Back in 2006, while starring in the hit ABC drama Lost, Evangeline Lilly predicted that she’d one day leave show business. “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 I would like to have a family,” Lilly said in the clip shared to her Instagram on Monday. “I’d like to be writing, and potentially maybe influencing people’s lives in a more humanitarian way.”

More than a decade later, Lilly is making good on that promise by “stepping away” from the industry that has given her roles in franchises like Marvel’s Ant-Man and The Hobbit. “I am so filled with joy and contentment today as I live out my vision,” Lilly wrote alongside the video, which included her previous remarks. “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,” she continued. “A new season has arrived, and I AM READY…and I AM HAPPY.”

Last year, Lilly publicly hinted at a retreat from the spotlight, telling Esquire, “I’ve never felt lonelier in Hollywood than I do now.” She went on to explain that her “authenticity is going to piss some people off, and is not going to always make me friends or make me popular. But it’s all I’ve got left.”

The actor courted controversy in January 2022 after attending an anti-vaccine-mandate protest in DC. Lilly posted several black-and-white photos from the demonstration, the same event where eventual presidential candidate Robert F. Kennedy Jr. compared vaccine directives to the Holocaust. “I just wanted people out there who were struggling because they were under severe pressure to do something they didn’t want to do to know that they weren’t alone,” Lilly told Esquire of her decision to attend the rally, “to know that there were people who actually felt they had a right to say no.”

Lilly, whose most recent onscreen role was in 2023’s Ant-Man and the Wasp: Quantumania, has at least one more project set for release. According to IMDB, she’s completed filming on a movie written and directed by The Mindy Project’s David Stassen called Happy Life, costarring Ike Barinholtz and Alexandra Daddario.