Lilly: Comic-Con scared me

Evangeline Lilly was “terrified” of Comic-Con before her first trip.

The Hobbit star attended the annual comic convention in San Diego, California for the first time in 2005 while promoting hit US series Lost.

While she confesses she feared the worst, the actress' tune has shifted dramatically.

“I just thought a massive convention center full of rabid fans was slightly intimidating and very scary to consider being in the midst of,” Evangeline told SlashFilm.com, explaining, “But over the years I’ve come to really love it and look forward to it because I realise ‘Them’s my peeps’. These are the people that not only love the projects that I do but also think like I think."

The star will return to the convention on Friday to debut her new book, The Squickerwonkers. And she admits she can’t think of a better way to introduce the work to the public.

“Their taste is like my taste and for the most part they’re really smart and genuinely critical in a positive way,” she said.

“Hence they want good, quality material and they don’t want to be spoon fed a lot of crap from mainstream media. And so I dig these people and I dig what they stand for and I dig their standards. And that’s one of the reasons why I brought my book there first before even taking it to the publishing world, because I wanted their feedback. And they were more important to me than what the industry might tell me about my book. I wanted to know what my Comic-Con fans think.”

Evangeline will also speak with fans on Saturday while promoting The Hobbit: The Battle of the Five Armies.

The Squickerwonkers is scheduled to hit shelves in the US on November 18.