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Evangeline Lilly anxious over Hobbit role

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Evangeline Lilly anxious over Hobbit role

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Evangeline Lilly (Reuters)

Evangeline Lilly (Reuters)

Evangeline Lilly fears "purist" fans will hate her role in The Hobbit because her character didn't feature in the book and was invented solely for the fantasy film adaptation.

The Lost actress' Sylvan elf Tauriel was created especially for director Peter Jackson's upcoming Lord of the Rings prequel, based on J.R.R. Tolkien's classic novel The Hobbit.

But Lilly admits she is terrified Tolkien devotees won't respond well when the movie epic is released next year.

She says, "The Hobbit didn't include female characters at all. I can see why additional characters were needed to round out the story as an adaptation, especially female characters.

"I am very concerned that people will watch and I'll be the black mark on the film. I know how adamant the purists are and I'm one of them."

Lilly was announced in June as the latest addition to the male-dominated cast, featuring Benedict Cumberbatch, Martin Freeman, Hugo Weaving and Lord of the Rings regulars Sir Ian McKellen, Elijah Wood and Orlando Bloom.

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Comments

15/10/2011 5:18:33 a.m.

Marcelino wrote:

I'm a purist but you know what I'm glad we will see some more woman in these films, Tolkien didn't have a lot of women in his daily life I've read, so he wrote what he knew. So I think we need to learn to let go, sometimes I wonder what the heck where they thinking when they had Aragon fall of the cliff and come back to Helms Deep later, opening the door all dramatic like, and it's silly, but I let it go cause really it doesn't matter. I'm sure this actress will do great, because I trust Mr. Jackson and I can't wait to see these movies.

2/10/2011 12:25:17 a.m.

Tim wrote:

She will definitely be the black mark on the film, although it will only be partly due to her invented character.

28/09/2011 8:49:34 a.m.

Alyianna wrote:

I think Lily will be great! I can't wait to see her and I certainly won't be one of those huge LOTR fans, who will hate her! I'm sure I'll love her!

27/09/2011 11:45:19 a.m.

Bill wrote:

Books are books; movies are movies. All art is interpretave--if its done well and stays true to the spirit of the books it won't rankle anyone. Besides, Evangeline will be every bit the lovely elf, as was Liv Tyler. She's a great actress and a Tolkien fan, and Peter would never allow her part or lines to derail the story. No worries here. She'll be a great character and An Unexpected Journey will be a great film.

27/09/2011 4:55:45 a.m.

Dreamflower wrote:

I think her concern is very sweet, and shows she really cares about the film. But she needn't worry about being a Mary Sue unless PJ gets totally carried away. She did quite well in LOST in keeping Kate from being one (and the character of Kate was most certainly a borderline Mary Sue). I don't think he will; he's a smart guy and knows from experience how to walk the tightrope between Hollywood expectations and Tolkien geekdom. True there were no female characters in The Hobbit. But, like PJ's LOTR, I think of this movie as fanfic. It will be an AU version of TH whatever else he does-- but it will still be an homage to the original.

25/09/2011 9:09:00 a.m.

Laura wrote:

You know what? There are an awful lot of anonymous characters in The Hobbit that we just sort of assume are male. "An elf" does this or that, etc, including some relatively big advancing of the plot. Tolkien has a quirk with anonymous characters where he doesn't always use pronouns, even though I am sure he assumed they were male. But it's a different age and we're reading the book with different eyes. I'm not a purist, but even from a purist standpoint I don't see how it would be weird in any way. I say absolutely let's have women's roles, and I'm looking forward to meeting Tauriel.

25/09/2011 7:31:13 a.m.

Laura wrote:

I think it would be interesting to see a movie without any female characters (except maybe as extras in Hobbiton and Rivendell). I don't believe it's ever been done before, and I'd love to see it done now. I think the book was great, and I'm tired of feminists being catered to. If the book is beloved, and is going to be made into a movie, and doesn't have female characters, then it should be made as closely to the book as possible.

25/09/2011 5:51:26 a.m.

Peter wrote:

I also fear she´ll me at least one of the black marks on The Hobbit - her and Thorin, who seems to have been changed from an old dwarf to a forty-something heartthrob human. Epic fail on PJ´s part, i expected so much better from him.

25/09/2011 1:35:28 a.m.

Robert wrote:

Purists will never be happy, so why bother? Peter Jackson's Hobbit movie is an "adaptation" of JRR Tolkien's book, so per se an adaptation will never be exactly like the source. If the purists can't bear the thought that the movie will not be "exactly" like The Hobbit book, they should simply not watch the movie. A movie is a movie, and the book is the book, period!

24/09/2011 5:52:06 p.m.

esh wrote:

I'm a die-hard fan. The books are the books, the films are the films. If the part is good, then I'll be all for it.