Back in March 2020 when the COVID-19 pandemic was just gearing up to change everything, MCU star Evangeline Lilly found herself in some hot water over comments that were “arrogant” and “insensitive.” Now she’s revealing that Marvel was pretty chill about the whole thing.
“Some people value their lives over freedom, some people value freedom over their lives. We all make choices,” Lilly wrote at the time. She also said she would not practice social distancing and she would not shelter in place. Eventually, she apologized.
After the comments, there was a lot of talk of canceling Lilly and it was questionable whether she would be able to continue playing The Wasp in any capacity. Ant-Man director Peyton Reed reached out to her at the time, the star revealed on the Happy Sad Confused podcast.
The phone call, she said, was “really supportive” and Reed advised her to “ignore” the rumors that Marvel might be getting rid of her. Horowitz then asked Lilly whether MCU studio president Kevin Feige reached out to her and asked her to tone down the rhetoric.
“No. They’re very respectful. In fact, I’ve had direct conversations with them that I have instigated and they’ve always said, ‘That’s not our business. That’s not for us to tell you how to live your life or what opinions to have.’ And I actually even got a really supportive phone call from Peyton Reed at one point and just saying like, ’Just so you know, there’s some rumors spreading about Marvel ditching you or canceling you. And that didn’t come from Marvel and that didn’t come from us, so just ignore that.”
She also said that “there needs to be a divide between your professional life and your personal life.” Despite all this, Lilly recently shared a conspiracy-theory live stream link, so it doesn’t sound like her views have changed all that much. It’s getting harder and harder to separate the art from the artist these days.