Evangeline Lilly, the Canadian actor who featured in The Hobbit films and Marvel’s Ant-Man movies, drew ire from celebrities and the public for her anti-vaccination social media post on Thursday. The actor had earlier attended a protest rally against the vaccine mandates in the US.
Lilly shared a few pictures from the rally and, in a long Instagram post, said she had attended the march in Washington DC to “support bodily sovereignty while Canadian truckers were rallying for their cross-country, peaceful convoy in support of the same thing.”
“I believe nobody should ever be forced to inject their body with anything, against their will, under threat of: violent attack, arrest or detention without trial, loss of employment, homelessness, starvation, loss of education, alienation from loved ones, excommunication from society, under any threat whatsoever,” she wrote, adding that she was “pro choice” before Covid-19 and still remained the same.
With the world reeling under the effects of the pandemic for nearly two years now and countries across the world urging their citizens to get vaccinated to eradicate the virus, Lilly’s post was met with both sharp criticism and some support.
A few celebrities also took to social media to express their disappointment with her anti-vaccination stance, without taking Lilly’s name.
American actor David Dastmalchian, who has appeared in superhero films such as Ant-Man, The Suicide Squad, and The Dark Knight, wrote on Twitter, “It’s so unfortunate when people with a large platform use that platform to share irresponsible things.”
Canadian actor Simu Liu, best known for his title role in Marvel’s Shang-Chi and the Legend of the Ten Rings film, said, “The media needs to stop spotlighting opinions that are not rooted in facts or science.” He also mentioned that he lost his grandparents to Covid-19, while they were waiting for their vaccines. “I’m fortunate to have been double-vaccinated and boosted when I got Covid two weeks ago. Felt like a cold,” he added.
In a follow-up tweet, he mentioned witnessing UNICEF’s efforts to deliver vaccines to underprivileged families around the world as its Canadian ambassador and said, “It’s a reminder of how lucky we are to be living in places where vaccine delivery and storage are not an issue. Please, please appreciate that.”
This is not the first time Lilly has come under the radar for her behaviour during the pandemic and disregard for the seriousness of Covid-19 and its effects. In March 2020, when the pandemic was at one of its peaks and the government had advised people to stay indoors, Lilly had shared a post about dropping her children off at gymnastics camp with the hashtag #businessasusual. Her disregard for the quarantine, despite living with a father who was battling stage IV leukemia, drew sharp criticism and actors like Sophie Turner called her out. Lilly subsequently apologised for her actions.
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Lilly is not the only actor to court controversy with her views about the pandemic and Covid-19 vaccination. In December 2020, actor Letitia Wright had shared a conspiracy theory video on Twitter which questioned the safety of vaccines. It was later reported that she had made anti-vaccination statements on the sets of the upcoming Black Panther sequel. However, she denied expressing such thoughts and dismissed the report as “completely untrue.”