobbitTheDesolationOfSmaug'' (2013)
** ''Film/TheHobbitTheBattleOfTheFiveArmies'' (2014)
* Franchise/MarvelCinematicUniverse as [[ComicBook/TheWasp Hope van Dyne / The Wasp II]]:
** ''Film/AntMan1'' (2015)
** ''Film/AntManAndTheWasp'' (2018)
** ''Film/AvengersEndgame'' (2019)
** ''[[WesternAnimation/WhatIf2021 What If...?]]'' (2021)
** ''Film/AntManAndTheWaspQuantumania'' (2023)
* ''Film/LittleEvil'' (2017) as Samantha Bloom
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!!Tropes associated with her work:

* ActorAllusion: In ''Film/AntMan1'' Hope believes her mother died in a plane crash - as a nod to ''{{Series/Lost}}''.
* ActorInspiredElement:[[invoked]]
** Kate in ''Lost'' climbs trees a lot because that is one of Evangeline's favorite things to do.
** She lobbied for Creator/MichellePfeiffer to be cast as Janet in ''Film/AntManAndTheWasp''.
* AwesomeDearBoy:[[invoked]] Having been in semi-retirement since ''Lost'' finished, she travelled all the way to Los Angeles to audition for ''Film/RealSteel'' after seeing the script.
* CreatorBacklash:[[invoked]]
** She's not too fond of the love triangle Tauriel ended up in - which was forced by the studio on re-shoots for ''Film/TheHobbit''.
** In 2018 she came out and said she was uncomfortable doing a semi-nude scene in ''{{Series/Lost}}'' and it made her vow never to do nudity again.
* FakeAmerican:[[invoked]] She's Canadian so she plays a lot of Americans.
* FakeBrit:[[invoked]] As Tauriel in ''Film/TheHobbit''.
* SheAlsoDid:
** She worked as an extra before becoming an actress. Among the shows and films she can be glimpsed on are ''Series/TruCalling'', ''Series/DeadLikeMe'', ''{{Series/Smallville}}'', ''Film/WhiteChicks'', ''Film/FreddyVsJason'', ''Film/TheLizzieMcGuireMovie'' and ''Stealing Sinatra''.
** She's also authored several children's books.
* SweetAndSourGrapes: Has said that she never intended to become an actress, and going on auditions was just her way of challenging herself. Then she got a role on ''{{Series/Lost}}'' having never acted outside of commercials or extra work.
* WhatCouldHaveBeen:[[invoked]]
** Hope's role in ''Film/AntMan1'' was much smaller in Creator/EdgarWright's drafts. During rewrites it was beefed up considerably, thanks to Adam [=McKay=] consulting the actors on their characters and expanding them.
** Tauriel's role in ''Film/TheHobbit'' was meant to be a straightforward romance with Kili. ExecutiveMeddling turning it into three films had Legolas being made part of a love triangle - when he and Tauriel were PlatonicLifePartners originally.
** She was nearly recast in ''{{Series/Lost}}'' because of trouble getting her work visa. It took twenty tries for her application to be accepted.
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