Emily Hampshire

Hampshire was born in Montreal to Robert Hampshire, a dentist.^[3][6][7][8] She became interested in acting at age 11 after attending a performance of Les Misérables with her mother.^[9][10] Her interests were solidified by the vice principal of her all-girls Catholic school, who praised her performance during a school theatre production.^[10][11] At age 16, she moved to Toronto to pursue roles in TV and film.^[9] She was accepted into the American Academy of Dramatic Arts shortly after high school but never attended, as it conflicted with a film opportunity.^[11]

Hampshire has been professionally active in the Canadian film and television industry since 1996. She has starred in the Canadian series This Space For Rent, Carl², and Northern Town. She played Margaret in The Life Before This, a feature film directed by Jerry Ciccoritti, which premiered at the Toronto International Film Festival in 1999.

Hampshire starred alongside Kevin Zegers and Samaire Armstrong in the 2006 romantic comedy It's a Boy/Girl Thing, in which she played the character Chanel. In 2009, she appeared in The Trotsky as Leon Trotsky's love interest Alexandra. In 2010, she starred in the Canadian indie film, Good Neighbours.^[12] Hampshire has also done voice-acting, voicing the character Misery on the animated series Ruby Gloom, Diana Barry in Anne of Green Gables: The Animated Series, Chloe Crashman in Carl², Starr in 6teen, and Alyson Malitski in Braceface.

On May 23, 2012, in Cannes, France, Hampshire and fellow actress Sarah Gadon were presented with the first Birks Canadian Diamond award during Telefilm Canada's inaugural Tribute to Canadian Talent press event and reception.^[13] Also in 2012, Hampshire starred in David Cronenberg's Cosmopolis as Jane Melman,^[6][14] and co-starred in Sean Garrity's comedy film My Awkward Sexual Adventure, for which she received positive critical notice.^[15] The same year she was cast in the futuristic-zombie film The Returned.^[16]

In 2014, Hampshire was cast in the Syfy series 12 Monkeys in the recurring role of Jennifer Goines, a reimagined version of Brad Pitt's character from the film on which the series is based;^[17] in 2015, she was upped to a series regular for the show's second season.^[18] From 2015 to 2020, she played Stevie Budd in the CBC television series Schitt's Creek.^[19]

In late 2015, Hampshire was cast in Xavier Dolan's independent film The Death and Life of John F. Donovan, which also stars Natalie Portman, Kathy Bates, and Susan Sarandon.^[20]

In 2021, she appeared in the music video for The Tragically Hip's single "Not Necessary", from their EP Saskadelphia.^[21]

She co-wrote the graphic novel Amelia Aierwood –- Basic Witch which was published in 2023^[22] by Z2 Comics.

Hampshire is pansexual.^[23] In 2006, she married Matthew Smith, a former football player turned agent-in-training at the William Morris Agency.^[3] They divorced shortly before she was cast in Schitt's Creek in 2014.^[24][9] In September 2018, it was confirmed that Hampshire was in a relationship with singer-songwriter Teddy Geiger; they became engaged in November 2018.^[25] They ended their engagement on June 10, 2019.^[26]

In 2007, Hampshire moved to Los Angeles.^[10] She was briefly attached that year to the indie Sparkle Dark, but the project was not made.^[27][28] Hampshire became a naturalized U.S. citizen in September 2014; currently, she divides her time between Los Angeles and Toronto.^[29]

• Command & Conquer 4: Tiberian Twilight (2010), as Lillian Parker