Evangeline Lilly wants to be ''idolised'' by children.

The 35-year-old actress has confessed she picks roles based on whether she can imagine a parent coming up to her to tell her she's their child's ''hero''.

She said: ''When I pick a role, one of the things that I aspire to is that somebody's parent will come up to me after the film has come out and say, 'My daughter idolises that character. You're her hero.'

''That's what we aim for, especially in this brand. We're in the business of making heroes.''

The 'Lord of the Rings' star - who is playing Hope Van Dyne in Marvel's new film 'Ant-Man' - added she's really excited the comic book film company are ''taking female characters very seriously''.

Speaking to Collider.com, she explained: ''I think there is a lot of excitement from female audiences about this character, in general, and about the fact that Marvel are really, really taking female characters very seriously.

''Looking at their line-up, you can see that they have great intentions. And as a woman who came into a predominantly male film, I had a great time working with (director) Peyton (Reed) and the producers on this character because I could see a hunger in them to really, really do right by Hope and by their female fans and by the female audience.''