Evangeline Lilly

Nicole Evangeline Lilly (born 3 August 1979) is a Canadian actress and author. She gained popularity for her first leading role as Kate Austen in the ABC drama series Lost (2004–2010), which garnered her a nomination for the Golden Globe Award for Best Actress in a Drama Series. Lilly has also appeared in the war film The Hurt Locker (2008) and sports drama Real Steel (2011), and has starred as Tauriel in Peter Jackson's The Hobbit film series, appearing in The Desolation of Smaug (2013) and The Battle of the Five Armies (2014). She has portrayed Hope van Dyne in the Marvel Cinematic Universe, beginning with Ant-Man (2015). Lilly is also the author of a children's book series The Squickerwonkers. Early life Lilly was born in Fort Saskatchewan, Alberta on 3 August 1979. She was raised in British Columbia by her mother, a produce manager, and her father, a home economics teacher. She has an older sister and a younger sister. Lilly was raised Baptist and Mennonite. Lilly graduated from W. J. Mouat Secondary School in Abbotsford, British Columbia; she played soccer and was vice president of the student council. In university, she was a waitress, did "oil changes and grease jobs on big rig trucks", and was a flight attendant for Royal Airlines to pay for her tuition. Her interest in humanitarian causes and world development led her to major in International Relations at the University of British Columbia.