Emily Roya O'Brien is an English three-time Daytime Emmy-nominated actress and writer who is known for her role of Jana Hawkes Fisher on The Young and the Restless from 2006 to 2011. She voiced The Woman in Love, Death and Robots Season 1 episode of The Witness, which won The Emmy for Best Animation. She went on to portray motion capture and the voice of Eve in season 2 of Love, Death and Robots entitled Pop Squad. She also portrayed Julia in the 2014 film Pernicious and provided the voices of Camille and Samira in League of Legends, and Y'shtola in Final Fantasy XIV: A Realm Reborn. Emily also voiced Gamora in Guardians of the Galaxy: The Telltale Series and Special Agent Iman Avesta in Batman: The Enemy Within. In 2018, she became part of the main cast of the animated film Dagon Troll World Chronicles. She also voiced Amelie and young Bridget Strand in the 2019 game Death Stranding. In 2020, O'Brien joined the cast of Days of Our Lives and currently portrays the character Gwen Rizczech, the daughter of Jack Deveraux (Matthew Ashford) on the daytime drama.[1] In October 2023, O'Brien took over the role of Theresa Donovan, the daughter of Shane Donovan (Charles Shaughnessy) and Kimberly Brady (Patsy Pease).
Emily O'Brien | |
|---|---|
 O'Brien at the 2008 Daytime Emmy Awards | |
| Born | Emily O'Brien |
| Occupation | Actress |
| Years active | 2003–present |
Life and career
editEmily O'Brien was in plays at Carlsbad High School, where she graduated in 2003, and at MiraCosta College, where she completed a theater major in 2005. In 2005, she graduated with a degree in theater from Mira Costa College.
She was named a finalist in the Kennedy Center American College Theater Festival’s Irene Ryan Acting Competition in 2005, where she was pitted against several hundred students from colleges and universities across the country. She attended Guildhall School of Music and Drama in London, England and wrote, produced and directed her first project Beatrice in 2011 which won best film at BIFF.
She portrayed Jana Hawkes Fisher in The Young and the Restless. O'Brien was nominated for three Daytime Emmy Awards for her performance in The Young and the Restless. She portrayed the role again in November 2008, when a parody of the show was the theme of the 1st showcase on The Price Is Right. O'Brien portrayed the role initially on a recurring status from 11 May to 5 September 2006,[2] and then on contract from 10 October 2006 to 20 February 2007,[3] when the character disappeared from the canvas temporarily until her return on 15 June 2007.[4] O'Brien earned two Daytime Emmy Award nominations for Outstanding Younger Actress in 2008 and 2009.[5][6] In March 2011, news broke that O'Brien had been let go from The Young and the Restless,[7] with her final airdate on 6 May 2011. Prior to her dismissal, O'Brien was pre-nominated for another Daytime Emmy in the same category.[8]
O’Brien is in much demand as a voice actor, and provided the voices of Y'Shtola in Final Fantasy XIV: A Realm Reborn, Camille in League Of Legends, Faris Scherwiz in World of Final Fantasy, and Veruca Salt in Tom and Jerry: Willy Wonka and the Chocolate Factory.[9]
Emily then portrayed Julia in the 2014 supernatural horror film Pernicious, directed by James Cullen Bressack.[10]
She also voiced Gamora in the Telltale video game, Guardians of the Galaxy: The Telltale Series.[11] She voiced Special Agent Iman Avesta in Batman: The Enemy Within, a fan of Batman.[12] O'Brien is partially deaf, and teared up having to voice a scene where the character can be rendered deaf by the Riddler.
In 2018, she briefly played Jillian Marshall in the Focus on the Family radio program Adventures in Odyssey. That same year, she provided the voice of Renee Chandler in the CW Seed animated series Constantine: City of Demons.[13] She also appeared as the suspicious Portia in the thriller Dangerous Matrimony, then signed on to play the voice of Ruth the human mother and wife of the Ambassador of Earth in the upcoming dark fantasy motion comic Dagon Troll World Chronicles that is set to be released in 2021. She reprised the role of Gamora in Marvel: Ultimate Alliance 3: The Black Order.
