Peter Jackson's announced back in June that Lost's Evangeline Lilly would be joining the cast of The Hobbit. But her character, an Elf named Tauriel, was not in the original novel and was added to give the predominantly male cast some female flavor. While promoting Real Steal the Canadian actress spoke to SFX about any trepidation she might have had taking the role and her preparation for it..
When you played Kate you were always doing physical scenes and stunts. How are you prepping for The Hobbit?
“With every film, you have to educate yourself on the material and it’s often things you don’t know a lot about. Right now I’m studying Elvish and having conversations with people about learning how to be an archer, a swordsperson and how to fight like an elf instead of a gritty convict.” [Laughs]
Did you have any reservations about joining The Hobbit cast?
“With The Hobbit, it was a no-brainer because I have been a fan of those books since I was 13-years-old.
Tauriel is a new character in the mythology so as a book purist yourself that must be frightening to ponder how fans will react to your part?
“Yeah! I am very concerned to this day that people will watch the film and I’ll be the black mark on the film. I know how adamant the purists are and I’m one of them! That said, upon reading The Hobbit again, as an adult, I can see why additional characters were needed to round out the story as an adaptation – especially female characters! The Hobbit didn’t include female characters at all and was a very linear story, a book for children, really. What Peter, Fran (Walsh) and Philippa (Boyens) have done is all in perfect keeping with Tolkien’s world, while adding a third dimension to an otherwise very two-dimensional story.”
Real Steel opens on 14 October 2011,
The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey opens 14 December 2012.
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Mark Cassidy is a writer, photographer, amateur filmmaker, and Rotten Tomatoes-approved critic from Dublin, Ireland.