She might have had her breakthrough when she was just 15 years old, but Emily VanCamp, the star of the TV show Everwood (for which she received four Teen Choice Awards nominations), proved that she was more than just a one-hit-wonder. She went on to star in films like Carriers (2006) and the indie film Black Irish, before she turned her attention to TV shows, following an appearance in Law & Order: Special Victims Unit. She also played Amanda Clarke/Emily Thorne in Revenge. Currently, VanCamp plays nurse practitioner Nicolette ‘Nic’ Nevin, in the medical procedural The Resident. Created by Amy Holden Jones, Hayley Schore and Roshan Sethi, the show focusses on the politics involved in the day-to-day working of a hospital. Excerpts from a chat with Emily VanCamp…
The show focuses on both research and hospital life. Has that had an effect on your political perspectives?
I think all the research I did for the show shifted my perspective completely. I had no idea the lack of accountability and sort of just what goes on in terms of the business side of the healthcare system. It’s very different from universal health care. There is a lot of money to be made in very different ways and then you start to really get into the nitty-gritty and it is quite shocking actually.
Tell us a bit about your character Nicolette Nevin…
She will do absolutely anything for her patients but she’s not willing to play God and that’s where they completely are at odds. To be honest, she just can’t wrap her head around this idea.
Your dynamics with the lead character Dr Conrad Hawkins played by Matt Czhury?
There is a common thing between them — she will stop him from doing the things he’s going to do but she still protects him in her own way. In her core, I think she believes in his cause, and I think they have that common idea of ‘We just will do anything’. Sometimes you see them team up in that sense and then sometimes you see them at odds because she’s sort of trying to bring him back and say ‘That’s too far.’ It’s an interesting dynamic.
What was it like working with Bruce Greenwood?
From day one, it was like a master class, watching him do his thing. He’s so present and so loose in front of the camera. It was hard to master the art of keeping up with him.
The Resident airs from Monday to Friday at 9 pm on Star World