Lost star Lilly not quite as she appears

Evangeline Lilly plays Kate on TV's 'Lost'.

Evangeline Lilly knows how to make an entrance.

"Ged-owda here!" she yelps in a New York accent, with a swift high-heeled jab towards her boyfriend and co-star Dominic Monaghan, who is leaving through another door.

It's the only sign of communication between the pair who refuse to speak publicly about their relationship. Even when they are on the same publicity conveyor belt for a gathering of entertainment journalists.

It's also a sign of the intense media glare focused on the Canadian former model since she won the role on TV's hottest drama. Though the Lost cast won an Emmy for best ensemble, it's 26-year-old Lilly who is the show's break-out star. Not that she sees it that way.

"I'm working with 15 people who all have different acting styles," she says. "So I feel like I have been able to go berry picking and go, 'I like this and I like that.' I can probably take you through every member of the cast and tell you the things I have stolen from them. So technically I'm a fraudulent performer."

It probably helps that her character is the fantasy G.I. Jane type. Kate not only has the attention of both goody-goody Jack and bad-boy Sawyer, the two hottest guys on the island, she has the women's friendship and respect, having led the contingent fearlessly into the jungle, been the first to enter the hatch and heroically delivered Claire's baby.

For a chick whose back story has revealed a history of armed robbery, assault and resisting arrest, it's a testament to Lilly's girl-next-door charm that she's too cute not to warm to.

If you think it must be hard playing the likeable villain, she says, imagine playing someone whose motives you don't always understand.

The Lost cast know as much about their characters as the viewers - which can make certain scenes "really, really hard". Lilly recently queried a line in the script because it didn't seem like something Kate would say.

After a quick meeting with the director, the writers told her to trust them and say it anyway - in two or three episodes she'd know why.

"And that's it. That's all I get. I'm ready to pull my hair out sometimes because I have to make you believe it even if it doesn't feel natural or make sense."

So it was a relief for her to finally learn Kate's dark secret; something we'll have to wait a little longer for.

"It was so satisfying because I have been playing that mystery and wanting to personally know it for over a year now. Instead of playing a veiled woman, I get to play an open woman which is a completely new beast for me."

Lost is Lilly's first major role but it's not the first time she has slummed it in the jungle. As a student she lived in a grass hut in the Philippines as part of a missionary group.

With her heart set on a career in international relations, and a strong command of French, a career in modelling was the last thing on her mind. Four years ago she turned down an opportunity to sign with the Ford agency - then changed her mind when she realised it could help pay for her university studies.

From modelling she moved on to TV ads but ditched acting to focus on her work. Two years later a friend encouraged her to give acting another go, which led to bit parts on TV shows and films, such as Smallville, White Chicks and Freddy vs Jason.

Then along came Lost, now watched weekly by up to 18 million people in the US and millions more around the world.

When it came time for a bit of a break, Lilly escaped to Rwanda, the only place she could think of that didn't have a rabid fascination with the show.

Even co-star Harold Perrineau admits, "I don't have to deal with it as much as Evangeline."

She recently had a paparazzo arrested after he stalked her for a month, following her around for 12 hours a day.

"It still gets to me, I still react to it emotionally," she says. "But I force myself to just laugh."

She reckons her life is uneventful. "The most interesting photos that someone has gotten of me are me riding my bike with grocery bags on the handle bars or sitting on the beach reading a book."

That may be the case in Hawaii, where Lost is filmed, but Lilly has spent the first few months of the year flying to and from Los Angeles for a whirlwind of designer-dress fittings, awards ceremonies and red-carpet events.

On screen, she may be lithe and sweaty but in the flesh, she's pristine and ladylike, in cream pants, a cream blouse and pearls, her hair loose and romantic.

The only dangerous, Kate-like accessory is the black-studded cuff on her wrist.

She's not adverse to op-shopping, either. It gives her "private glee" to know she can look good in something cheap, even if she's being interviewed on TV.

"I have never cared what anybody thought about my style because it's mine and it is what it is. When I get ready for every award or red-carpet event, I've always chosen my dress the night before. I try not to make too much of a big deal of it because if I hype it up in my mind then the reaction to it will be important to me."

She used to be as blase about awards ceremonies, scoffing at the winners who cried and quivered on the podium.

"And when we won the Emmy I practically leaped out of my seat," she laughs. "I let this spontaneous scream out and we were in the back of the stadium and I was like, running to the stage. And I was shaking and going, 'Oh, my God'."

The win for best ensemble not only cemented Lost in the hearts and minds of fans worldwide, it meant higher stakes for the stars. Much higher stakes, if an article citing each them now gets US$80,000 ($132,000) an episode, is to be believed.

It's not, says Lilly, who finds it an uncomfortable subject.

"I don't like to spend it on a lot of bling-bling or cars or homes or anything like that. But I don't really talk about money a lot."

Then she breaks into the smirk that has helped her deal with the media glare since her time on Lost began. "Lies," she cackles.

"All lies."