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Get Ready for ‘Revenge’ & Interviews Galore!

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As I’m sure you all know, Revenge premieres tonight! In preparation for the premiere, a slew of new interviews with Emily, both written and video, have been published in the last few days. But before I get to those, if you want to prepare yourself fo the ‘Revenge’ premiere, check out our ‘Revenge’ page in the video archive to watch sneak peeks, behind the scenes interviews and trailers you may have missed. You might also want to check out the Online Interviews section for more ‘Revenge’ interviews or watch Emily’s recent talk show appearances.

Okay, now onto the new interviews. First up, video interviews. And the first of those is a new video interview from the website PopSugar conducted at last month’s TCA.

Second video is a short segment about ‘Revenge’ from ET Canada.

And the last video is an interview with Emily from PaleyFest.

And now the written interviews, which include two Q&A interviews published yesterday and a new article. The first is from Zap2it. It’s a great interview about ‘Revenge’ and Emily even answers a few questions about ‘Everwood’ and where she thinks Amy Abbott is today (hint: If you’re an Ephramy fan, you’ll love her answer!). The second is a Q&A interview with the website Teen Television. And lastly, an article from TV Guide with quotes from Emily. Enjoy!

‘Revenge’ star Emily VanCamp on the billboards, the boys, and an ‘Everwood’ update
By: Carina Adly MacKenzie

ABC hasn’t exactly gone for a subtle publicity push when it comes to its new Wednesday night thriller, “Revenge.” There are advertisements on every bus stop and billboard in Los Angeles. They even sent us an iPad with the pilot episode screener loaded up — and a top secret message from the lead character. Yes, much like the Hamptons residents that populate the series, the marketing team behind “Revenge” has little regard for the economic crisis. (And we love it.)

We’ll let you in on a little secret, though. They didn’t really have to do any of that. At least, not to snag our attention. (We would’ve watched the show even without the Godiva truffles that came with the iPad, though they were a nice touch, ABC.)

The real draw for “Revenge” is its lead actress, Emily VanCamp.

The show is only the latest in a series of smart career moves by VanCamp. The audience that was introduced to her as the strong, but flawed Amy Abbott on The WB’s gone-too-soon family drama “Everwood” remains loyal. Her exit from “Brothers and Sisters” came before the show unraveled in its final season. Her film choices have been well-received, if under-the-radar, and her TV movie “Beyond the Blackboard” generated an impressive amount of buzz this year.

So yes, we tuned in for VanCamp, half-expecting to see her in another comforting and relatable role. What we got instead was a young woman on a ruthless vengeance mission, perfectly at home as she dances the line between bad and very, very bad.

VanCamp plays Amanda Clarke, a woman whose beloved father was betrayed by those closest to him and framed for involvement in a terrorist plot. Sent to prison when she was only nine years old, he died while she was still in the foster system.

Fortunately (or unfortunately, depending on how you look at it) he left her with a seemingly bottomless pool of money, and now Amanda is all grown up and, under the name Emily Thorne, is renting the beach house where she and her father spent their last summer together. The Hamptons are still populated by the people who destroyed her family so many years ago, and “Emily” is out to take each of them down. The execution of the character is just so good that we find ourselves relating to her in ways we sort of wish we didn’t. She appeals to the dark side in all of us, and it makes for a thoroughly brilliant hour of television.

To say that she “exacts” her revenge is doubly appropriate — in the first few episodes, Emily inflicts her punishment with a deft precision, taking out underlings as she works her way up the social ladder to Victoria Grayson (Madeleine Stowe), the closest thing to an evil fairy tale queen you’ll find in the Hamptons.

Things are sure to be complicated, however, as she finds herself in a love triangle — because don’t they always? We know that she’s in for a tumultuous relationship with her soon-to-be fiancee, Daniel (Josh Bowman) — who happens to be Victoria’s son and, inevitably, a key pawn in her intricate game.

Still, she’s unable to avoid run-ins with Jack (Nick Wechsler), a townie with a heart of gold who has been pining for Amanda, the real Amanda, since she disappeared the night her father was arrested. (He’s been taking care of her dog all these years, okay, people? He’s basically perfect.)

