FIRST LOOK: 'Lost' Star Evangeline Lilly Is Armed and Dangerous in 'The Hobbit: The Desolation of Smaug'

With Peter Jackson stretching out the novel The Hobbit into a theatrical trilogy, the director and his writing team was destined to have to look beyond the book itself for material. After depleting whatever other JRR Tolkien writings they had rights to, Jackson and company figured they could add a new character of their own to Middle-earth. On Wednesday, Entertainment Weekly gave us our first look at that character, Tauriel, an elf warrior played by Lost alum Evangeline Lilly.

“Tauriel is the head of the Elven Guard,” Lilly explains. “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's character will first appear in The Hobbit: The Desolation of Smaug, which hits theaters on Dec. 13, 2013. Head past the jump to check out the full image and see what else Lilly had to say about Tauriel.

Any chance we'll see some elf romance between Lauriel and fan favorite Legolas?

“She will definitely have a love story,” Lilly says. “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.” Will that romance involve Orlando Bloom’s Legolas, by any chance? Lilly won’t say definitively one way or the other, but she does offer this much: “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.” She laughs. “That’s probably as much as I can say.”

I'm not a Hobbit purist, so I'm cool with Jackson adding new characters. I'm especially happy to see Lilly showing up in a big film like this. After Lost, I thought the actress would be all over the place, but besides small parts in The Hurt Locker and Real Steel, Lilly really hasn't done much.