Emily VanCamp was born in the picturesque town of Port Perry, Ontario to Robert and Cindy VanCamp. She is best known for her lead roles in the Warner Bros. series Everwood, as well as the ABC-TV network’s shows Brothers & Sisters and Revenge.
At the age of three, Emily started taking dance lessons and wanted to become a professional dancer. At 12 she was accepted to the prestigious École supérieure de ballet du Québec, and moved in with a local French Canadian family.
When her older sister Katie, also a dancer, was cast as a ballerina in the movie Ladies Room, Emily became interested in acting while visiting her on the set. She started taking classes and found herself an agent. Eventually, Emily was cast in an episode of the kids’ TV series Are You Afraid of the Dark?, alongside fellow Canadian actress Elisha Cuthbert. Emily went on to portray Jacqueline Kennedy at the age of 13 in the Emmy-nominated CBS-TV movie Jackie Bouvier Kennedy Onassis.
In 2001, Emily played Jessica Paré’s sister in the Canadian lesbian-themed drama Lost and Delirious.
Her role in the Warner Bros. series Everwood was Emily’s big break – she received four Teen Choice Awards nominations and one Young Artist Award nomination.
During that time, Emily appeared in a few film projects – A Different Loyalty and The Ring Two. In 2002, she appeared in No Good Deed opposite Samuel L. Jackson and Milla Jovovich.
She also made a guest appearance in an episode of Law & Order: Special Victims Unit.
Everwood creator Greg Berlanti cast her in the the ABC show Brothers & Sisters. While on hiatus, Emily starred in the independent film Norman, which earned her awards from the San Diego Film Festival and the Breckenridge Film Festival.
In 2011, she was cast as a lead on the ABC-TV drama Revenge that gained her a certain amount of recognition.
In March 2013, Emily landed a role in Captain America: The Winter Soldier as Sharon Carter a.k.a. S.H.I.E.L.D. Agent 13, who becomes Captain America’s girlfriend in the books.
More recently, in The Girl in the Book (2016), Emily played Alice Harvey, who is an aspiring writer and assistant book editor.
Emily has three sisters: Katie, Alison and Molly. In an interview published in the April edition of InStyle, Emily told about one of her mother’s unusual parenting methods, saying, “My mom would lock us out of the house. [Even in winter?] Oh, yeah. Are you kidding me? We come from tough stock… It was part of my childhood that shaped me."
Emily has been dating her Revenge co-star, British actor Josh Bowman, for more than two years. She is based in Los Angeles, although when she isn’t working, Emily resides in Montreal.
Filmography:
The Girl in the Book (2016)
Captain America: The Winter Soldier (2014)
Norman (2010)
Carriers (2009)
Black Irish (2007)
The Ring Two (2005)
A Different Loyalty (2004)
No Good Deed (2002)
Lost and Delirious (2001)