Dancing Mattress Productions: Revised celebrity crush: Emily Vancamp

Emily VanCamp in Brothers & Sisters. As always, photographers are
invited to contact me at mentalnomadshow -at- gmail -dot- com
so I may properly credit them for pictures on any entry here.

Here's one of the actresses Ye Olde Podcaster discussed way back in Mental Nomad Podcast 143, the show that started this whole bit of madness. Amazon and iTunes links are at the bottom, and your commissions would be very welcome by this grad student.

In Revenge, coming this fall on ABC.
Fact: The Count of Monte Cristo is one of my favorite novels.

Name: Emily VanCamp (images | Web site | Twitter)
Hometown: Port Perry in the Canadian province of Ontario, according to her Wikipedia entry.
Best Known For: Emily is best known for her work on two Greg Berlanti television projects -- co-starring in the WB drama Everwood for its entire run (2002-2006) and joining his subsequent ABC drama Brothers & Sisters (2006-2011) in its first season (after he'd been drafted as show-runner) and leaving early in its fifth and final season.

She's a former child actress, and I break with normal tradition here by including the entire run of Everwood here even though she was under 18 during its first two seasons because 1.) it's important from a storytelling standpoint to see the early seasons to understand what happens later; 2.) her strongest story arc came during the second season; and 3.) because, as a family drama, she wasn't portrayed in an inappropriately sexual manner. Ditto, I included the film Lost & Delirious below because it's already listed under the entries for the film's stars, fellow crushes Piper Perabo and Jessica Paré, and Emily's character is auxiliary to them.

Anyway. While she broke (and frequently stilled) hearts as generally a "girl you at least WISHED lived next door" on those series, she's coming back to TV this fall in a darker role. Emily is headlining ABC's drama Revenge, which is described as loosely based on Alexandre Dumas' novel The Count of Monte Cristo. Revenge, it can definitively be said now and for all time, never looked so good.
Humble Beginnings: Early work as a child actress included the Canadian kids' horror series Are You Afraid of the Dark? Emily also appeared in the horror movie The Ring Two and the short film Rings (which spanned the period between the first movie and its sequel). In Lost and Delirious, she played the younger sister of Jessica Paré's character.

Slightly Less Humble: In 2000, VanCamp appeared in the made-for-TV movie Jackie Bouvier Kennedy Onassis, playing the future first lady at age 13.
Obligatory Edgy Stuff: VanCamp was photographed in the nude -- though covered by a translucent silk sheet -- in the final nude celebrities issue of the now-defunct women's magazine Jane, and she talked about visiting European nude beaches in the text accompanying her photo. Of course, her Wikipedia entry notes that she was raised speaking French, so that's almost a given. [Oh, I kid our Strange and Savage Neighbo(u)rs to the North!]

Why Ye Olde Podcaster Likes Her: Emily has an "old soul" quality that translates well into playing girl-next-door-with-a-secret types, and given Berlanti's penchant for putting his characters and viewers through the emotional wringer, those secrets usually end in tears. The post-apocalyptic film Carriers -- while not really my cup of tea, I'm pretty much over horror as a genre -- allowed her to broaden her range by playing a less sympathetic character than the norm.

Plus, you know, have you looked at her? ... While Emily is a beautiful young woman, she looks like a real person -- not the product of a team of plastic surgeons and makeup bought by the ton.

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10 August 2011

Revised celebrity crush: Emily Vancamp

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