


Now Lilly is hoping that fans will be just as pleasantly surprised by her Woodland elf Tauriel, who made her debut as the first Middle-earth character not invented by Tolkien in "The Hobbit: The Desolation of Smaug."




The character grew out of the desire to introduce more female energy into the story -- "The Hobbit" has no female characters to speak of -- according to Philippa Boyens, who wrote "The Hobbit" scripts with Jackson and Fran Walsh (Guillermo del Toro, who was once set to direct the movies, also has a writing credit).


"We're not trying to create a warrior princess or a character that you might find for example -- and in saying this, I'm not denigrating them -- in a video game," Boyens said. "This wasn't about creating a character that didn't feel truthful. She's an elf of the world of Middle-earth."

Best known for her work as the tough but sensitive Kate Austen on the metaphysically twisty ABC series "Lost," Lilly said she had been toying with the idea of early retirement when she received the call from Walsh and Boyens to gauge her interest in portraying the captain of guards in the Elven kingdom of Mirkwood.


With her fiery auburn hair and reckless spirit, Tauriel is unique among the elves that Jackson previously has brought to the screen. She doesn't have the same royal lineage as Cate Blanchett's Galadriel or Orlando Bloom's Legolas, and she displays more vulnerability than is customary for the higher beings.

