The first film is The Hurt Locker, a violent drama about a bomb squad in Iraq directed by Kathryn Bigelow that was snapped up by Summit Entertainment during the fest. Lilly took the cameo part because of her instant rapport with the famous director. Lilly is taking on her first starring role in the indie thriller Afterwards, which also premiered at TIFF. Adapted for the screen by director Gilles Bourdos and Michel Spinosa from the novel by Guillaume Musso, Afterwards is the story of a couple, Nathan and Claire, who lost one of their children to sudden death syndrome. Claire (Lilly) lives alone with their remaining child and is estranged from Nathan (played by French breakout actor Romain Duris, star of The Beat That Skipped My Heart and Dans Paris), who's a high-powered lawyer in New York City. Things take a turn for the strange when he meets Dr. Kay (John Malkovich), a mysterious man who claims he is a "messenger" who can predict when people are going to die. According to Dr. Kay, Nathan's life was spared as a child because he still has much unfinished work to do.

From a quiet room overlooking a sun-dappled garden in Toronto, a radiant Evangeline Lilly talks exclusively with Premiere about why she chose to avoid many of the opportunities afforded her by the success of Lost, how she has struggled to shed the persona of her character Kate, and why she considers herself an oddball.