“Any day acting beside Kiefer [Sutherland] is not a bad day,” says Italia Ricci with a hint of awe in her voice. “It is definitely surreal; sometimes I step outside of myself and wonder, how did I get here?”
Ricci’s given name is Stephanie Italia, and she is still called Steph by her family and the girlfriends she grew up with. “Apparently I am a split personality,” says Ricci. “I introduce myself to people as Italia, but then sometimes when I’m talking to myself and say, ‘nice one Steph!’ people will say, ‘who?’ ” However, when fiancé Robbie Amell (The Tomorrow People, X-Files and The Flash) tried calling her Steph, Ricci told him, “No, that is not going to be a thing.”
By all accounts, Ricci was destined to be an actor from a very young age. “As a kid, I wanted to be everything,” says Ricci, “from a magician to a dolphin trainer to Doctors Without Borders. I didn’t want to limit myself to just one thing. Acting seemed a way for me to do just that, to walk in as many shoes as I possibly could.” When she was nine, Ricci started acting at Newmarket’s Town Hall on Main Street, where she was in five or six productions. Her first role was that of the town crier. “I worked so hard on that,” Ricci says with a laugh.
Born in Richmond Hill, Ricci and her family moved to Newmarket when she was eight in order to be closer to her grandparents’ farm in Stouffville, a place where Ricci spent the majority of her childhood. “We had some very Italian moments, a lot of non-stop family affairs, which is always a good time when you are a kid,” she says. “I grew up mostly around boys, my two brothers and cousins, who lived a couple of doors down from me. I love going back to Richmond Hill; it makes me nostalgic and very very happy.”
While attending Queens University for drama, Ricci was an active volunteer. She organized events and fundraisers for Water Can, an organization that provides fresh water for remote villages in Africa, with the intent of teaching villagers how to maintain and sustain water-purifying systems. This kind of spirited philanthropy became a defining thread for Ricci who is an ambassador for Stand Up to Cancer as well as a strong supporter of good hYOUman, (exclusive clothing pieces benefitting Stand Up to Cancer), Stupid Cancer, L.A.’s Children’s Hospital and the American Cancer Society.
Some of Ricci’s involvement with cancer organizations comes as a result of playing the role of April Carver in Chasing Life. Carver is a young, twentysomething aspiring journalist on the rise at a Boston newspaper, that is, until she finds out she has cancer. Even with the diagnosis, Carver soldiers on, refusing to give up her hopes and dreams.
“When I was telling her story it was like me in another universe,” says Ricci. “My life could have been like this. My heart broke for April in a lot of the episodes. The hardest part was coming home and not having cancer, knowing that I could take the bald cap off for the weekend; I could be free and not worry. So many people don’t get to do that.”
Ricci says she has an affinity for her Carver character who is goal oriented and stubborn, with a must-achieve attitude. However, for Ricci, living life to the fullest is not necessarily about doing outsized things on a daily basis, but rather about doing things with purpose and sincerity. “Don’t just do something because you are supposed to do it; do it like you mean it.”
As Emily Rhodes, Chief of Staff for Secretary Tom Kirkman (Kiefer Sutherland), on Designated Survivor, part of ABC and CTV's new fall line-up, Ricci feels her character is the polar opposite of April Carver: hungry, fiery and a go-getter. Rhodes knows she is not quite qualified for her position so she compensates by working her butt off in what is a male-dominated world.
“I really enjoy what I'm doing with Emily,” says Ricci. “She's very close to who I would have been if I’d chosen that route. It’s a situation of me pretending to be me in another world, only a little tougher.”
Playing the villainous Silver Banshee in the Supergirl series was a much harder role for Ricci to embrace. She had to pretend she was a super woman and pretend to fly. “I didn’t know if I could imagine that.
Once I reverted to child play it became awesome. I realized I had to throw all of my inhibitions out the window. I pretended that I was five years old and with my friends, and then, it became a blast and I didn’t want it to stop.” Ricci gives a lot of credit to the hair, makeup and wardrobe team, who fit her with cheek prosthetics, wigs, special contact lenses and a huge vat of black and white makeup to help her morph into the “badass, screaming psycho” Ricci needed to portray. Off screen, Ricci says she is goofy and a total dork, and takes great pride in boosting the morale of her fellow actors. And, while she claims she isn’t funny, Ricci’s off-the-cuff one-liners and comedic delivery belie her modest claims.
Ricci’s biggest and most important role to date came last month when she and Amell, (a fellow Torontonian and big Maple Leafs fan) tied the knot in a big Italian wedding in L.A. But Ricci doesn't plan to be gone for long. Her path to success includes continuing to shoot Designated Survivor in Toronto until next spring. “I feel like Toronto is a community, that we are much more ‘in it’ together,” she says. “I'm constantly surprised and pleased with the people in Toronto. I also really miss Pizza Pizza when I’m gone; I will eat it for breakfast, lunch and dinner. I'm actually having a ton of Pizza Pizza at my bridal shower—with a bucket of creamy garlic sauce.”
Favourite ways Ricci likes to unwind include curling up in the family room of her condo (best friend and realtor Jenna De Lisa found it for her) with a view of the CN Tower with a glass of wine and a crossword. That doesn’t mean that she and Amell don’t take in the sights of Toronto. The couple recently visited the Ripley's Aquarium (“It was fantastic”) and plan to go to the Toronto Zoo and African Lion Safari. Ricci says the ROM is also fun; she got trapped there for a night during a storm in 2009 when she was on a shoot. “It was like a show within a show; really cool."
With a natural ability to embrace a wide range of characters, Ricci is in no danger of being typecast. “I hope to play as many roles as I can, ones that terrify me, educate me, push me to places I didn’t know existed in myself. If it is a good story and worth telling, genre isn’t going to affect my decision.”
Italia's hidden talents
Was a competitive rock climber in high school, and at one time was the second highest ranking woman in all of Ontario
Does really good cringe-worthy karaoke
Plays chess and takes a board on-set to play with her fellow actors
Excellent at Scrabble, to the point that no one will play with her
Was a synchronized swimmer
Can eat a large pizza all by herself
Abode magazine is similar to many popular chocolate bars. It combines two things people love, satisfies a craving, but leaves you wanting more.
For more Abode, join us on Facebook and Twitter or click here for more Abode articles.
Headlines newsletter
Top stories delivered to your inbox.
