Line #18 Creator/EmilyBettRickards


1	[[quoteright:250:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/emily_bett_rickards.png]]
2	[[caption-width-right:250:''[[Series/{{Arrow}} I may be blonde, but I’m not that blonde.]]'']]
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4	Emily Bett Rickards (born July 24, 1991 in Vancouver, British Columbia) is a Canadian actress, perhaps best known for her role as Felicity Smoak across Creator/TheCW's Series/{{Arrowverse}}. People may also remember her from the music video of Music/{{Nickelback}}'s [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1GWQ-oDMG6g "Never Gonna Be Alone"]].
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7	!! Selected filmography:
8	* ''Film/{{Flicka}}: Country Pride'' (2012) as Mary Malone
9	* Series/{{Arrowverse}} (2012 -- 2019, 2020) as [[StarMakingRole Felicity Smoak]]:
10	** ''Series/{{Arrow}}'' (2012 -- 2019, 2020)
11	** ''Series/{{The Flash\|2014}}'' (2014, 2015; 2016)
12	** ''Series/FlashVsArrow'' (2014)
13	** ''WesternAnimation/{{Vixen}}'' (voice only; 2015)
14	** ''Series/HeroesJoinForces'' (2015)
15	** ''Series/LegendsOfTomorrow'' (2016, 2017)
16	** ''[[Series/Invasion2016 Invasion!]]'' (2016)
17	** ''Series/CrisisOnEarthX'' (2017)
18	** ''Series/{{Elseworlds\|2018}}'' (2018)
19	* ''Film/{{Brooklyn}}'' (2015) as Patty
20	* ''Funny Story'' (2018) as Kim
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23	!! She provides examples of:
24	* AscendedExtra: Her role on ''Arrow'' wasn't meant to be very large or developed -- in the comics, Felicity is barely more than a footnote of a character -- but the producers (and later the viewers) reacted to her and her chemistry with Creator/StephenAmell ''so'' positively that she was brought back with greater importance, becoming the third person to join Team Arrow, not to mention [[ComicBook/GreenArrow Oliver Queen]]'s love interest...effectively pushing aside [[ComicBook/BlackCanary his longtime romantic partner from the comics]] in the process.
25	* TheCastShowOff: ZigZagged. She was trained in musical theater, but she never sung or/and danced in the ''Series/{{Arrowverse}}'' shows ''on-screen''. She and her ''Series/{{Arrow}}'' co-stars sang "[[Film/{{Grease}} Summer Nights]]" on the show's Season One behind the scenes video, with her and Creator/JohnBarrowman's voices standing out.
26	* ClassicallyTrainedExtra: She was trained in musical theater, but she mainly played bit roles before playing [[Series/{{Arrow}} Felicity Smoak]] ([[AscendedExtra and even that was supposed to be one too]]).
27	* CreatorBacklash: She's aware in some aspect of her character now being considered a BaseBreakingCharacter for the entire Arrowverse after the SeasonalRot of ''Arrow'' Seasons 3, 4, and 6 along with the infamous ending to the ''Series/CrisisOnEarthX'' CrisisCrossover. However, Rickards' comments in interviews have alluded that she's just as frustrated as the audience is about her character's mishandling. Notably, she was angry about Felicity's disability storyline being quickly brushed aside (as she had even done [[ShownTheirWork tons of research]] about disabilities and was excited to represent the individuals in question). Furthermore, she was disappointed about the DarkerAndEdgier material she was asked to shoulder during ''Arrow'' Seasons 3 and 4 (since she felt that the more angsty storylines she was given didn't play to her strengths).
28	* DisappearedDad: Strangely common across her roles.
29	** Her character's father in the music video for Music/{{Nickelback}}'s "Never Gonna Be Alone" is revealed to be DeadAllAlong.
30	** Her character's father in ''Series/{{Arrow}}'' was a ChekhovMIA.
31	* SacredCow:[[invoked]] Make no mistake, [[{{Hypocrite}} Felicity Smoak]] is far and away one of the most hated characters in the ''Series/{{Arrowverse}}'' for many reasons, but her actress Creator/EmilyBettRickards is ''firmly'' off limits. She is seen as an outright saint in real life - she has raised money for charitable causes dedicated to fighting auto-immune diseases, sponsored a scholarship worth upwards of $250,000 out of her own pocket, is very nice and personable to her fans, and did "[[ShownTheirWork tons of research]]" when she discovered Felicity would become paralyzed. If anything, she is the most pitied out of everyone involved with the show since she's had to watch her character's reputation go down the drain through no fault of her own. It's basically one of the rules of being an ''Arrowverse'' viewer: you are not to say anything bad about Emily under any circumstances.
32	* [[HeAlsoDid She Also Did]]:
33	** She was TheNarrator for the audiobook version of "The Wicked Ones," a short story set in the universe of ''Literature/TheMortalInstruments''.
34	** She's also continued her theater work outside of her television roles, gaining significant critical praise when she starred in the lead role of Zayd Dorn's ''Reborning'' at the Annex Theater in Vancouver during early 2018.

Context Creator / EmilyBettRickards