Evangeline Lilly shares how she ensured the Wasp’s role would stand out
By Mia Johnson
Ant-Man and the Wasp’s Evangeline Lilly made sure that her role in the movie would be one that stood out and inspires young girls to love the character.
Evangeline Lilly knows she’s making history as a female superhero who’s getting equal billing as the lead in an MCU movie with Ant-Man and the Wasp. But she didn’t want to stop there with her character, because she knows there’s too much at stake for those cheering her on.
The actress revealed in an interview with The Hollywood Reporter that she took extra steps toward making sure her character would inspire young girls who could look up to Hope Van Dyne, otherwise known as The Wasp, as inspiration. For her, it was all about embracing her femininity while still maintaining that kick-butt attitude.
“Men can, of course, be compassionate or feminine, but femininity is at the core of what is disrespected in the patriarchy, so it was important to me to always push for feminine qualities to be apparent when she is dealing with situations — how she emotionally reacts to them, [for instance],” Lilly said in the interview.
Even when it came to The Wasp’s fighting style, which she described stemmed from the masculine MMA style, she still wanted her character to have an air of grace and elegance to it. But more importantly, incorporating these aspects of feminity was important to her because that identity has always had a hard time mixing in with genres like action or sci-fi.
Talking on the subject she said: “I wanted her to have a signature style that little girls, like I was when I was a feminine, girly little girl, would be able to fall in love with, emulate and relate to in their own movements.”
Lilly also made sure that her character didn’t fall into the role of being the “mommy” and policing the guys when they were out having a little too much fun. Of course, Ant-Man has that “boys will be boys” feel, especially like when Scott Lang and his crew get up to some antics (no pun intended) when they try to steal the Ant-Man suit. So for Lilly, it was important that Hope didn’t fall into that stereotype.
Luckily, she said everyone was on board with her requests to make sure Hope stood out as a respectable character, and this will hopefully make for a more well-rounded character in the sequel. Marvel Studios is already getting much better at incorporating female characters in front of and behind the camera, so Lilly’s Wasp seems to be just one step toward the MCU improving itself for its female audience.
Related Story: Samuel L. Jackson praises Brie Larson as Captain Marvel
While Lilly might play a literally tiny role, we know that The Wasp will have a gigantic impact on fans that’ll last longer than Ant-Man’s suit malfunction. You can catch her in Ant-Man in the Wasp in theaters now.