Why Evangeline Lilly rejected Hugh Jackman’s X-Men and Joss Whedon’s Wonder Woman offer? Ant-Man star REVEALS
Evangeline Lilly reprises her role as The Wasp in Ant-Man and The Wasp: Quantumania starring Paul Rudd. Find out why she rejected superhero movies earlier.
Evangeline Lilly is back as Hope Van Dyne aka The Wasp in Marvel Studios’ latest movie Ant-Man and the Wasp: Quantumania starring Paul Rudd, Jonathan Majors, and Kathryn Newton. The Ant-Man franchise was not the first superhero movie offer that came Lilly’s way. The actress recently revealed that she was offered to star in Hugh Jackman’s X-Men and a Joss Whedon movie on Wonder Woman. However, Evangeline rejected both these pitches. The Ant-Man 3 actor shared why. Read on to know more.
Evangeline Lilly on rejecting Hugh Jackman’s X-Men
In the latest episode of the Happy Sad Confused podcast on Josh Horowitz’s YouTube Channel, Evangeline Lilly recalled the time in 2011 when Hugh Jackman called her up with an offer to feature in the X-Men movie. The actress shared that Jackman approached her on behalf of the makers of X-Men who wanted to know if she is interested in featuring in the movie. However, she denied having any interest. “I was like, ‘No. It doesn’t interest me. I’m not interested,’” she said, before adding, “I was like, ‘I feel like such a d*** because I’m talking to an X-Men! The X-Men! And I’m telling him, ‘No that doesn’t appeal. Like, what?!’ I felt so rude!”
Evangeline Lilly on refusing Joss Whedon’s Wonder Woman pitch
Evangeline Lilly further shared that she had previously turned down an offer by Joss Whedon to feature as Wonder Woman in a film that never got off the ground. She stated that Whedon might have realized from her impression that she had ‘no desire’ in the project.
Explaining herself, Lilly said, “It didn’t appeal and there was nothing about the meeting that like, jazzed me or made me think like, ‘Oh, I’ve gotta do this.’ Nothing clicked. Nothing felt good. I am way too authentic for my own good. I mean, it’s not good. If I am not impressed, you’ll know. And maybe you shouldn’t know sometimes.”
Lilly shared that she could sense Whedon taking a ‘slight offense’ at her rejection. She stated that she is okay with ‘burning bridges’ and not every person in Hollywood wanting to work with her. Explaining herself, she said that at that point in time, she was not ‘into’ superhero movies, because of which she had to put down both offers.
Evangeline Lilly has since featured in Ant-Man, Ant-Man and The Wasp, and the latest installment in the franchise, Ant-Man and The Wasp: Quantumania, which released in theatres on February 17, 2023. She was also seen in Avengers: Endgame.
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