Evangeline Lilly Quotes

We decided to have the baby at home because we wanted it to be a natural birth, and it turns out that it was 30 hours of natural. Eight hours of pushing - that's the part that men don't understand. Women go, 'Oh, dear, oh, dear God, eight hours of pushing?' And the men are like, 'Okay, eight hours of pushing.'

I think of the 'Hobbit' films as being films for the family.

I tended to be a solitary young girl, and I still am. I would like to find a quiet corner and color in my coloring book. When I think back, I made that corner mine, not really caring about the rest of the house.

'Real Steel' was this lovely little piece where I held a cup of coffee and talked to Hugh Jackman for three weeks. And that sounded kind of nice.

One of the things that I miss about Canada is that even the strangers, you have an immediate rapport, there's just an understanding that we're all good people, let's be nice to each other. And Kiwis have that. I find the Kiwis have that.

I try my very hardest to remember that I don't have to be anything but Evangeline. That's all that's expected of me. And if I try to be more or less, I will fall flat on my face. So if I just continue to hold my head high and keep myself in check, I'm being who I was born to be.

I lived in grass huts in a jungle in the Philippines for three weeks with tribal people.

My partner doesn't read. He's not illiterate - he just chooses not to read - and I love reading. I'm obsessed with reading.

My son was three months old when I started filming 'The Hobbit,' and I was still breastfeeding.

I am so glad that I get to maintain a relatively down-to-earth lifestyle.

I think I can allow myself one child - and from then on, I think I would have to adopt. It makes sense not to add to the population problem.

I was a massive Tolkien fan. 'The Hobbit' was ... my favorite book as a little girl, and the Silvan Elves were my favorite characters in the book.

I actually write as a passion, as something I actually am more passionate about than acting.

I was fortunate enough to be one of those stories where I was scouted on the street by somebody and actually refused to go to the agency, and was approached on different occasions and finally kind of caved and said, 'OK, I'll try it and see what happens.'

I think my style is very eclectic, because I love so many different things. And, that's true, too, in almost every aspect of my life. I can go from really edgy to tailored and professional, and I just love to change things up.

'The Hobbit' didn't include female characters at all and was a very linear story, a book for children, really.

I have to have nature around me. I love the earth and this insanely beautiful creation that we live in. I just think it's to be marveled at and appreciated. It gives us life.

I started to do everything I could to succeed, but found that the more successful I became, the less people liked me.

When I was a little girl, I dreamed of being an elf.

I'm a pretty skeptical person, and I'm a realistic person.

In every one of the 'Squickerwonker' books, we will explore a new Squickerwonker character and their vice and how their vice generally leads to their undoing.

When I act, I come away drained. When I write, I come away energized.

Somebody could take a picture of me from across the room, and I would feel like I wanted to rip their face off.

I'm allergic to Hawaii. Everything there makes me react in some way.

I don't have the educated knowledge of what textures, colors, shapes and spaces need to be put together to make something just right. I'm learning it by trial and error, which is something that's slow going.

I'm an actress, but I'm not stupid.

I read every single letter. Some just break my heart. I've cried over letters that have come in, from young women and older women alike, saying to me, "You know, you made me want to stop crash dieting and just be healthy. You are my role model. I want to be like you."

I hated being a flight attendant. I did it for a month and then quit.

On 'Ant-Man', I took a rubber stamp from the office of Hank Pym, who's played by Michael Douglas.

I am an opportunist. When opportunities come, and I see them serving my grander goals in life, I take them.

I just wanted friends. I just wanted people to like me. I just wanted for things to be simple and good. So, for five years I actively sought out mediocrity.

The way I've been able to embrace fame is by realizing that celebrity is just a means to send whatever message you want out into the world.

A creative project is a moving target. You never end up where you start.

Every woman is after a kind of classy image.

When I pick a role, one of the things that I aspire to is that somebody's parent will come up to me after the film has come out and say, "My daughter idealizes that character. You're her hero." That's what I aim for. We're in the business of making heroes.

