It’s still a minor miracle that director J.J. Abrams (and the very, very deep pockets of Disney) convinced the original Star Wars trio — Mark Hamill, Carrie Fisher, and Harrison Ford — to reprise their iconic roles in The Force Awakens, over 20 years after last visiting a galaxy far, far away in Return of the Jedi. But before anyone knew that Luke, Leia, and Han would be back for another go-around, Evangeline Lilly reached out to Abrams, who she previously worked with on Lost, to ask if she could play the princess turned general.
Lilly revealed during an appearance at Fan Expo Boston that once it was announced Abrams was directing Episode VII, she reached out to Abrams’ producing partner who she met while filming Lost. While she didn’t reveal who the producing partner was, it’s likely that it was Bryan Burk, who produced both Lost and The Force Awakens. Lilly revealed that she had “never requested anything ever before,” but she had one request for Abrams and his team on The Force Awakens: “I wanna be Leia! Make me Leia!” (Via)
Lilly’s dream-casting didn’t happen, of course, but things still worked out pretty well for her: she landed the role of the Wasp in Ant-Man, and the sequel, Ant-Man and the Wasp, was the first Marvel Cinematic Universe film with a female character in the title. Don’t expect a Wasp spin-off movie, though.
“I like the MCU and I’d like to stay,” Lilly said. “But I actually don’t like the idea of a Wasp standalone film, because Ant-Man and Wasp, since the very beginning in the comic books, were always a team. And really, they’re kind of one of the only proper and true teams in the MCU, otherwise it’s mostly a lot of individuals. And I love the team aspect of it, I love watching the interplay between Wasp and Ant-Man and Ant-Man and the Wasp. For me, it’s the most fun part of the film.”
Lilly will reportedly next appear in Avengers 4.
(Via ScreenRant)