Evangeline Lilly Was On The Cusp Of Quitting Acting When Real Steel Came Along

Before he became Ryan Reynolds' director of choice in decent but forgettable big-budget action comedies, Shawn Levy was known for family movies, as well as that brief moment when he made one of the best live-action anime movies (not based on any actual anime) ever — "Real Steel." The 2011 movie belongs to a category of 2010s genre releases that performed well enough to not be considered a failure, but not so well that it spawned a franchise. And to think it all started with a phone charger.

The film stars Hugh Jackman as a washed-up boxer in a world where human fighters have been replaced by 2000-pound, eight-foot-tall robots — essentially "Rock 'Em Sock 'Em Robots: The Movie." The film features stunning action, with actual animatronic robots used in the film, combined with motion capture to give the film a grounded look that's rare in big-budget movies today. And, of course, the action is wrapped in a heartwarming family story; in this case, one about a father trying to reconnect with his estranged son through the magic of underdog sports stories. As our own Ethan Anderton wrote, "Real Steel" is "an uplifting sports drama that packs a punch full of heart and adrenaline."

Although "Real Steel" didn't become the start of a big franchise the way it should have, it did save co-star Evangeline Lilly's career. Speaking with Entertainment Weekly for its oral history of the film in 2021, Lilly — who plays a boxing gym owner and the daughter of the former coach of Jackman's character — said she thought about quitting acting shortly after "Lost" ended. "Shawn was like, 'Okay, you can do that, you can retire. But first, there's just this little movie that I'm doing with Hugh Jackman, and you have to be with us,'" she explained.

According to Lilly, the experience of making "Real Steel" convinced her to stick with acting because "it was the first time I felt really like my ideas were being heard." Unlike television, where there isn't a lot of time to experiment, Levy made time to allow his cast to collaborate. "I think you could credit [Levy] to a certain degree for the fact that I'm still acting today," Lilly added.

Sadly, there hasn't been much talk about a sequel to "Real Steel," though Levy hasn't shut down the possibility of returning for more of what /Film's Sandy Schaefer described as the big boxing film for Gen Z. 

Of course, Lilly did not retire, and since "Real Steel" she's had time to be a part of both Peter Jackson's "The Hobbit" trilogy and the Marvel Cinematic Universe. Unfortunately, she also had time to become an anti-vaxxer during the deadly global pandemic. That being said, there is an alternate timeline where Lilly did not join these two franchises but instead accepted Jackman's offer to join the "X-Men" movies.