I know I can never work in a comedy because I can't keep a goddamn straight face.

There are so many reasons why, for me, writing is superior to acting. One of them is anonymity. Writers can live relatively normal lives.

Writing is my number one passion. I've written two novels. I've written a screenplay. I also write short stories and poetry.

Life is all about embracing each moment that is given to you.

I've been astounded to discover how good to their teams and crew that Marvel are. They're so collaborative, so smart with their stories. They have rich, dynamic characters which are so much fun to play.

I see kids and young adults walking the streets of L.A. with this enormous sense of entitlement, who seem to think that if they are basically good people and pay their bills, then the world will be good back to them. And I think life isn't always like that.

I eventually want to come back to Canada, to disappear, have nobody know me, and just be a writer and do what I want to do.

I don't want to shield kids from reality.

I love to write. I write everything across the board - kids' stories and novels and scripts. I actually would like to give that a go; I'd like to try to be a writer.

There are jobs to be created on both sides of the climate argument. Whether we are investing in oil or sun, coal or wind, gas or algae, the economy will be stimulated by the investment. The economy, unlike each of us, is not swayed by ideology.

As I grew older, I developed a very innate passion for art. I was actually pretty good at it.

Your mind and soul are the kings of your physique way more than any exercise you do.

The world is full of opportunities, and I want to try as many as I possibly can.

I don't want to just model. Anyone can do that. I've let myself be in magazines in the past without participating as much as I should have.

I'm not a girl who needs to put on a whole face of make-up before I leave the house.

I am five foot six, I am built of muscle and bone, and that is not very good for fashion, but it's who I am. Women who look good in fashion are six foot tall, don't have an ounce of muscle, and their legs are the size of my arm.

I have battled clinical depression and have come out of the other side. I've been free of it for many years now. Finding the place in my own mind and heart to win that battle without using medication, finding the place within myself where I could be alive again, that was one of the biggest challenges I've faced.

I'm from Canada, and New Zealand feels like you took all the best bits of Canada and squished them onto a tiny island like Hawaii. I was absolutely blown away by the beauty of the South Island.

I've not worked with Martin Freeman. I've hung out with him, but I've not worked with him.

My bedroom is my sanctuary. It's the only place in the house that has a beautiful lush shag rug, which is my favorite.

I have these huge, pointed ears. They're like three times the size of Orlando Bloom's ears. And I think he has ear envy, I love my ears.

If Americans could choose, would they choose to work on the infrastructure for cancer-causing oil power or would they choose to work on the infrastructure for health-reviving wind power?

I am kind of prudish and I have very strict standards about how I present myself. But one of the things that I've always stood by is that women are beautiful and sexy. We shouldn't be afraid of that. [But] we need to make sure that we present that beauty and that sexiness in a way that says we are in control of our bodies. We're strong, we're classy, we're beautiful, powerful beings to be reckoned with, not victims.

'Why are we here?' 'What is our purpose? 'Is there an afterlife?' 'Is there a God?' 'Is it all about science?' Those are big questions, and usually, TV is a little scared to go there.

If you are not a clearly defined human being, it is very hard to define your image ... What I've realized in my own journey in fashion is that I'm not that defined.

I cried myself to sleep wishing I was ugly because men leered and disrespected me.

I was a good student, I was good at soccer, I was vice president of the student council, I was a pretty girl.

I always wear something slightly masculine.

I had my baby outside in a thunderstorm. It was really romantic.

Truthfully, I love being in the jungle. I love it when the make-up artists come to set, they come equipped with dirt and sweat. I spend my days climbing trees and I can crawl out of bed and walk on set and that's exactly all I have to look like.

I think one of the things that is easy to have happened in a superhero story is that the female character, whether she be a heroine or not, can often be the wart on the man.

I consider acting a day job - it's not my dream; it's not my be-all, end-all.

I'm very sensitive. Emotionally, I bruise very easily. I'm a Leo, and this is very characteristic of our sign.

