Lilly Talks Film Career

Evangeline Lilly's in Toronto. And I just missed her. Just. She showed up at 99 Sudbury on Sunday. I was there on Friday and Tuesday. Shoot.

She's in town for the Toronto International Film Festival, premiering her film "Afterwards." And as she has a pretty steady day job, she's using her fledgling film career to pursue art projects. And like the good Canadian she is, she got to hone her French skills on this film, as her crew, director and costar are Francophones.

"Afterwards" tells the story of uptight lawyer Nathan (French star Romain Duris) who is confronted by a mysterious doctor (John Malkovich) claiming he knows when certain people are going to die. Lilly plays Nathan's ex-wife Claire. The story is a rumination on the fragility of life, a theme that appealed to Lilly.
"I'm always looking for a script that I can stand behind and get excited about," she said.

"Call me a bleeding heart Canadian, but I feel like if I'm not doing art that sends a very strong message, then what's the point of doing art? So many Hollywood films are just about entertainment, they're not about sending a message, they're not about telling the audience something about life."

She's also appearing in another festival film with a strong point of view, Kathryn Bigelow's Iraq war drama "The Hurt Locker." It's a tiny role, and Lilly said she didn't even realize Bigelow's film was screening in Toronto until a publicist told her.

The actress has two more years of shooting on "Lost," and says the popular show is her main focus right now. That said, she's curious to see if North Americans are ready to accept "Afterwards," which is set for release in France in December.

"It's very difficult to follow, the leading actor has a very strong French accent," she says, adding that she suspects Canadians may be more open to the film than Americans will be.

"I hope that there is an audience over here, only because that will give me greater faith in the quality of film that's still accepted in North America, but that's not really the focus in my mind.

"In my mind the focus was making an amazing film. And I feel like we did that."

No word on any Dominic sightings. In case you were wondering.

source

TAGS: Afterwards, Evangeline Lilly, Interview, Toronto International Film Festical
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