Women Can’t Do It All And It’s OK: Exclusive Evangeline Lilly AntMan and The Wasp Interview

I have been waiting a long time to share with your our Exclusive Evangeline Lilly AntMan and The Wasp Interview. If you already think she is amazing, get ready for that to become to the power of two. Of course we talk about strong female roles both on screen and off it.  Plus all the coolness of Marvel and The Wasp.  She did say that Women Can’t Do It All, and I have the details on that too.

I was invited by Disney to the AntMan and the Wasp Set in Atlanta in Pinewood Studios. All geeking out over The Wasp and opinions shared are my own.

Women Can’t Do It All And It’s OK: Exclusive Evangeline Lilly AntMan and The Wasp Interview

We had briefly met Angeline Lilly in between takes of the scene we watched film. When it was time to sit down and talk to her she totally walked-in as Hope Van Dyne. The one we know from AntMan. It was so cool of her to take the time to get out of one costume to get into another one to keep the flow of where we left off with the movie and set the stage for the new Marvel movie AntMan and The Wasp! I was blown away by her.  What we discussed during our time together not only reflects on the struggles all women go through but also gives up pause to reflect on the many facets women juggle continuously.  

The Wasp: First Female Titled Marvel Movie 

How big is that? Evangeline Lilly sure is making big splashes in the MCU. But, it didn’t really sink in for her from the start because there already was Black Widow and Scarlett Witch who are Avengers and doing amazing things already.  

Essentially, the bottom line of this film is about female empowerment and a woman being powerful.  

Yet, with the current “met too”movements, it made Evangeline Lilly feel exposed in a way.  She goes on to share “It was a really hard thing because I think we’ve all experienced some level of sexual, whether it’s harassment or discrimination or abuse. We always deal with it.  Eventually, the thought that we all kind of say “I’m a totally empowered woman and I feel great” starts to kind of get chipped away and you start to feel the hurts and the wounds of the things you really go through all the time that you essentially brush under the carpet ‘cause you have to or because I feel I need to, to carry on with my work, to carry on being a mother, to carry on, you know, building a career and a life and so it’s been such an interesting thing to be the Wasp at a time when I’ve been feeling extremely vulnerable and emotional.”.

 

The Core of AntMan and The Wasp and The heart of a Woman

Hope is the heart of the film. “I hope that she really drives the narrative of the people you care about and why you care and ‘cause ultimately you can have the greatest fights in the world but without caring about the people who are fighting the movie’s just gonna fight flat. And so I’ve been reminding myself that even though I feel loss hopefully that’s gonna actually be a powerful thing for the film.”.

 

Inspiring Women

I had to ask.  This movie is about family and heart, but The Wasp is also kicking butt and blowing stereotypes to dust.  What is the take away for girls that will watch AntMan and The Wasp?  Her answer is so inspiring and touched upon so many truths:

“I realize that what I hope for girls and women to take away from the film is a lesson that I have been trying to learn for the last I don’t know 20 years which is that we can’t do it all and everyone tells us we can and it’s a very unfair expectation to put on us and I think we all feel like we’re failing at everything ‘cause we’re trying to do it all.

I mean I got two kids at home. I run an NGO. I am a writer. I’m an actor. I’m trying to produce. Like all these things and I think, God, it just doesn’t feel right. It doesn’t feel balanced. Why am I not spending more time with my kids? Why don’t I have time to do this? Why did my kid miss homework three nights this week? What’s going on? You start questioning and if you sit back and really think about it it’s ridiculous what we’re trying to do. I clean my house.  I cook. I do all the things and it’s like somewhere something’s gotta give.  Really that’s the journey that Hope goes in is she finally realizes she’s met a foe that is bigger than her and stronger than her and, and she will not win unless she leans on Scott and I think in this day and age men more than ever want women to lean on them because they feel like they’ve lost their place.

They’ve lost their role and I think men feel lost a lot and I think that comes down to us ignoring all the noise and the lessons we’ve been taught that we can do it all: we can do everything and saying. I can’t actually. I need help and I need a partner. I need someone even if it’s not your,  in my case, it’s my spouse or my partner. But even if it’s your sister or your mother or your father or a friend, we reach out and we, we ask for help when we need it and that’s ultimately what Hope needs to learn in this film.”.

Getting the role as The Wasp

Evangeline Lilly knew that if AntMan went well there was a possibility she could become The Wasp.  After all thankfully went well, Marvel had considered introducing The Wasp in Captain America: Civil War. Thankfully they scratched that idea and gave her a stand-alone origin movie for us to enjoy.  To underline this fact Evangeline Lilly tells us that AntMan has been written to kind of be an accessory to The Wasp. She recognizes Paul Rudd for carrying out his role so beautifully and attributes it to his humble spirit.

AntMan and The Wasp

It is clear that the actors respect and admire each other. In the first film, Evangeline Lilly tells that she went out of her way to make sure the chemistry for the moonlighting kind of energy needed.  This second movie goes deeper because they have been in a relationship and Scott really hurts Hope.  She is trying to move on but life has other plans and she actually needs him to save her mom.

“I don’t know if it’s art imitating life or life imitating art but it’s, it’s been more like this ever so slightly different shift in energy with Paul and I and I think that’s like I don’t know maybe how I work. I like kind of need to bring a little bit of what’s happening on the screen into what’s happening off camera and so we have these scenes where we get to be warm and we get to be loving and affectionate and it’s like, snap all of a sudden like I feel warm and loving and affectionate to Paul. Poor guy.”

Evolving the role of Hope

In AntMan, Hope has a clear, defined role.  In AntMan and The Wasp, many factors come to play as she comes into her own as a superhero.  So expect a rich, bold and complex character. In the end, we go back to the fact that women can’t do it all, and in the words of Evangeline Lilly: “Hope’s arc is essentially about needing to realize she can’t do everything on her own and that she’s better with a partner and that she’s better when that partner is Scott and that they really need each other.”.

I really wanted to get up, hug her and then nominate her for president.  Her words were candid, powerful and warm.  She resonated throughout the room and gave us so much to stop and consider.

I am so happy that we are getting our MCU female heroes front and center.  It is time and July 6th marks the beginning of girl power Marvel style with the superb Evangeline Lilly leading the way!

Get your tickets now for AntMan and The Wasp, and be sure to follow along as I get a second chance to sit with her and talk some more on June 23rd!  

Have questions for her?  I will be happy to ask for you so please leave them in the comments below.

 

 

 

 

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