Evangeline Lilly, 44, reveals she is RETIRING from acting as she is 'happy to leave fame behind' after 20-year career that included starring on Lost and in the Ant-Man films

Lost actress Evangeline Lilly is ready to step away from the camera after 20 years of acting on TV shows and in films.

On Tuesday the 44-year-old Hollywood veteran remarked on Instagram about her departure from showbusiness.

'I am so filled with joy and contentment today as I live out my vision,' wrote the brunette star, who talked about her Ant-Man costar Michael Douglas earlier this year.

'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.'

Dharma is regarded in Hinduism as a cosmic law underlying right behavior and social order.

Evangelina Lilly is ready to step away from the camera after 20 years of acting on TV shows and in films. And on Tuesday the 44-year-old remarked on Instagram about her departure from Hollywood. Seen on Lost in 2007

'I am so filled with joy and contentment today as I live out my vision,' wrote the brunette star. 'Praise God, I feel so grateful for my blessings'

She then added she may come back to acting, but not at the moment: '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.'

Also on her post was a mash-up video made by fans.

The first clip showed her on the beach under a full moon on the set of Lost where she relays she would one day like to retire and work on a family and become a humanitarian. 

The next clip shows Maya Angelou talking about passing through life one experience at a time as she waits for the inevitable: death.

'I didn't come here to stay,' Angelou said in the interview, 'I didn't come to this earth to stay.' 

Lily comment on the clips.

'Thank you @lost_theothers for digging up this (nearly twenty-year-old) footage of me speaking out my dreams under (what looks like) a full moon,' remarked the thespian.

'And thank you to @femalepoetssociety for digging up this (much older) footage of the incredible #mayaangelou perfectly articulating how I feel about life.'

On Lost with Dominic Monaghan when it launched in 2004; the show ended in 2010

On Lost with (From Top Left), Terry O'Quinn, Jorge Garcia, Ian Somerhalder, Maggie Grace, Naveen Andrews, Emilie De Ravin, Josh Holloway,  Matthew Fox and Monaghan

Lilly's partner since 2010 is Norman Kali, who works as a production assistant.

They welcomed their first son, Kehekili, in 2011 and a second child in 2015. They have not publicly revealed the name or gender of this child.

This comes a year after Lilly said she wants a standalone Marvel movie.

The star was reprising her role as Hope van Dyne/ Wasp in the Marvel Cinematic Universe blockbuster Ant-Man and the Wasp: Quantumania when she said she plans to make it clear that she wants the character to be the subject of her own picture.

Speaking to Variety at the world premiere of the film in Los Angeles in February 2023, Evangeline said: 'Well, I'm going to make a pitch that I think it might be time for Hope spin-off... for a Wasp standalone film.

'Do we agree? Anybody? Going once... going twice.'

The actress has been in the MCU since the 2015 movie Ant-Man and feels established as a member of the superhero franchise.

Seen right in Ant-Man And The Wasp: Quantumania with Kathryn Newton, left

Lilly at the Ant-Man And The Wasp: Quantumania UK screening in London in 2023

A selfie from Instagram while in a swimsuit as she talked exercising for her movie roles

Evangeline said: 'When we first came into the universe, it was so established with Black Widow, Iron Man, Captain America, and all the original gangsters. And we were just like these new kids on the block who were trying to earn our stripes.

'And now all of a sudden we're in the centre at the launching point of Phase 5, and it feels really cool.'

Lilly previously revealed how she had plenty of input into the movie's script.

She said: 'I have a lot of opinions and I'd love to share them and I'd love to give you my thoughts on all of this.

'And to do it with confidence and to do it with clarity, instead of, before I even speak, already... brushing my own ideas under the carpet, which is an old habit of mine. Like, 'Yeah, this probably isn't a very good idea, but...' or, 'You don't have to use this, I'm just going to tell you what it is.''