We’ve previously seen an image of Evangeline Lilly as the Elf Tauriel in The Hobbit: The Desolation of Smaug, but it wasn’t as amazing as this one. EW spoke with the actress about the film and debuted the new image, which you can see below.
“Tauriel is the head of the Elven Guard,” Lilly said. “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.”
Lilly also teased a love story for he character in the film, “She will definitely have a love story. 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.”
When asked if this love story would involve fan favorite Orlando Bloom’s Legolas, she replied: “Tauriel’s relationship with Legolas is significant. They’ve known each other since they were children, and Legolas’ dad, [Elven king] Thrandruil, has a soft spot for Tauriel and sees something very special in her. So if you grow up side by side, and your dad has a very special spot in his heart for this young woman who’s a fantastic warrior, I think it’s hard not to notice her. That’s probably as much as I can say.”
The Hobbit: The Desolation of Smaug hits theaters on December 13 of this year while The Hobbit: There and Back Again concludes Peter Jackson’s second J.R.R. Tolkien trilogy on December 17, 2014.
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