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LONDON – Can you believe “The Hobbit” is coming to an end? Sure, there's a very valid argument the big screen adaptation of J.R.R. Tolkien's first Middle Earth novel didn't need to be three movies, but still. This is a project that has been on movie fans' radars for over seven years and it's finally (we think), finally coming to an end.

Earlier this month I crossed the Atlantic to talk with a number of the the principal stars of “The Hobbit: The Battle of the Five Armies” and they had much to celebrate. The last installment includes some of the trilogy's best moments and long-awaited action scenes fans have been dying to see. Sitting down with the three primary elves in the series, Lee Pace (Thranduil), Evangeline Lilly (Tauriel) and Orlando Bloom (“LOTR” veteran Legolas), we discussed a number of topics including the protracted shoot and, after so much green screen work, experiencing the movies like any other member of the audience. One thing that viewers might find surprising is how little action Tauriel (Lilly), the leader of the Mirkwood Elven guard, found in the movie's epic confrontation. Considering the character, who was created for the movie, was initially sold as more of an action hero, Lilly couldn't believe it herself.

“I thought I would be doing a hell of a lot more fighting than I did,” she says. “Tauriel saw next to no action. She killed a couple of orcs on her way to save [spoiler] and that was it.”

One thing Lilly was happy to see were the fans who dressed up as Tauriel at San Diego Comic-Con this past summer.  

“I think I was worried about the possibility that nobody would every cosplay my character and people would only be angry about her being in the film, so it's a great encouragement when I see people dressed up as Tauriel,” she says. “It's sort of an affirmation that “we accept her into Middle Earth, we accept her into the fray of the Ringers and the whole culture of Tolkien.”

That's it for Lilly and Tauriel on the big screen, though… until it isn't, of course.

For more on “The Battle of the Five Armies,” watch the video interview at the top of this post.

“The Hobbit: Battle of the Five Armies” opens nationwide on Wednesday.