With all those emotions in the mix, the plan is sure to go awry. We gave VanCamp a ring on a rare day off before her recent Jimmy Kimmel appearance, and she dished on just how it feels to be playing the modern woman’s answer to the Count of Monte Cristo. And, because we couldn’t help ourselves… we got the Amy Abbott update we didn’t know we needed.

Zap2it: So your face is on the side of every building in town. Is that super weird for you?

VanCamp: It is so weird. I’ve never been on something where they’ve done any kind of publicity push. For me, it’s been wonderful, and for our crew and cast, going to work every day knowing that we have so much support from the network.

You were telling me the other night that your parents haven’t really gotten to witness the spectacle.

VanCamp: They live in a small town just outside of Toronto, so no, they don’t really know. I’m trying to get them to come out here soon. I’ve been sending my mom loads of pictures of billboards, though, so she’s loving every second of it from afar.

Obviously, you’ve had a lot of success on TV before, but “Everwood” and “Brothers and Sisters” were very much ensemble shows. Now you’re on those billboards all by your lonesome.

VanCamp: As wonderful as it is, every time I see a billboard, it’s like an extra brick is being put on my shoulders. I’m lucky, though. Our cast is so amazing and so talented, so as much as I’m feeling the pressure, they’ve been so great and supportive, and they’re carrying a lot of that, with me. We’re just trying to do the best job possible every day to make the show as twisted and delicious as we can. I can’t really let my head go there too much, because I might have a panic attack if I let it sink in too much.

Twisted and delicious are good words for it. Are you having fun playing someone who is so far from that well-intentioned girl-next-door?

VanCamp: I can’t tell you how much fun I’m having! Every day is exciting. I love this character. I felt like, if I’m reading these scripts and I’m rooting for her, then hopefully our audience will too.

It’s been said before that your character is a little bit like a female Dexter — she’s definitely out of her mind, but we find ourselves rooting for her anyway.

VanCamp: In an odd sense — I mean, it’s debatable, but she feels justified in what she’s doing. She’s not taking down good people. These are bad people, who do a lot of bad things. There’s an element of moral code, which Dexter has as well. She’s not in the business of killing people. She wants to take them down, but she does have a moral code. She’s not an evil person. She just wants to see the people who destroyed her family suffer as much as she has.

Are we going to see a softer side to her?

VanCamp: Well, there’s something that’s quite tragic about her story, in that if she lets go of this revenge, if she gives up, she’ s giving up on her father. That’s not something that she’s willing to do. It pulls at the heartstrings a little bit, especially when you see the flashbacks and you see what she’s gone through. We’ll start to see more of where she went after they took her away from her father. That was a horrible teenagehood of going from foster home to foster home to juvie. Horrible things happen in those kinds of circumstances. We’ll come to see what she’s had to go through.

There’s already an element of sympathy for her, because she’s pretty much the loneliest girl in the world. Nobody loves her as Amanda, because nobody knows Amanda, and all of her friends are just people she’s using in this grand master scheme.

VanCamp: She lives an incredibly lonely existence. We have another joke on set that I’m always doing these scenes with this infinity box. I always say she has one true relationship, and it’s with this box, with all of the clippings and the journals that her father left her. It makes for boring days on set, but that’s her one true connection.

I have to say, also, her relationship with Jack is one of the only times where we get to see her vulnerable. We get to see her guard come down a little bit, which terrifies her. She keeps him at an arm’s length because of that. It’s very sad, because at the end of the day she is a lonely girl who has no love apart from the love of her deceased father.

Speaking of Jack, you guys have a really brilliantly crafted love triangle on your show. Jack is so endearing, and we’re expecting Daniel to be this entitled wealthy jerk, but he’s totally not.

VanCamp: We talk about it all the time! Team Jack and Team Daniel, which infuriates Joshua Bowman, because he has a competitive side. They’re both such great actors and they’re playing it so well. It’s difficult to play opposite them, because I’m playing a character within a character. We have an ongoing joke with Nick that every time we think he can’t get more likable, he becomes more likable. He has a boat, and a dog, and he’s the underdog — it’s just not fair. Best guy ever.

