Evangeline's Talks Lost and Subsequent Film Choices

While chatting with Premiere about The Hurt Locker, Evangeline opened up about her role on Lost and the opportunities the show has given her.

Why this particular film? You must have many options given the success of Lost. I have been very fortunate. Lost has opened doors, [but] they are just not all doors that I want to go through.
So you have turned down a lot of other possibilities?
Yeah. I have been reading scripts for the last four years, and there is just not a lot out there that gets me excited. When I watch films — I watch so few films, [but] that is only because I watch films, I think, for a very different reason than a lot of other people watch them. I don't watch them to be numbed or to be entertained. I watch them to be challenging. And if a film doesn't challenge me, I am not interested in watching it. And there are obviously exceptions to every rule. There are PMS nights when I just desperately want to dive in ice cream and benumb my brain. So, I wanted to be a part of films that were challenging, and there are not a lot of films out there that are challenging. I think there a lot of really good films out there that are extraordinarily entertaining or beautiful or poignant, but there are not a lot of challenging films out there. For me, I define that notion of challenging as [whether or not] there's a message behind the film that needs to be conveyed. And this film I think has a very strong message. And actually I also did a small cameo in another film here at the Festival called The Hurt Locker that is also very challenging. It is very, very heavy.

Did you make any adjustments in your preparation for this kind of role as opposed to preparing for Lost?
Yes, the approach and the preparation were the biggest difference because the actual filming of it wasn't too terribly different. They are both guerilla style. I have an independent film with no money, and I was on a TV show that is on a very tight schedule and budget. So, both genres have been shot very quickly and aggressively but the preparation was very different. First of all for Lost, when I came to that role, I had never had any acting experience and therefore I had no idea what it meant to prepare for a role. [laughs]. Since then, in beginning each season, I have a system that I go through to prepare, but that system is actually watching the previous seasons and just really acquainting myself with her again, whereas for the film I had to create her. And for the first time, I knew what that actually meant and what that would entail and how to prepare. And therefore, I spent a lot of time [exchanging] late night emails with the director about why I couldn't sleep because she was running through my mind, about feelings she was feeling, or ideas that she was contemplating. I would [run] them by him, and he would throw back his ideas to me, and I went through a long period... I would say between three and four months of really trying to embody her. And that was difficult because I was filming Lost at the same time. We were doing the finale, and I would go home at night and I would have to shed Kate and put on Claire and sort of play around with that. It was a lot of work, but it was fun.

.....

So what is going to happen on Lost? Any trade secrets?
[laughs] They don't tell me anything. Nothing. They really don't. I get my script usually the night before I start work. It is really difficult. You find yourself having [2:00 AM] email conversations with writers, going, "Okay. I work at 5. Come on! We have got to get this settled." [laughs]

And now you find yourself handling a baby and an alcoholic at the same time on Lost.
Yeah. She has completely flipped on her head. She used to be the person everyone else had to take care of, and now she is taking care of everyone else. It is good though. It is fun to see that arc.

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TAGS: Evangeline Lilly, Interview, Premiere, The Hurt Locker
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