Evangeline Lilly claims that Ant-Man and The Wasp: Quantumania director Peyton Reed contacted her amid rumors that she would be terminated and fired by Marvel.
Although being a part of the MCU for eight years now, Lilly has encountered controversy on occasion.
Back in 2020, the actress made headlines when she appeared to reject self-isolation techniques during the height of the COVID-19 pandemic. Some people conjectured that the Wasp actor will be fired by Marvel as a result of this and a post she made against vaccine mandates.
She is still employed by Marvel Studios, but her relationship with fans has soured.
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Conversations with Evangeline Lilly by Marvel
Ant-Man and The Wasp: Quantumania actor Evangeline Lilly claimed on Happy, Sad, Confused that Ant-Man director Peyton Reed was the first to contact her when she was dogged by controversy around the COVID-19 outbreak.
With host Josh Horowitz, Lilly discussed how she likes to express her political and personal beliefs. The actress recalled that when rumors of her firing from Marvel were circulating, she “got a really supportive phone call from Peyton Reed” telling her to “just ignore” the claims that Marvel was “ditching [or] canceling [her]:”
Do you ever receive a phone from Feige saying, “I love you, but may…,” asked Horowitz.
No, Lilly. They show a lot of respect. In fact, I’ve initiated direct dialogues with them, and they’ve always responded with, “That’s not our business.” We shouldn’t be telling you how to live your life or what to think. And Peyton Reed once gave me a tremendously encouraging phone call to let me know that there were some reports floating around that Marvel was going to drop me or cancel my show. Thus, ignore it. And that wasn’t generated by Marvel or by us.
There needs to be a separation between your personal and professional lives, said Lilly.
Horowitz: “Yeah, knowing that they have your back is important.”
It’s pretty wonderful, Lilly. And I believe it to be really healthful. I believe there should be a separation between your personal and professional lives.
Horowitz questioned the actress about if a major series doesn’t look for certain qualities in its performers, to which Lilly merely chuckled and responded, “No:”
Horowitz: “Alright, so we’ve primarily been discussing acting, with a little amount of discussion about other artistic endeavors like Squickerwonkers, writing, and all that. Look, I follow you on social media, I’ve known you for a while, and… I’m not sure if that stems from childhood or what, but you also seem to be very politically and socially active, and those things obviously hold a lot of passion for you. Does it seem like… since it isn’t always what a large corporation wants in an actor, am I right?
Lilly: “No, (laughs)”
Someone to say, “Well, here’s what I think,” said Horowitz.
Yes, precisely, Lilly
Marvel’s Perplexing Evangeline Lilly Predicament
Certainly, it is admirable of Peyton Reed to assist his friend and coworker Evangeline Lilly when she needed it. But do Reed and Marvel Studios look their best?
In this case, it is obvious that the Hollywood mogul has not held its artists accountable for sharing contentious and, at times, harmful public points of view. Should they intervene to try to stifle such “free speech” though?
Whether they like it or not, heroines like Evangeline Lilly and the rest of the MCU are role models. These actors are idolized, thus they ought to be role models.
And it wasn’t a one-time occurrence with Lilly. The actress only recently provided a link to a conspiracy-filled online live feed that was taking place. If the actress and someone else had a dialogue after her initial post, she certainly did not take it personally.
On the Wakanda Forever set, Letitia Wright from Black Panther used the same anti-vaccination sentiments. There was a lot of discussion about what she had written and shared online, but it doesn’t seem like anything significant was done internally.
Marvel can advocate against hate all it wants, promoting messages about inclusivity and other forward-thinking ideas, but nothing is ever done when some of the largest individuals associated with its franchise hold these types of antiquated beliefs.
The movie Ant-Man and The Wasp: Quantumania, which opens in theatres on February 17, stars Evangeline Lilly.
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