O'Brien appeared in Hideo Kojima's 2019 game Death Stranding[14] as the voices of Bridget and the young Amelie Strand, characters using the likeness of Lindsay Wagner. She has several projects in hand that are currently in post-production, like Vampire Dad, Iris, and Beautifully Flawed.
In May 2020, it was announced that O'Brien had joined the cast of Days of Our Lives in the role of Gwen Rizczech. She made her first appearance on 1 June of the same year.[15]
On October 2, 2023, it was announced she would assume the role of Theresa Donovan on Days of Our Lives.[16]
In November 2024, it was announced O'Brien would return to play her iconic character Theresa in March 2025, before reprising her role Gwen Rizczech in July 2025 on Days of Our Lives.[17]
Filmography
edit| Year | Title | Role | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2006 | Séance | Girl | |
| Coma | Nurse | Video short | |
| 2010 | New Glasses | Short film | |
| 2011 | Matchup | His Sweetheart | Short film |
| Beatrice | Beatrice | Short film; also writer and producer | |
| 2012 | SuperWannabeHeroes | Super Sally | Short film |
| 2014 | Edgar Allan Poe's the Cask | Short film | |
| Pernicious | Julia | ||
| The Janus Project Preview | Lexi | Short film | |
| On the Run | Amy | Short film | |
| 2016 | Restoration | Rebecca Jordan | |
| Honey Jar: Chase for the Gold | Ann Jordan | ||
| The Bad Batch | Dream Girl | ||
| 2017 | The Bigfoot Project | Jamie Kerrigan | |
| Tom and Jerry: Willy Wonka and the Chocolate Factory | Veruca Salt (voice) | Direct-to-video | |
| 2018 | Get Married or Die | Sandi | |
| Too Close | The Girl | Short film | |
| Vampire Dad | Natasha | ||
| Dangerous Matrimony | Portia | ||
| Constantine: City of Demons – The Movie | Renee Chandler (voice) | ||
| 2019 | Iris | Iris | Short film |
| Dagon Troll World Chronicles | Ruth | ||
| The Cloud | Margerie | ||
| 2021 | Mortal Kombat Legends: Battle of the Realms | Jade, Lin Kang (voices) | Direct-to-video |
| 2022 | The Sea Beast | Villager 1 / Villager 2 | |
| 2023 | Batman: The Doom That Came to Gotham | Talia al Ghul, Martha Wayne (voices) | Direct-to-video[18] |
| Year | Title | Role | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2006 | What About Brian | Girl at Club | Episode: "Two in Twenty-Four" |
| 2006–2011 | The Young and the Restless | Jana Hawkes | Series regular |
| 2016 | Rock in a Hard Place | Young Debbie | Unknown episodes |
| 2017 | One Day at a Time | VO Operator | Episode: "Hold, Please" |
| 2018–2019 | Constantine: City of Demons | Renee Chandler (voice) | 2 episodes; web series |
| 2019–2021 | Love, Death & Robots | Eve, The Woman (voices) | 2 episodes |
| 2019 | Beautifully Flawed | Susan | TV movie |
| 2020–present | Days of Our Lives | Gwen Rizczech Theresa Donovan |
Regular role |
| 2024 | Tomb Raider: The Legend of Lara Croft | Young Agent, Passenger #2 (voices) | Episode: "Whanaungatanga" |
Other
edit- 2009: She is featured as the test subject in a TED talk about recreating human faces in digital, photo-realistic quality.[21]
- 2016: She voiced Scout Three in Rogue One: Recon A Star Wars 360 Experience.[22]
- 2018: She briefly played Jillian Marshall on Adventures in Odyssey.
