Back when the lovely Lost actress was cast in Peter Jackson's LOTR prequel, all that was revealed was her character's name and that she was a Elf. Aside from that the rest has been a bit of a mystery. But while speaking to EW about the Blu-ray release of Real Steal Lilly opens up a bit more. Mild SPOILERS ahead..
“Yes, she is a warrior. She’s actually the head of the Elven guard. She’s the big shot in the army. So she knows how to wield any weapon, but the primary weapons that she uses are a bow and arrow and two daggers. And she’s lethal and deadly. You definitely wouldn’t want to be caught in a dark alley next to Tauriel.”
Lilly also says that her role in the first movie,
An Unexpected Journey, is quite a small one and that she only makes an appearance in the end, but that she plays a much larger part in
There And Back Again. When asked whether Tauriel will feature in the climactic Battle Of The Five Armies she responds:
"Oh, I don’t know. We haven’t shot that yet. I still have to go back for five more months of filming.". I think it's a safe bet though.
The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey hits theaters December 14, 2012 with
The Hobbit: There and Back Again following on December 13, 2013.