Actor Evangeline Lilly has shared a candid update about her recovery nearly a year after sustaining a serious head injury, revealing that medical scans have shown reduced brain function following the accident.
The Ant-Man star spoke openly about the diagnosis and the road ahead in a video posted on social media.
Lilly, 46, suffered a traumatic brain injury last year after fainting on a beach and falling headfirst onto a boulder. On Instagram, she posted a video addressing concerns from fans and explaining the outcome of recent medical tests. In the clip, she said, “It’s late on January 1st, the first day of 2026. I am entering into this new year with some bad news about my concussion. A lot of you asked how I am doing, and a lot of you have enquired about the brain scans you heard I got. The results came back from the scan, and almost every area of my brain is functioning at a decreased capacity.”
Speaking further about her condition, the actor acknowledged the severity of the diagnosis and the uncertainty surrounding her recovery. “So, I do have brain damage from the TBI (traumatic brain injury). Possibly other factors are going on. But now my job is to get to the bottom of that with the doctors and then embark on the hard work of fixing it. Which I don’t look forward to, because I feel like hard work is all I do. But that’s okay; my cognitive decline since I had my face open has helped me to slow down and helped me to have a restful finish to 2025.”
Despite the challenges, Lilly said the experience has also brought unexpected perspective and calm. Reflecting on the past year, she shared, “This was maybe the most calm Christmas holiday I had since I had children. So 14 years. That’s a good thing. I am feeling extraordinarily grateful and blessed to be able to play one more day and one more year on this beautiful living planet. That is my concussion update, and thank you all for caring.”
In the caption accompanying the video, Lilly addressed speculation around her health and acknowledged the difficulty of the recovery ahead. She wrote, “Verdict’s in… I do have brain damage from my TBI. Comforting to know my cognitive decline isn’t just perimenopause, but discomforting to know what an uphill battle it will be to try to reverse the deficiencies.”
Lilly was last seen on screen in Ant-Man and the Wasp: Quantumania, reprising her role as Hope Van Dyne, also known as The Wasp. Following her post, she received messages of support from colleagues, including Michelle Pfeiffer, who commented, “You are a warrior. Nothing – not even this – will defeat you, my friend.”