I’m waiting for him to bust out a guitar and say that he’s a volunteer EMT on the weekends.

VanCamp: I know! And the worst part is, he plays the guitar, and he plays it really well, too. They’ll probably incorporate that at some point, and then we’re all in trouble.

When we first meet Daniel, we hear about his bad reputation and we expect him to be someone who keeps a lot of secrets, but he’s pretty honest right away. He comes clean about his drinking within five minutes of knowing Emily.

VanCamp: My character is really expecting him to be something that he’s not. He has a bad reputation and on paper, he looks bad, but when she meets him she realizes that he’s actually a good guy, and he’s kind of suffering at the hand of Victoria as well. They have great chemistry, and at the end of the day, as crazy as Emily is, she still has feelings. I think it’s going to be a tough pick for her as well. In a sense, she’s using him, but at the same time, there’s sort of an undeniable connection there.

Emily is so masterful and methodical as she’s kind of crossing people off of her list. Where did she learn this stuff? Did she go to life-ruiner college?

VanCamp: Sort of! As you know, that it’s loosely based on “The Count of Monte Cristo.” So the idea is that when she found out the truth about her family and her father’s death, she decided to take the money and run with it. She went and studied all of these things, she acquired the tools to exact this revenge. There are so many crazy ideas that have been thrown out there in terms of her history and her backstory, which will be revealed at some point. She took this seriously and is incredibly clever. She’s masterfully crafted this plan. Just when you think she can’t get more twisted, she does. I mean, in short, she’s a badass.

Okay, I’m going to let you go enjoy what’s left of your day off, but before you go, I need to ask you a very important question. Where do you think Amy Abbott is now?

VanCamp: [Laughing] Amy Abbott is living happily with Ephram. They probably have a couple kids. He’s a famous pianist and she is a great mom and a women’s rights activist and they visit Everwood all the time.

And they have a Ferris wheel.

VanCamp: Yes. They have a Ferris Wheel in their backyard.

Source: Zap2It.com

And here’s the interview from Teen Television:

Emily VanCamp Gets “Revenge”
By: Lynn Barker

You’re a kid and a local rich bee-otch is responsible for your dad’s death so, you grow up and go back to The Hamptons for a little payback while living the posh life among those responsible for dad’s demise. That’s the premise for the hot new series “Revenge” starring Emily Van Camp who was a fan fave on “Everwood” and “Brothers and Sisters”.

TeenTV is in Beverly Hills asking Emily why she’s into the role and T.V. in general and we’re asking how fun is it to play a slinky “baddie” for a change. “Revenge” starts Wednesday night on ABC.

TeenTV: Do you believe in revenge?

Emily: I suppose if it’s justified but I’m more into the idea of positivity and forgiveness but it’s a lot of fun to play, I’m not gonna lie. Just sort of living those feelings through the character is great. But she’s quite justified in what she’s doing. I mean, these people stole everything from her. They are horrible people. They do really bad things. And I think, on some level, everybody can connect with the theme of revenge, whether they act on it or not.

TeenTV: How would you describe your character Emily Thorne? What makes her tick?

Emily: I think she’s a tortured soul who existed in so much pain that, at some point, she had to shut that off and is desperately seeking some kind of intangible relationship with her father and this (revenge kick) is her way of having that. She’s really tragic in a way. She’s somebody who, for years, hasn’t been able to truly feel because, if she does, then she has to forgive these people (for her dad’s death) and that’s not possible for her. She’s had eight years to plan this (revenge) out and she’s really covered her bases.

TeenTV: What has she been doing for eight years?

Emily: She was torn away from her father (and grew) up in the foster care system with a really rough teenage-hood. I think she didn’t really ever have, beyond her father, anybody who truly cared about her, who loved her.

TeenTV: Didn’t they tell her that her dad was a killer?

Emily: Yeah and she lived with that kind of guilt and that kind of pain. So this is not somebody who has family or friends. Her only true connection to love is this relationship with revenge and her father so feelings are going to arise and she’s going to be challenged in that way. And this is the first time too that she’s ever been around a group of people for that amount of time. I think she’s always been traveling.

