Amanda Seyfried looks back on her recurringVeronica Marsrole as Lilly Kane, revealing how the pivotal character was originally meant to die and why the plan changed. Created by Rob Thomas, withKristen Bell in the lead,Veronica Marswas one of the standout shows of the mid-2000s. Blending teen drama with crime noir, Bell’s titular detective came back for a follow-up movie in 2014 and a one-season rival in 2019. But it all started in 2004, with the question of who killed Lilly Kane.
While promoting her new Peacock seriesLong Bright River, Seyfriend looked back on some of her memorable roles in a video forGQ. The actor, who is Oscar-nominated for her performance in David Fincher’sMank, in addition to winning an Emmy forThe Dropout, touched onjuggling two shows alongside HBO’sBig Love:
I just turned 18. I was doing Big Love and Veronica Mars at the same time. I was very lucky to have gotten pilots that first season. I worked my ass off. Not saying it wasn’t like, somewhat earned but I was lucky. I remember, like, just driving down to San Diego from LA by myself, in the Marriott, coming to set hanging out. And, again, I’m 18. So, I’m just having fun meeting great people. Kristen and I, like, had a great time and she was excited to be in the show. We were all on location in San Diego and we had great great showrunners.
When it came to the question of how the character died, Seyfried explained thatLilly was originally supposed to drown. But as she explains in the quote below, this changed because of some difficulties during filming. Ultimately, as viewers of the show will recall,Veronica Mars' best friend died in a far more violent way:
Lily Kane was thrown in a pool to drown but that’s not how she died. They cut itSo, the first scene… it was by myself in a pool with contacts and they were like, ‘Stop blowing bubbles out your nose.’ And I’m like, ‘I’m trying really hard not to but even when I’m holding my nose bubbles can’t help but come out.’ I’m like—I didn’t know. It was very surreal, and the first time I’d ever died, you know, on-screen, and then they cut it and they turned it around and turned it into, um, like a head trauma.
I knew she was the one who had died and that the death she was trying to investigate her best friend. But I didn’t know how beloved she would be. How iconic she would be. I mean, looking back, and the writing was there. It was all flashbacks of course, and it was just, like, Veronica… she was the one that was lost. Like, she was never missing but I can understand now, I think we understood, that she had a hole in her heart. It was a really great job to have, with really great actors. Really great people came in and out of that show.
What Lilly Kane’s Death Meant For Veronica Mars
It’s At The Heart Of The Show
Lilly’s murder is at the very heart ofVeronica Mars. Itshifts the way Bell’s protagonist sees the worldand the way she approaches it, hardening her and fundamentally transforming her personality. The murder drove her into detective work alongside her loving father. Veronica goes through her own trauma, but it is arguably the death of her best friend that changes her path the most, altering her high school status in the process.
Veronica Mars' Three Revival Attempts Explained
Veronica Mars was canceled after three seasons in 2007, and here’s every time fans, creator Rob Thomas, and Kristen Bell tried to revive it.
The Oscar nominee has had a varied and celebrated career since Lilly Kane. As she mentions, however, Lilly was one ofSeyfried’s standout performancesdespite being relatively limited to the occasional flashback or fantastical sequence in the first two seasons. The choice to have the death be more violent, with Lilly having a gushing head wound, often made those dream sequences closer to a nightmare.
Our Take On Lilly’s Death
It Would Have Been Great To See Seyfried More
Veronica’s best friend had to die to make the story ofVeronica Marswhat it ended up being. Because Seyfried is such a strong performer though, it’s hard not to wish that Lilly somehow could have stuck around for longer. She left an indelible impression in such a short time, enlivening the trope of the secretive dead girl. It still played quite a part when the detective drama returned forits 2010s revival.
