Evangeline Lilly, best known for playing Kate on Lost, has found her way to a starring role in Disney’s Real Steel. She plays opposite Hugh Jackman, who stars in the movie as Charlie, a down-on-his-luck former boxer who turns to the world of robot boxing to make some money.
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While the film features robots that come to life through the use of motion capture, choreographed by famed boxer Sugar Ray Leonard, the director, Shawn Levy, and much of the cast emphasized that the story is really about the people. Lilly, who plays Bailey Tallet, the former girlfriend of Charlie, told The Hollywood Reporter that working with Jackman was just a joy.
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“Hugh Jackman is one of the most wonderful men I’ve ever worked with,” Lilly told THR on the red carpet for the premiere. “And he’s really helpful. He’s so professional and good at what he does that he elevates your performance when you’re working with him.”
She said that when she would get frustrated on set, Jackman would help her through it.
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“When he would work, he knew what he was doing so well that if I was struggling, he could play, you know literally start playing, he would change the lines, he would change everything and he would just make it so I would get out of my head, and relax and something really great would come from that,” said Lilly.
“That’s really rare to find that kind of generosity in another performer,” she added.
At the premiere event in Los Angeles, Jackman told THR that he enjoyed playing Charlie, who is down on his luck in the beginning of the film, and a reluctant father.
Lilly, who had a child in May 2011, also told THR that when she was approached about this script, she was interested because it would be a good film for children.
Lilly will continue her presence in films in Peter Jackson’s The Hobbit. She will play woodland elf, Tauriel.
Hurt Locker’s Anthony Mackie and Dakota Goya, who plays Charlie’s son, also appear in the film. Real Steel opens in theaters on Friday, October 7.
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