TeenTV: You usually play a “good girl” like on the “Everwood” and “Brothers and Sisters” series. Have you had to adjust your attitude to play revenge-filled Emily?

Emily: Absolutely. There was a lot more research and less drawing on my personal experiences. There was a pool of research I had to do and a lot of thinking and developing the character which is so much fun for me and I was ready to do that, ready to do something different and be challenged. I felt sort of unfulfilled after leaving “Brothers and Sisters”. I was ready for something new and when this came along, I was so excited about it.

TeenTV: You’ve been in a lot of ensemble, large casts. Now this show is kind of resting on your shoulders. How do you handle that?

Emily: I think I’m just trying to take it day by day and not put too much pressure on my shoulders and just really enjoy every moment. I have a lot of “pinch me” moments with these amazing people (in the cast). And it really is an ensemble cast. It focuses around this one girl’s journey of revenge, obviously, but we are all doing this together. And there are so many other storylines that are going to be explored as well, which makes it that much more interesting, I think.

TeenTV: What do you hope they will let your character Emily do soon that she hasn’t gotten to yet?

Emily: Well, they’ve let me do some of the stunt fighting stuff which is really fun for me. I really hope they allow her to delve a little more into that dark aspect of herself because that’s so much fun for me to play and something I haven’t done very much of and what drew me to the character.

TeenTV: Can you see young people getting attracted to that rich lifestyle in The Hamptons?

Emily: I certainly can. That’s not really a lifestyle I want to live but I think people are very attracted to money and power. I’d rather sit by a campfire.

TeenTV: You look great in the trailers for the series. Are you working out to stay fit for the role?

Emily: Yeah. Pliates is one of my favorites and I’m outside all the time. I love hiking, just anything outside.

TeenTV: What made you want to do another TV series and not try film?

Emily: Every time I’m done on (a series) I say “I’m just gonna leave that part of the business alone for a while and tackle other things” but, to be honest, I absolutely love doing television. I’m drawn to it. I love building a character that hopefully, has longevity that I can take through a long journey. I love feeling connected to my characters that way and T.V. allows you to do that. I feel like I’m constantly practicing my craft. I love the stability of that. I loved this character. It was really important for me to choose something wisely because I know how long it can be on a series. This is a character I’ll have so much fun with.

Source: Teen Television

And here’s the article from TV Guide:

Revenge’s Emily VanCamp: “I Hope People Will Root for Her”
By: Kate Stanhope

She lies. She cheats. She poisons. Emily Thorne (Emily VanCamp) intends to take down those who ruined her father’s life. But will viewers cheer on this vengeful vamp?

“These people have done horrible, horrible things and I think people will probably enjoy watching mean, rich people who’ve done horrible things go down,” VanCamp tells TVGuide.com of her new series Revenge. “I hope people will root for her.”

Premiering Wednesday at 10/9c on ABC, Revenge follows Emily 17 years after her father was framed for a crime. She never saw him again, and is now posing as a rich and mysterious young woman to put her payback plan in motion in the Hamptons — where it all began. Her ultimate target: Victoria (Madeleine Stowe) — the Hamptons’ unofficial leader. “That’s who she’s really got her eye on and that’s going to take a much longer time,” VanCamp says.

VanCamp admits she was concerned about whether viewers could empathize with such a ruthless woman. “You never know how people are going to take the character, but I think ultimately it’s justified. She’s lost everything — she has nothing to lose,” she says. “The poor girl — she’s been through a lot.”

Her character is a far cry from VanCamp’s previous notable roles: Amy Abbott, the girl next door with the comatose boyfriend on Everwood, and Rebecca Harper, the lonely outsider among the Walker clan on Brothers & Sisters. “I love strong women characters, and she’s certainly that,” she says. “I was really looking for a challenge at the time in my life that I read the script and just really connected with it.”

But VanCamp also stresses that viewers will get to see the softer side of Emily (real name: Amanda Clarke) through flashbacks — a device the show uses to show her transformation from a child stripped of her father to a jaded 20-something obsessed with settling the score. “We’ll kind of see the more vulnerable side of her — who she was as Amanda Clark. We’re going to see a lot of where she’s been and how she’s trained for this huge plan of hers,” she says.

Source: TV Guide