Spotlight On: Emilie de Ravin

In her teenage years, Emilie de Ravin quickly made a name for herself in the Australian television series Beast Master, playing the Demon Curupira. But the lure of American television convinced her to fly to Los Angeles and audition for a little known sci-fi series called Roswell. With her golden locks and cherubic features, she immediately landed the part of Tess Harding in Roswell. Her presence on the series set off a fire-storm amongst the fans and, overnight, Emilie went from unknown Australian actress to one of the most visible young actresses in Hollywood.

Emilie as Tess on Roswell

When her storyline on Roswell concluded, Emilie was next cast in the highly anticipated remake of the horror classic Carrie, re-written by Dead Like Me writer Bryan Fuller. In Carrie, Emilie embraced her bad girl side and played the ultimate mean girl that reigned terror on Carrie. Finally unleashed, Emilie’s performance showed the true depth of range that she was capable of playing.

Then after a quick succession of guest starring appearances in NCIS, The Handler, and CSI: Miami, Emilie returned to the big screen in the provocative indie film, Brick. In Brick, Emilie was the catalyst for a chain of events that inspired a non-involved do-gooder played by Joseph Gordon-Levitt to track down her killer. Emilie’s portrayal of the tragic, aptly named Emily was riveting. She again was able to demonstrate a wide range between naïve wanna-be insider to Machiavellian schemer who ended up dead in a gutter.

It was this ability to flip-a-switch and be anything anyone wanted her to be that led Emilie to sashay from the holiday comedy Santa’s Slay with Saul Rubinek and Fran Drescher to the slasher horror film The Hills Have Eyes with Kathleen Quinlan and Daniel Byrd. As a result of her range, Emilie became a hot commodity and she quickly moved onto co-star in Ball Don’t Lie with Rosanna Arquette and Ludacris, the Nora Robert’s made-for-TV film High Noon with Ivan Sergei and Ty Olsson, and finally in the major motion pictures Public Enemies with Johnny Depp and Christian Bale and Remember Me with Robert Pattinson.

Emilie as Claire on Lost

During this same period, Emilie managed to concurrently hold down a series regular role on the hit series Lost. On Lost, Emilie played Claire Littleton, the half-sister of Jack Shephard and mother of baby Aaron. Emilie’s range was again an asset as she transitioned from innocent young mother to complete sociopathic killer in the six seasons of Lost. It has been even more apparent as this past season has required Emilie to play both versions of her character nearly simultaneously through the use of side-ways flashes in the series. The transformation between such polar opposite characters is startling. Emilie has shown that she is a young actress to be reckoned with and remembered for her diverse and fascinating performances. She is sure to captivate audiences for a long time to come.

Lost will conclude its sixth and final season on Sunday, May 23rd on ABC.