Lizzy Caplan was encouraged to improvise her lines while filming on the set of Now You See Me 2.

The actress plays Lula in the upcoming sequel to the 2013 magician caper thriller Now You See Me, which also stars Jesse Eisenberg, Mark Ruffalo, Woody Harrelson and Dave Franco.

Playing one of the so-called Four Horsemen illusionists, after Isla Fisher declined to return for the follow-up film, Lizzy decided to take on the role because her character has depth and is more than just the "token female" in the cast.

"I have to say, and this isn't even a straight up comedy - there's other stuff going on - but they gave me so much free reign to improvise and make the character as strange and odd as I wanted, and not the two-dimensional token female role," Lizzy told People.com, following the New York premiere of the film on Monday night (06Jun16).

The 33-year-old was also excited by the fact that she was encouraged by her colleagues to give her input for the role as well as the opportunity to improvise scenes, explaining: "I felt more freedom on this than I have a lot of comedies I've done."

Lizzy adds that she wouldn't have been tempted to take on the character if Lula had been too stereotypical, such as being a mere magician's assistant, and she would've "fought against that".

Luckily, Lizzy explains that working on the film was a collaborative experience and she even had the chance to work with writer Ed Solomon on the script before they started shooting.

"There are a few lines in the movie that I improvised, and they are all about, 'why do you think a girl can't do it?' And that was just really how I was feeling in the moment," she explained. "But they incorporated it into the character, which is fantastic."

Now You See Me 2 hits cinemas on 10 June.