After her breakout role on Lost, Evangeline Lilly has been busy on big-budget films, including playing Tauriel in the Hobbit films and recently reprising her role as Hope Van Dyne in this summer's Ant-Man and The Wasp. The actress has her share of experiences on popular movie franchises, but she also once had her eye on a galaxy far, far away. When Lost co-creator J.J. Abrams stepped up to direct Star Wars: The Force Awakens, Lilly just couldn't resist asking if she could be a part of the much-anticipated resurgence of the franchise. Although Lilly unfortunately never appeared in Force Awakens, as she revealed:
When J.J. [Abrams] first announced that he was gonna do his first Star Wars film, I reached out to his producing partner, for the first time ever since Lost ended. I never requested anything ever before, and I said, 'I wanna be Leia! Make me Leia!'
Evangeline Lilly's comments (via ComicBook.com) on reaching out for a Star Wars role come from her recent appearance at Fan Expo Boston. Although after seeing the current Star Wars trilogy play out, it makes sense why Lilly couldn't get a spot. After all, it was Carrie Fisher who played Leia in The Force Awakens, alongside original stars Mark Hamill and Harrison Ford. After Fisher suddenly passed after wrapping The Last Jedi, J.J. Abrams expressed that in honor of her memory, they wouldn't be recasting Leia. In fact, Leia will be in Episode IX through past footage from Star Wars: The Force Awakens. There's no doubt Lilly could rock those space buns if given the chance, but her desired role just wasn't in the stars; there's only one Leia in this galaxy.
The new Star Wars films aren't without actors with ties to Lost, but if you blink you might miss them. Greg Grunberg, who played the pilot in Lost's first episode, was cast in Star Wars: The Force Awakens as Snap Wexley, and is rumored to appear in Star Wars: Episode IX. Grunberg is also quite the regular in Abrams' projects, with appearances on Felicity, Alias, and Mission: Impossible 3. Lost alum Ken Leung also had a feature as Admiral Statura in the Force Awakens. Abrams is also collaborating with anoher television leading lady with Episode IX, as Keri Russell aka Felicity, will have an undisclosed role in his return to the franchise.
Evangeline Lilly recently spoke out about feeling mistreated on the set of Lost when filming nude scenes, leading the creators, including J.J. Abrams to release a statement apologizing to her. Even so, Lilly has also expressed her fondness for getting to play Kate Austen of the hit ABC television show. We would love to see Lilly and Abrams collaborate on another project together. Or more importantly get Lilly to play another awesome character on a big franchise such as the next Rian Johnson Star Wars trilogy in the works.
