Peter Jackson is taking on an ambitious undertaking with his two-part film adaptation of J.R.R. Tolkein‘s classic novel, The Hobbit. He’ll be including several new characters who didn’t appear in the book, one of which is the Mirkwood elf Tauriel, played by Evangeline Lilly.
Collider is reporting that the actress has said she’s been filming on and off for the past six months. Lilly added that she still has to go back to the New Zealand set for five more months of filming. Even with all the shooting, she said of her character:
She’s not in the first film very much. She comes into the first film (An Unexpected Journey) near the end, and has a very small part to play. Her role in the second film is much more involved. Although, I have to say, when I first read the scripts and took the job, she had a lot less going on in the second film.
Lilly also admitted that the role of Tauriel is more demanding that she had expected. She described the character as being a warrior:
She’s actually the head of the Elven guard. She’s the big shot in the army. So she knows how to wield any weapon, but the primary weapons that she uses are a bow and arrow and two daggers. And she’s lethal and deadly.
With her experience on the adventure television series Lost, Lilly seems like she has the experience necessary to convincingly portray a character like Tauriel, in my opinion at least.
Fans of the Lord of the Ring series will see how the actress fares when An Unexpected Journey opens on December 14 in 3D, and There and Back Again hits theaters on December 13, 2013 in 3D.