Even if you're unhappy, just pretend that you're happy. Eventually, your smile will be contagious to yourself. I had to learn that. I used to think, 'I'm being fake,' but you know what? Better to be fake and happy than real and miserable.

Even though I'm resting I'm accomplishing something by sewing that shirt that I've been meaning to sew for weeks. And it's relaxing. It's so very meditative and quiet and enjoyable. But at least I'm producing something. I'm being productive in some way. I have a very hard time being completely idle.

When I hear the words 'Women should be barefoot and pregnant and in the kitchen,' I think, 'What. A. Dream.' There are no negative connotations to it.

If you watch a film from beginning to end, with no women in it, it's really difficult.

When I am doing things around the house - when I'm decorating, setting up furniture, putting out a vase of flowers, lighting my candles, my mind is always thinking, "What do I need to do to make this space peaceful and restful and comfortable so that when people walk into it, aesthetically they're heightened and enlightened?"

By rights, I should be an out-of-work actress because I just don't want it as badly as some people want it.

I'm the kind of person who, if I were living in another time, if I had to pick any time, I would probably be a pioneer. I just love the simplicity of what it means to work hard with your hands - to eat and survive.

I decided I wanted to be a painter, and then that moved into wanting to be an animator. By adolescence, I just wanted it to be something that was important ... something that would make a difference in people's lives or leave an imprint in history.

If I went for too long without writing, I would start to feel like something inside me was dying.

I'm not a highly social person. I'm a highly productive person.

I am a classy dame.

I love getting older!

I've been careful what I've put my name to.

In my world, I don't believe in forever promises. I don't think it's realistic.

I got the script for 'Real Steel.' I started reading and saw that it was about robot boxing, and I was immediately turned off. It's not my thing. But I continued on, and by the time I got to the end of the script, I had chicken skin and tears in my eyes. I thought, 'Man, we don't make movies like this anymore.'

Originally, I wanted to do humanitarian work. I actually feel that getting into acting, which fate has led me to, is my window and path into humanitarian work. I always said I want to do something important. And I feel this work is what's helping me get there.

I think I'm not always what I seem. Most people, when they get to know me, say, 'You know, when I first met you ... ' People initially think I'm a snob because I'm intensely private.

I don't know why, but the warmth and the comfort of flickering light help. And a fire, in the fireplace or on the beach, is very comforting. I think when you make something consistent and familiar, it helps. I light candles every single night in my home.

A month and a half after my first audition, I won the role on 'Lost.'

I am who I am and I am what I am. And it's beautiful. And it's okay even if it doesn't look like the sexiest Victoria Secret model. It also boils down to my interactions with people.

Everyone thinks they can cure stress by adding to their schedule, like going to yoga. Oh, great - one more thing to feel guilty about when you can't do it.

When I was young I was soft spoken and a little bit timid and passive. My dream then was to be a ballerina or a figure skater - something very delicate.

I just don't think that a lot of the time the messages we send kids prepare them for real life.

My character is different from all of the Elves you've met before, in that she's really young. And I keep telling journalists this because I've really focused on that in my performance. I'm trying to distinguish her from all of these incredibly sage and wise Elves that have lived for thousands of years.

In high school, people wanted to find the worst in me.

I like ambiguity. I think it's so much more interesting to play than an overtly good or an overtly evil person.

It's not your circumstances that make or break your day. It's your attitude!

There is a little bit of evil in all of us, and it's very easy to draw that out.

I think doing a female Elf in the Woodland realm was a bit safer, because we haven't met one of those yet.

I'm very proud of being a woman, and as a woman, I don't even like the word 'feminism' because when I hear that word, I associate it with women trying to pretend to be men, and I'm not interested in trying to pretend to be a man. I don't want to embrace manhood; I want to embrace my womanhood.

Peter Jackson has just really earned the right to be Tolkien's torchbearer on screen.

I'm good at looking good with weapons and stunts. But if you put a bull's eye in front of me and asked me to hit it, I'd say the chances of me hitting it are about one in a million!