The Hobbit: On Set Interview with Evangeline Lilly

In their second of a series of on the set of The Hobbit, The One Ring sat down with Evangeline Lilly to discuss how she was cast in the role of Tauriel, her concerns on taking the role, her love of Tolkien and more. I think the interview is around summer 2012 for context. The highlights are below, for the full interview: Part 1 | Part 2.

- Not initially interested as had wanted to take year off to take care of the baby but "I've always been a diehard fan of 'Rings", the books - Tolkien's 'Rings'." (Based on other interviews, she is a fan of the books and isn't just usually sales pitch BS)
- "I was in love with the elves, so when I got told that I had an opportunity to be involved in ‘The Hobbit’ and be an elf and I knew I loved Tolkien and I knew I loved The Hobbit book . . . well."
- "“There was this other element that came into play. When ‘Lord of the Rings’ first came out in the theaters, I refused to see it because I thought they were going to massacre Tolkien’s work and I was like ‘I’m not honoring this, I’m not going to see this, I’m not paying money.’ But my whole family made a night of it and they went out together and I caved and I went with them. I couldn’t believe that what I was seeing on the screen was exactly what I had imagined in my mind when I read the book. So I was also, at that point, a huge fan of Peter and his work with ‘Rings.’"
- Was initially offered the via text message through her boyfriend while in Hawaii and not looking for work as taking care of her then one month old (so around June 2011).
- "The only wrestle that was left at that point were two elements: Okay, am I making a stupid decision for my family? Because that wasn’t in our plan. And I talked that over with Norman and everything was agreed and he was totally enthusiastic about it. And then the other thing was, Tauriel is not in the books. So do I want to be, potentially, the big black spot on ‘The Hobbit?’ You know, the thing that everyone, the Ringers, all go ‘No we’re not having it, we’re not accepting her.’"
- "What’s cool about playing this role is that she’s incredibly feminine but she can still slice an orc’s head off and it’s part of her nature, it’s just part of who she is."
- "All the other elves you’ve ever seen in these movies are at least twice my age, at least twice Tauriel’s age, so they are very wise and they’re very well established in their power and their understanding of the world. I’ve intentionally tried to demonstrate that she’s not there yet. She’s young, she’s only 600 years old and in elven terms, that is so young. She’s just a baby."
- "[Tauriel] wants to be as wise, she wants to be as much of a presence as all of her elders but she’s not. She’s a kid and there’s a part of her that is always a little too excited about things or maybe a little too engaged in the world, the way kids can get. And I think that was something I wanted to tell the really diehard fans. I want them to know that she is young so that when they look at the performance and they look at the character they understand the context."
- "I have to incorporate the movement of an elf into everything I’m doing and it is a lot to think about at one moment. Every strike has seven different instructions behind it. It’s not just ‘slice his head off’. If it was just ‘slice his head off’, I’d feel really confident, I could do that. Its slice his head off in this way and this way, this way, this way and don’t forget to do this at the end and it’s a lot to think about. So my instinct again is going to actually get in my way because I have to stop and I have to be very specific about what I’m doing and think about it."