CO-ED Interview with: Evangeline Lilly : COED Magazine

In a little over two years, Evangeline Lilly has gone from being a not-well-known Canadian model and bit player in some nondescript movies (Freddy vs. Jason!) to becoming, well, an A-level star. Truth be told, the one-time University of British Columbia student is actually a little taken aback by her recent fame, which all comes courtesy of her role as the beautiful-yet-homicidal survivor Kate on the hit ABC buzzshow Lost.

‘There are a lot of misconceptions about me out there,’ says Lilly, ‘I’m glad I get to set some things straight.’ Fortunately, yours truly managed to ask all the wrong questions, but our friend from up North only chided us a little bit on our ignorance. Thanks, Evangeline! We promise the next time we’re in your home town of Fort Saskatchewan, Alberta, we’ll stop by for some back bacon and butter tarts!

I. Getting to Know You’
CO-ED: You doing anything fun over there in Europe?
EVANGELINE LILLY: It should be fun, considering that it’s my first time to Europe and I’m going on somebody else’s bill. Actually, I’m really looking forward to the restaurants over here. Dining is one of my biggest passions, and Europe is, like, Mecca for us diners.

I love food! I actually thought you were filming some movie called The Long Weekend.
Are you serious? That’s another story that I constantly need to correct. Long Weekend should be coming out soon, but I doubt that you’ll be able to pick me out. I played a corpse in that movie, and I’m there for about 30 seconds of the film. For all I know, I’m actually on the editing floor. Actually, I’m working on my sanity; I’ve never played a real role in anything before Lost. That’s it for me right now.

So I shouldn’t really bring up your gig in Freddy vs. Jason.
For crying out loud! That’s a new one. Okay, um … yeah, I was an extra in Freddy vs. Jason along with about 250 random people in Vancouver. I’ve never seen the film.

Switching gears … I hear you’re fluent in French. Prove it! Tell me a secret about yourself in French.
Je ne vais jamais donner un de mes secret a quelqu’un qui travail pour un magazin.

Really? I prefer bagels. Anyway, I heard you were discovered by a modeling agency while (literally) walking down the street. Now, that’s an embellishment, isn’t it?
That, actually, is one of the only stories that isn’t distorted in some way. I really was in my jeans and T-shirt, I hadn’t showered or done my hair or make-up and I was randomly walking down the street in a small town in British Columbia. It does seem a little far-fetched.

Well, you’re obviously attractive. But what do you think when a lesser magazine, not ours, mind you, rates you only the second ‘sexiest woman in the world.’ Shouldn’t you be first?
No, I think that Angelina Jolie should be first. What do I think? I think, ‘What will my parents think?’ It’s wildly flattering, but it’s also not an image that I’m after. I want to be taken seriously as a woman, not ogled at as a sex-image.

Tell me about it! By the way, I saw you did an ad for a singles service.
I’ve actually done way too many odd jobs to mention here. I’ve been a hostess, a waitress, a restaurant floor manager, a grease-monkey (I did oil changes and grease jobs on big-rig trucks and rental cars), a flight attendant, a retail girl, a gym
teacher for juvenile delinquents, a camp counselor, a camp program director, a Sunday school teacher, a gardener, an extra and … yes, I did a few commercials about three or so years ago.

And I’m not taking this from real life, but is there a celebrity who could make you jump up and down and act very strangely?
That already happened. It was Diane Keaton. I saw her nearby at the Golden Globes last year and, for the first time in my life, approached a celebrity in a kind of heady, giddy state and told her that I love her and her work. There was another time, when I was in a restaurant in Vancouver, and I did a flaming-shooter trick for Clint Eastwood and his wife and daughter.

II. College Up North
Although she didn’t finish college, Evangeline did spend a fair amount of time at the University of British Columbia. If you’re wondering if college life in Canada is much different than it is here, the answer appears to be no. Well, except for the dramatically reduced tuition and the fact that your loser classmates probably don’t look like, say, Evangeline Lilly.

What kind of extracurricular activities did you do at college?
I ran a human rights and world-development group that was, unfortunately, a well-intentioned flop. Other than that, I was very reclusive in college. I went to class and went home.

Why study international relations?
It seemed to suit my passions. I’ve always had a heart to help the less fortunate, and I’ve always been fascinated by other people and cultures. I went to college strictly for the sake of learning. I wasn’t interested in getting the piece of paper ‘ you know, the degree ‘ to prove it.

Did you find it hard to work and be a student at the same time?
Working full time and going to school is always hard. That’s why I ended up doing those damn dating-service commercials. I needed a job that would pay me enough to cover my tuition.

Do you think you’d ever want to have a non-acting career?
Absolutely! I love, love, love acting, but it is not the be-all-end-all in my life. Besides, there’s way too much pressure in this industry. I will definitely go back to school some day, even if it’s by correspondence.

III. Now That We’re On Her Good Side’
It appears Evangeline has warmed up to us, so we start asking a bunch of rapid-fire questions, only one of which stereotypes her home country.

Where would you like to live?
Hmmm. Well, I wish that I could answer that after I’d visited more places in the world. But right now, I’m thinking that when I have a family I would like to live in New Zealand.

Who were your acting idols growing up?
I wasn’t a big idol girl. I admired the people who have made a positive difference in people’s lives, especially if it was on a grand scale. I just look up to people who have found a way to be comfortable in their own skin. Contentment is beautiful.

Since you’re Canadian, do you have an affinity for hockey?
Nope. I definitely like the sport and would watch a hockey game over a baseball or American football game any day, but my favorite sport is real football ‘ as in, soccer.