Unlike almost everyone else in the world of The Hobbit, Evangeline Lilly could create her character, Tauriel, completely from scratch. Lilly is talking about her role in the second film in the series, The Hobbit: The Desolation of Smaug, and admitted that she and the film series’ creators decided it was also time for a little more of a female presence in J.R.R. Tolkien’s world.
“The Hobbit didn’t include female characters at all and was a very linear story, a book for children, really,” Lilly said. “What Peter (Jackson), Fran (Walsh) and Philippa (Boyens) have done is all in perfect keeping with Tolkien’s world, while adding a third dimension to an otherwise very two-dimensional story.”
Lilly also admitted that compared to some of the elves we’ve already met in The Lord of the Rings, she’s a mere babe.
“She’s a very, very young elf. She’s only 600 years old, unlike Legolas who’s like, 1,900 years old and Thranduil who’s about 3,000 years old,” Lilly said. “She doesn’t have quite the wisdom and pose that those two boys do; she’s a little more... gritty -- a little more spontaneous, passionate perhaps.”
Lilly debuts her Tauriel in The Hobbit: The Desolation of Smaug, and promises a character who kicks major ass, while still showcasing those classic Elven traits.
“To play this character I need to have a certain amount of grace,” said Lilly. “But I’m also supposed to be an absolutely ruthless, deadly killer."