PICTURE: Evangeline Lilly as Tauriel in 2 Hobbit 2 Furious

Along with another bout of crippling diarrhea for me, today brings us the first picture of Evangeline Lilly, aka Freckles from Lost, in the first official shot of the elf warrior Tauriel in The Hobbit: They Get Even Closer to the Mountain This Time The Desolation of Smaug. Wait, is this seriously going in the movie? Or was it some Make-A-Wish kid’s wish to be the costume designer for a day? Take away the ears and she could play Merida from Brave at Disneyland.

“She’s slightly reckless and totally ruthless and doesn’t hesitate to kill,” says Lilly. She’s also not found anywhere in J.R.R. Tolkien’s original fantasy novel, or in any of Tolkien’s other writings for that matter. Director Peter Jackson and his co-writers on the Hobbit trilogy, Fran Walsh and Philippa Boyens, invented the character to expand the world of the elves of Mirkwood Forest — and to bring some more female energy to the otherwise male-dominated Hobbit narrative. “Tauriel is the head of the Elven Guard,” Lilly explains. “She’s a Sylvan Elf, which means she’s of a much lower order than the elves we all became acquainted with in The Lord of the Rings. She doesn’t hold the same kind of status that Arwen or Galadriel or Elrond or Legolas do — she’s much more lowly. She sort of goes against the social order of the elves a little bit.”

Tauriel isn’t only a fierce warrior; she has a softer side, too. “She will definitely have a love story,” Lilly says. “I can’t give away too much about it. It’s not a huge focus but it is there and it is important and it does drive Tauriel and her story and her actions.” Will that romance involve Orlando Bloom’s Legolas, by any chance? Lilly won’t say definitively one way or the other, but she does offer this much: “Tauriel’s relationship with Legolas is significant. They’ve known each other since they were children, and Legolas’ dad, [Elven king] Thranduil, has a soft spot for Tauriel.” [EntertainmentWeekly]

It’s nice that they’re adding to Tolkien’s story, considering the original book doesn’t have anywhere near the amount of material to support three three-hour films. Though it’d be cooler if their addition didn’t seem like another stock character. And if her outfit didn’t look like a little girl’s Halloween costume. But after the last Hobbit, I guess we should just be happy that she doesn’t have a big goiter or bird shit running down the side of her face.

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