Like the characters in the “Lost” finale, Evangeline Lilly is moving on.
The 44-year-old announced that she’s “stepping away” from her acting career on Instagram Monday.
Lilly shared a clip from 2006 on the set of “Lost” in Hawaii where she revealed where she sees herself in 10 years.
“I am terrified to admit this to the rest of the acting world, but ideally ten years from now I’d like to be a retired actress, and I would like to have a family, and I’d like to be writing,” Lilly said at the time.
“And potentially maybe influencing people’s lives in a more humanitarian way,” she added.
In her caption, the “Ant-Man and the Wasp” star explained her decision to quit acting.
“I am so filled with joy and contentment today as I live out my vision,” Lilly wrote. “Praise God, I feel so grateful for my blessings. Stepping away from what seems like the obvious choice (wealth and fame) can feel scary at times, but stepping into your dharma replaces the fear with fulfillment.”
She continued, “I might return to Hollywood one day, but, for now, this is where I belong. A new season has arrived, and I AM READY…and I AM HAPPY. 🕊️💪🏽😊.”
Lilly, who is from Canada, made her acting debut as a background character in “Smallville” in 2002.
She got her big break when she was cast as fugitive Kate Austen in “Lost,” which aired on ABC from 2004 to 2010, and is considered one of the greatest television shows of all time.
Lilly’s performance earned her a nomination for the Golden Globe Award for Best Actress in a Drama Series in 2007.
In 2015, Lilly joined the Marvel Cinematic Universe (MCU) as Hope van Dyne/Wasp. She starred opposite Paul Rudd in all three “Ant-Man” movies and also made an appearance in the 2019 blockbuster “Avengers: Endgame.”
Lilly is also known for the movies “The Hurt Locker” and “Real Steel” and Peter Jackson’s “The Hobbit” film series, where she played Tauriel.
Back in 2018, Lilly explained on “The Lost Boys” podcast that she never aspired to be famous when she was cast in “Lost.”
“I would say it was my destiny, because it certainly wasn’t my agenda,” she said. “I was one of those very rare, rare actresses who wasn’t trying to be an actress when I got that job. And the only reason why I took the job at the time was because I had enormous faith, and I really believed that everything in my life just continued to sort of push and prod me and point me towards this thing.”
“Then it happened so quickly—it happened so easily!—that it felt like destiny. It felt like, ‘I can’t say no to this, or I’m saying no to my fate.’ “
More recently, Lilly opened up to Esquire about preferring to be out of the spotlight.
“All my life, I’d been like, ‘No way, nothing scares me. But I suddenly realized I was legitimately afraid of fame,” she said in the February 2023 interview.
Lilly added, “I’ve spent most of my life trying to be a good girl. That’s a very dangerous game to play in Hollywood, because there are a lot of agendas.”
