Evangeline Lilly

Nicole Evangeline Lilly (born August 3, 1979) is a Canadian actress. She is well known for her role as Katherine "Kate" Austen in ABC's hit drama Lost.

Biography

Early life

Lilly was born in Fort Saskatchewan, Alberta, Canada to a devoutly Christian family. Her father is a home economics teacher and her mother is a beauty consultant. Lilly also has a younger sister, whom she has described as "the actor in the family". During her childhood, the family did not have a television.
Lilly served briefly as a foreign missionary and lived in a grass hut in the Philippines. She founded and ran a world development and human rights committee while studying international relations at the University of British Columbia. She has been a volunteer for children's projects since she was 14. Lilly is a former flight attendant and is fluent in French.

Career

Lilly was discovered on the streets of Kelowna, British Columbia by Ford modeling agency. Although she initially decided to pass on a modeling career, she went ahead and signed with Ford anyway, to help pay for her University of British Columbia tuition and expenses. Despite being signed to Ford Models, she was never actually a fashion model. - "People don’t realise Ford has an acting branch,” she said. “So I was never really a model”.
She was previously featured in several LiveLinks Chatline television commercials and on G4's Judgment Day. She appeared uncredited in the 2003 film Freddy vs. Jason as a high-school girl leaning against a locker, and in an episode of Smallville in a pool hall scene. She also had a guest appearance on the ABC supernatural horror series Kingdom Hospital (2004). Lilly's first speaking role was on Lost.
When Lilly was cast as Kate in Lost, her main concern was acquiring a work visa to enter the United States. With production literally days away and no news about the visa, casting directors were forced to begrudingly begin re-casting the role of Kate. After nearly 20 auditions, Lilly's work visa was approved/cleared but she arrived on set a day late. Her salary in 2004 for Lost was $80,000. On the heels of her role in Lost, she was voted one of the Breakout Stars of 2004 by Entertainment Weekly. Although Lilly placed eighth in the FHM 100 Sexiest Women in the World 2006 and initially placed second on Maxim's Hot 100 list of 2005 , she slipped to #67 in Maxim's 2006 list.
Action figures of Lilly's Lost character are scheduled to be released during the holiday season of 2006. Lilly has said that she hopes Lost would air for a total of four seasons.

Personal life

Evangeline founded and ran a world development and human rights committee at her university. She has lived under a grass hut in the jungles of the Philippines with a missionary group, and has been a volunteer for children's projects since the age of 14.
Lilly was once married to Canadian hockey player Murray Hone, but is now rumoured to be engaged to her Lost co-star Dominic Monaghan.
Her known nicknames include "Evi" and "Monkey". Her Lost castmates nicknamed her "Monkey" because of her ability to climb trees with ease, a skill which has been incorporated into her character. She is also known on set for her tomboyishness, Christian faith, and her "potty mouth".
Lilly has stated that she "lives in a bubble", specifying that she is not familiar with popular culture and does not watch television or own a TV set. She has also said that she would not appear in a nude scene or perform in sexual scenes that she would consider "gratuitous".
Lilly has also used her celebrity status to help promote Just Yell Fire, a video aimed at teaching teenage girls how to defend themselves against rapists. During the summer break between the first and second seasons of Lost, Lilly spent time helping the poor in Rwanda.