Evangeline Lilly was a Hollywood darling. Now she admits why she gave it all up
Evangeline Lilly was once a TV and film staple, but she abandoned her Hollywood career six years ago and has finally revealed the truth about why.
“I’ve always hated being famous. I never made any secrets about that,” she told CBN News this week.
Evangeline Lilly has revealed the real reason she left Hollywood behind. Getty
“I’ve always said being famous is the cost of the wealth that you can get as an actor.”
Lilly confessed that she struggled with the emotional and mental toll of fame and was facing massive chronic health issues by the time she retired from acting.
Though she announced she was taking an indefinite break from acting two years ago, the actress revealed she has considered herself retired since 2020.
Reflecting on her new life away from the spotlight, Lilly called it liberating and said she trusts God has a plan for her.
“That plan doesn’t necessarily need to – it doesn’t have to be about fame and money and wealth and power. It can be about more important things,” she said.
Lilly, 47, shot to fame on Lost, starred in The Hobbit trilogy, and even played a role the Marvel Cinematic Universe, but started pulling back from high-profile work in the late 2010s.
In the five years from 2015 to 2020, she only appeared in four films, three of which were with Marvel, and voice acted in two other projects.
Since 2021, she’s only done three films and a bit of voice acting on the side.
Lilly became famous for her role as Kate Austen on Lost. ABC
Lilly announced she was taking an “indefinite hiatus” from acting in 2024, but she’s since made it clear that she gave up on Hollywood long before then.
Today she’s focused on family life with her longtime partner Norman Kali, a Hawaii-born film and TV production professional, and their two children
The family of four prefers to keep their lives private and Lilly rarely shares personal updates on social media.
One recent insight she did share with fans, however, was that she had suffered a traumatic brain injury after fainting on a beach in May 2025.
The initial incident left her with injuries to her face and head, as well as a concussion, and she shared an update in January 2026 to say doctors had discovered brain damage from a traumatic brain injury caused by the fall.
Lilly suffered a traumatic brain injury after fainting on a beach and hitting her head on a rock. Substack
“Now my job is to get to the bottom of that with the doctors, embark on the hard work of fixing it, which I don’t look forward to because I feel like hard work is all I do,” she said in a video at the time.
“But that’s OK. My cognitive decline since I smashed my face open has helped me to slow down and helped me to have a more restful finish to my 2025.
“I think this was the calmest, most restful Christmas holiday I have had maybe since I had children, so 14 years ago. So that’s a good thing.”
Lilly appears to be recovering well based on recent social media posts.
