Evangeline Lilly as Kate Austen
Katherine “Kate” Austen, on the television series Lost, is portrayed by Evangeline Lilly. Kate was raised by her soldier father and waitress mother in Iowa, and it was because of her father’s love for the outdoors that she came to know about reading animal tracks in the wild. Eventually, her parents got a divorce, and her mother remarried an abusive and alcoholic man named Wayne, who she later found out was her real father. She killed Wayne by blowing up their house while he was inside, but was caught by US Marshal Edward Mars before she could make her escape. However, she was able to get away from Mars and proceeded to drive across the country.
She decided to head back home when she found out her mother was in the final stages of cancer, but before she reunited with her mother, she first met up and had an affair with her old boyfriend, Tom Brennan. After her mother rejected her, she again sped away in haste, accidentally killing Tom in the process. From there, she got into more trouble with the law by robbing a bank, but eventually settled down by marrying Kevin, a police officer. Having found real happiness, she contacted Mars, who had been in hot pursuit of her since their initial encounter. She told him to leave her alone, but he refused. Fearing for Kevin’s safety, Kate decided to leave him and headed off to Australia. Still, she wasn’t able to shake off Mars, and the farmer with whom Kate was staying turned her in. Kate and Mars boarded Oceanic 815 on their way back to the United States.
After the plane crashed, Kate was able to free herself from Mars, and from there, struck friendships with some of the other survivors, namely Sayid, Charlie and Hurley. She also got caught in a complicated love triangle with Jack and Sawyer. She, Sayid, Charlie, Hurley, Jack and Sawyer recovered a transceiver, discovered a transmission and decided to relocate to the caves. She also helped Claire give birth to a healthy baby boy in the middle of the jungle and was the first person to be imprisoned in the DHARMA Initiative Station by Desmond.
Kate was also the one who further complicated her relationship with Jack, after she unexpectedly kissed him upon running away from Sawyer, who, in a maddened state, tried to strangle Kate. However, when she was captured by The Others, Jack refused to give up their guns in exchange for her freedom.
(Photo courtesy of ABC)