For Emmanuelle Chriqui, former Entourage star and one of the Richmond Hill area’s hottest exports, the future is looking bright.
Returning to the screens this fall in a recurring role on CBS’s crime drama The Mentalist, with several other projects in the works and a bunch of charities to promote, the pace hasn’t let up for Chriqui following the finale of the long-running comedy drama Entourage last year.
“I feel like it’s going to be a busy year,” she says, speaking on the phone from Los Angeles.
Taking a look at Chriqui’s impressive resumé, there’s no reason to think otherwise. Since her big break in the 2000 hit Snow Day, she has racked up credits on shows including The OC and The Borgias.
Now living the star life in Beverly Hills, Chriqui still has deep roots in the GTA.
Chriqui moved to Toronto from Montreal with her parents when she was two years old, first living in North York before moving to the 905 where her family settled just outside Richmond Hill.
For the last 13 years, Chriqui has split her time between New York City and Los Angeles. But she says she still enjoys coming back to Toronto.
“There’s so much that I love about the city,” says Chriqui, who returns often to visit her brother. But, having lived away so long, she says the GTA has changed: “It’s not quite the Toronto I remember.”
Chriqui grew up with big dreams and the desire to be an actress. At the age of seven, she focused all her time and effort on community theatre in her neighbourhood. “There was a kid at my school who asked me to audition for his dad’s play at the Unionville Theatre Company,” she says. “I landed the role of a baby ghost — and I was absolutely hooked after that.”
As a teen, she attended Unionville High School, which specializes in the creative arts, and later joined the Arts York Drama Program.
Though ambitious and clearly talented, Chriqui was also realistic, when it came to her career, realizing that actors just starting out can’t always be choosy about the roles they take.
“I took whatever I was able to get,” she says, though she adds that she steered clear of “trashy stuff.”
Chriqui landed her first big role in 1999 when she appeared in the comedy Detroit Rock City, a story of a failed drummer striving for a second chance at fame. Then, shortly after, came her breakout role in Snow Day, in which she appeared alongside the likes of Chevy Chase. Chriqui describes the experience as the time of her life.
“Being able to shoot on location in Wisconsin and Alberta while bonding with the cast and crew was definitely my foray into big studio movies and the real Hollywood,” she says.
Chriqui, though, is most widely known for playing Sloan McQuewick in the testosterone-laden series Entourage, which ended after eight seasons last year.
Chriqui appeared in all but the first season of the drama, which is loosely based on the life of exec producer Mark Wahlberg and is essentially a Sex and the City for guys.
Originally, Chriqui’s character was scripted for only three episodes in season two, but she made such an impression she stayed around for the remainder of the series.
Sloan, the daughter of a retired movie-industry bigwig, spends most of her time agonizing over her on-again off-again relationship with her fiance (Eric Murphy, played by Kevin Connolly).
Hardly surprisingly, Chriqui says there aren’t many real-life comparisons between her and her onscreen alter ego.
“I wouldn’t compare myself to her,” she says. “I definitely think that Sloan is absolutely grounded. But her lifestyle is the complete opposite of mine.”
Chriqui is known to guard her privacy, liking to limit her public exposure to her time on the red carpet.
“I’m just an insanely private person,” she says. “I want people to be talking about my work and what I’m promoting or the philanthropic causes I’m affiliated with, not who I’m dating or what club I went to last night.”
One thing there are constant rumours about is the possibility of an Entourage movie. Wahlberg has said he wants to make it happen, and there were rumours of a script being developed, but so far, nothing concrete has emerged.
“They say there is a movie in the works, but I honestly have no idea at this point,” Chriqui says. “I hope the rumours are true. It would be amazing.”
Chriqui calls her time on Entourage “one of the most thrilling chapters of my life,” but there’s no let-up in the pace for the star.
Most recently, she has been working alongside Australian actor and director Simon Baker. The two share an onscreen romance in the The Mentalist, the hit series based around a “psychic” consultant for the fictional California Bureau of Investigation.
“It's just a really interesting role for me and like nothing I’ve ever played before,” says Chriqui. “It’s funny, you never know where that very creative satisfying thing really comes from and that’s what this has been for me.”
Of course, it’s not just her acting talent that has garnered attention. With more than a hint of classic Hollywood glamour about her striking dark looks, 34-year-old Chriqui makes frequent appearances on lists of the world’s beautiful women.
In 2010, she took the top spot on Ask Men online magazine’s Most Desirable Women list.
Though she acknowledges the attention, Chriqui is decidedly cool about it.
“It’s a really nice compliment, but I don’t think it really defines anything one way or another,” she says, though she adds that it was “pretty cool” to be number one for a year.
More important, she says, is her charity work, which is one of her main priorities. Among the causes she supports is Raise Hope for Congo, a project Chriqui pioneered that helps to raise awareness for the atrocities that have happened to women and girls in the area.
Alongside this organization, Chriqui has been a spokeswoman for Colon Cancer Canada for several years. Having lost both parents to this disease, she continues to be extremely active for the cause. Chriqui strives to promote early screening, pointing out that colon cancer has a cure rate of 90 percent if detected early.
“It’s a cause that’s very near and dear to my heart,” she says.
Chriqui remains tight-lipped about her plans after The Mentalist, saying only that she has a number of projects on the go, but they are in their early stages.
“There are a lot of irons in the fire right now,” she adds.