Awards
edit- ACTF Irene Ryans Theater festival Finalist and 2006 Nominee (2005)
- CHS Film Festival: Best Actress of 2003 Best Film (Pleasant Dreams) of 2003 (2003)
- DTASC Shakespeare Festival : 3rd place award for Othello (2003)
- BEST FEST San Diego Film Festival (2003) 3rd place award for Pleasant Dreams
- Team Power Award Don't Drink the Water from the city of Carlsbad (2002)
- Daytime Emmy Award Nomination: Outstanding Younger Actress in a Drama Series (2008 Nominee)
- Daytime Emmy Award Nomination: Outstanding Younger Actress in a Drama Series (2009 Nominee)
- Daytime Emmy Award Nomination: Outstanding Younger Actress in a Drama Series (2011 Nominee)
References
edit- ^ Thomas, Michael. "Emily O'Brien's First Days of Our Lives Airdate Revealed!". Archived from the original on 23 June 2020. Retrieved 22 June 2020.
- ^ "The Young and the Restless: Ep. #8386". TV.com. Archived from the original on 4 July 2020. Retrieved 25 December 2020.
- ^ "The Young and the Restless: Ep. #8583". TV.com. Archived from the original on 3 July 2020. Retrieved 25 December 2020.
- ^ "The Young and the Restless: Ep. #8664". TV.com. Archived from the original on 4 July 2020. Retrieved 25 December 2020.
- ^ Kroll, Dan J. (30 April 2008). "2008 Daytime Emmys - Nominations". SoapCentral. Retrieved 19 August 2012.
- ^ Kroll, Dan J. (14 May 2009). "AMC tops all Emmy tallies, DAYS has a big showing". SoapCentral. Retrieved 19 August 2012.
- ^ Kroll, Dan J. (22 March 2011). "Emily O'Brien let go from Y&R". SoapCentral. Retrieved 19 August 2012.
- ^ Kroll, Dan J. (26 February 2010). "2010 Daytime Emmys - Pre-Nominations Announced". SoapCentral. Retrieved 19 February 2012.
- ^ "Faris Scherwiz Voice - Final Fantasy franchise". behindthevoiceactors.com. Retrieved 5 June 2019.
- ^ "Production: Pernicious" (PDF). Film in Thailand. Thailand Film Office.
- ^ Yin-Poole, Wesley (10 March 2017). "Nolan North is Rocket in Telltale's Guardians of the Galaxy game". Eurogamer.net.
- ^ "Catching Up With Emily O'Brien". 3 July 2017.
- ^ Wickline, Dan (March 24, 2018). "Constantine: City of Demons Recap and Review". Bleeding Cool. Archived from the original on March 24, 2018. Retrieved March 24, 2018.
- ^ Bell, Brian (22 February 2018). "Troy Baker, Emily O'Brien Join Cast of Hideo Kojima's Death Stranding". Paste. Retrieved 15 March 2018.
- ^ "Exclusive! Emily O'Brien to DAYS". Soap Opera Digest. United States: American Media, Inc. 27 May 2020. Retrieved 27 May 2020.
- ^ Fairman, Michael (3 October 2023). "Emily O' Brien Confirmed as Theresa Donovan Replacement on Days of our Lives". Michael Fairman TV. United States. Archived from the original on 3 October 2023. Retrieved 2 October 2023.
- ^ "Emily O'Brien Brings Theresa and Gwen Back to DAYS". SoapOperaDaily.com.
{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: url-status (link) - ^ "'Batman: The Doom That Came to Gotham' Sets Voice Cast (Exclusive)". The Hollywood Reporter. 6 December 2022.
- ^ @emilyXObrien (16 March 2017). "Only in this world can I have blade legs" (Tweet) – via Twitter.
- ^ "Emily OBrien (visual voices guide)". Behind The Voice Actors. Retrieved 30 July 2021.
- ^ Debevec, Paul. "Animating a photo-real digital face". Retrieved 30 March 2017.
- ^ "ILMxLAB's Mark Miller on Rogue One: Recon and Putting Fans in X-wings". StarWars.com. 15 November 2016.