When did Evangeline Lilly retire from acting? All about the career of Michael Douglas' last co-star as "Ant-Man and the Wasp" star quits acting 

Michael Douglas is following in Evangeline Lilly’s footsteps as he takes a step back from Hollywood after a decades-long stint.

Douglas, who portrayed Lilly’s on-screen father in Ant-Man and the Wasp, appeared at the Karlovy Vary International Film Festival in the Czech Republic for One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest’s 50th anniversary. There, he revealed that he has “no real intentions” of making a comeback to the big screen.

Notably, Michael Douglas’ co-star Lilly also quit acting last year when she announced on Instagram that she “might return one day.”

Michael Douglas gets candid about his struggles with throat cancer, his wife's career, and the status quo of politics in the US: Read more

At the festival, Michael Douglas, an Oscar-winning actor, touched on his struggles with throat cancer, which he was diagnosed with in 2010.

“Stage 4 cancer is not a holiday, but there aren’t many choices, are there?,” he said. “I went with the program, involving chemo and radiation, and was fortunate. The surgery would have meant not being able to talk and removing part of my jaw and that would have been limiting as an actor.”

He then disclosed why he chose to retire:

“I’ve had a very busy career. I have not worked since 2022 purposefully because I realized I had to stop,” he added. “I had been working pretty hard for almost 60 years, and I did not want to be one of those people who dropped dead on the set. I have no real intentions of going back. I say I’m not retired because if something special came up, I’d go back, but otherwise, no.”

However, Michael Douglas did note that he has “one little independent movie” he is “trying to get a good script out of.” He added that “in the spirit of maintaining a good marriage,” he is “happy to play the wife” to Catherine Zeta-Jones, whom he has been married to since 2000.

Zeta-Jones is expected to reprise her role as Morticia Addams in the Netflix show Wednesday’s season 2.

At the festival, Michael Douglas also opened up about the status quo of politics in the US and the implications of the Trump administration on democracy. Noting that the country is currently “flirting with autocracy,” he said:

“I look at it generally as the fact of how precious democracy is, of how vulnerable it is and how it always has to be protected,” he added. “I hope that what we’re struggling with right now is a reminder of all the hard work the Czechs did in gaining their freedom and independence. Politics now seem to be for profit. Money has entered democracy as a profit centre. People are going into politics now to make money. We maintained an ideal, an idealism in the U.S., which does not exist now.”

Michael Douglas did, however, end his remarks there as he did not want “to go into too much detail” as “the news speaks for itself.”

“I myself am worried, I am nervous, and I think it’s all of our responsibility to look out for ourselves.”

Evangeline Lilly reflects on retirement dreams, hiatus, and her Ant-Man journey

Back in June 2024, Lilly, who played Douglas’ daughter on-screen in the Ant-Man franchise, shared a 2006 video of her expressing a desire to retire in the following decade.

“Ten years from now, where would I like to be? I am terrified to admit this to the rest of the acting world but ideally 10 years from now I’d like to be a retired actress and have a family,” she said in the clip, per Variety. “I’d like to be writing and influencing people’s lives in humanitarian ways.”

In the caption, she penned:

“I am so filled with joy and contentment today as I live out my vision. Praise God, I feel so grateful for my blessings. Stepping away from what seems like the obvious choice (wealth and fame) can feel scary at times, but stepping into your dharma replaces the fear with fulfillment. I might return to Hollywood one day, but, for now, this is where I belong.” “A new season has arrived, and I AM READY…and I AM HAPPY,” Lilly concluded.

The Variety report highlighted that Lilly expressed no bitterness toward the industry. Instead, she emphasized that her departure stemmed from a desire for deeper purpose and personal growth.

“I have actually been on a hiatus from acting for the past three years already (since finishing work on ‘Quantumania’). This time outside of the business has brought me a grounding sense of fulfillment and joy. I could return tomorrow, two years from now or never, but at the moment I am not actively pursuing any work in the industry and am not under any contractual obligations to anybody. I am devoting my time to my humanitarian work and my writing.”

According to Variety, Lilly’s decision was not sudden — she had long envisioned stepping back at this point in her life to focus on family, writing, and service. The actress is most known for having portrayed Kate Austen on Lost for all of its six seasons, from 2004 to 2010. However, she also starred alongside Michael Douglas and Paul Rudd, who played the titular role, in 2015’s Ant-Man.

The three then reprised their roles for 2018’s sequel, and the following year’s Avengers: Endgame. Furthermore, they made a comeback for 2023’s Ant-Man and the Wasp: Quantumania. As for Michael Douglas’ final role, it was as Benjamin Franklin in Franklin, an Apple TV+ production that was filmed in 2022 and came out last year.

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