Evangeline Lilly Lets Loose with her Elf Self in ‘The Hobbit’
“Lost” has been off the air for a little over a year, but that hasn’t stopped the show from sending fresh mysteries into the pop culture processing plant (aka the Web). There was something suspiciously familiar — fated even –about Peter Jackson’s announcement earlier today that he had cast “Lost” alum, Evangeline Lilly, as the Elf Tauriel in his modest little adaptation of J.R.R. Tolkien’s The Hobbit. Then it occurred to us it’s not just Lilly’s Pre-Raphaelite tresses and her many hours logged battling unseen evil lurking amid nature’s splendor that make her seem such an obvious fit to play one of Jackson’s diaphanous woodland beauties.
In some twisted vision of today’s pop culture matrix that intermingles actors’ on-camera personae and off-camera relationships, Lilly was part of the Hobbits’ extended family for several years when she dated her “Lost” co-star, Dominic Monaghan, who played Frodo’s wise and loyal Hobbit buddy, Merry Brandybuck in all three “Lord of the Rings” movies.
Though their relationship is now ancient history (Lilly recently had her first baby with her current boyfriend Norman Kali), the memory of their union gives Lilly’s induction into the Elven ranks a sense of fait accompli. If not Lilly, what other wide-eyed ringlet-tressed actress were they going to cast? Keri Russell, Helena Bonham Carter and Julianna Margulies have arguably aged out of contention for the role.
No, it’s all you, Evangline. It always has been. You’ve been slower than your fellow “Lost” castaways to commit to a high profile role that will finally put your days on that vexing island behind her. And though little is known about the particulars of Tauriel — a Jackson-invented character — we’d be willing to wager that this part will prove well worth the wait. Speculation over how and where the new Elf will play into Tolkien’s existing narrative is already ripping through the geekisphere. This analysis floats several interesting theories. Either way, it’ll be interesting to see Lilly’s transformation into a Middle Earth dweller. We’re guessing she’ll seem right at home.
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Originally Posted by Midnight_Beacon
