Evangeline Lilly, best known for playing Kate Austen in ABC's drama series "Lost" and for her role as Hope van Dyne/Wasp in the Marvel Cinematic Universe, took to social media to confirm her attendance at a Washington, D.C., protest over the weekend in support of "bodily sovereignty."
The actress went on to explain she stands in opposition to government-mandated vaccine policies.
"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," Lilly wrote in a post published on her Instagram page.
"This is not the way," Lilly added about vaccine mandates. "This is not safe. This is not healthy. This is not love. I understand the world is in fear, but I don't believe that answering fear with force will fix our problems. I was pro choice before COVID, and I am still pro choice today."
Lilly made headlines at the start of the COVID pandemic in March 2020 after she posted about refusing to social distance and quarantine, adding, "Some people value their lives over freedom, some people value freedom over their lives. We all make choices."
The actress faced backlash and eventually apologized.
"My direct and special apologies to those most affected by this pandemic," she wrote in a statement. "I never meant to hurt you. When I wrote that post 10 days ago, I thought I was infusing calm into the hysteria. I can see now that I was projecting my own fears into an already fearful and traumatic situation."
Variety has reached out to Disney for comment on Lilly's most recent post opposing vaccine mandates.
Lilly is set to return to the Marvel Cinematic Universe with a role in the upcoming "Ant-Man and the Wasp: Quantumania," which is slated for a 2023 release.
© 2024 Thomson/Reuters. All rights reserved.