Evangeline Lilly admitted the one thing about Hollywood she never learned to live with. The Lost and Ant-Man star opened up about why she walked away from acting and what her life looks like now.
Evangeline Lilly talks leaving Hollywood
Evangeline Lilly told CBN News she stepped away from Hollywood in 2020, though the public only learned about it through a 2024 Instagram retrospective. The actress, known for Lost, The Hobbit, and the Ant-Man films, said the transition brought both liberation and fear.
“It’s been six years, so it’s been a long time of adjusting and discovering what the consequences of it would be,” Lilly said. She admitted to feeling “moments of fear” about letting go of “power and influence and potentially money.”
The actress also acknowledged the emotional pull of public admiration. “When you’re successful at something, it feels really good when the world says, ‘We love you, you’re amazing,’” she said. “How do you walk away from that?” Still, she described the decision as “one that was made in great conviction.”
Before acting, Lilly studied political science and international relations. She said she always wanted a more direct impact than Hollywood could offer. “I’ve done 22 years of hands-on humanitarian work in Rwanda,” she added. She now focuses on writing and telling “stories of my own instead of being in front of the camera.”
Lilly was candid about her discomfort with celebrity life. “I’ve always hated being famous,” she said. “I’ve always said being famous is the cost of the wealth that you can get as an actor.” She described her current outlook as rooted in faith, saying she trusts “God has a plan for my life.”
Her health has also improved significantly since retiring. “I had massive chronic health issues by the time I retired,” Lilly revealed. She attributed them to “the stress and pressure and demands of being a public figure” (via Page Six).
In January, she disclosed suffering a traumatic brain injury after fainting and hitting her head in Hawaii. “Almost every area in my brain is functioning at a decreased capacity,” she shared at the time.
