Evangeline Lilly Reveals She Turned Down Both An 'X-Men' And A 'Wonder Woman' Pitch

TV & Film

Feb 20

Evangeline Lilly has had a very successful career over the years and is still going strong. Lilly currently plays Hope Van Dyne in the Ant-Man films, however, that role wasn’t the first opportunity for her to enter the world of superheroes. In a recent Happy, Sad, Confused podcast (via Entertainment Weekly) appearance, the actress opened up about a few roles she turned down.

One approach came from Joss Whedon for the role of Wonder Woman. Regarding the pitch and the meeting, Lilly stated that "It didn't appeal and there was nothing about the meeting that like, jazzed me or made me think like, 'Oh, I've gotta do this.' Nothing clicked. Nothing felt good." She was honest about her feelings despite any risk or gleaned offense that could be taken.

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The other approach came from Hugh Jackman while the actors were filming Reel Steel (2011). Lilly said her colleague "was like, 'Hey, so, the X-Men guys are asking me if I would approach you because they know that you won't talk to anybody." She “felt so rude” giving a face-to-face rejection, but "was like, 'No. It doesn't interest me. I'm not interested.'"

In the podcast feature, Lilly summarized her thoughts on the matter and gave this impactful statement:

“I was okay with that. I was okay with burning bridges. I was okay with not having everyone in Hollywood wanna work with me…I just always had to do what felt right for me, And honestly I wasn’t into superhero movies and that’s the main reason why, in both of these instances, I just kind of felt like I don’t know what I get out of this.”

Things changed over time, her role in the MCU and what they were building changed her tune to some degree. Regardless, the actress is a prime example of taking the roles you’re actually passionate about and still finding success. Ant-Man and the Wasp: Quantumania hit theaters on February 17th. A Disney+ release date has yet to be announced; however, if Disney follows its pattern the earliest would be between April and May.

You can check out her entire appearance below!