Born as the youngest of three sisters on December 27th, 1981, Emilie de Ravin grew up in Mount Eliza, Australia, approximately 45 km south of the Melbourne Central Business District. When she was younger her sisters were always the ones she went to for advice. Especially when it came to love issues Emilie always asked her sisters for help.

“They’re much older than me – I’m 18; they’re in their thirties – so if I was ever embarrassed about something, I could go to them for advice,” she says. “I remember when I was 14, I had a crush on this guy and asked one of my sisters what to do. She was like, First, you don’t want to be too pushy with him. Make him come to you.”

During her early youth Emilie went to Toorak College, an independent day and boarding school for girls Year 4 to Year 12 and co-educational from 3 Year old Pre-school to Grade 3, but since she was nine her passion had been the ballet.

At age 15 the petite blonde got accepted into the prestigious and highly selective Australian Ballet School. During her teenage years, Emilie performed in productions of the Australian Ballet Company and Danceworld 301. Although she pursued ballet for years, Emilie never quite liked the “bitchy atmosphere” in which people tended to spread rumours and tell stories behind a person’s back. Never wanting to become like the girls she met at ballet school, Emilie never participated in those activities.

The Australian native got into acting almost accidentally after several years of performing with the Australian Ballet School. With 18 she first garnered the attention of international audiences with her performance on the popular television series Beastmaster: The Legend Continues.

What finally made her choose an acting career was a workshop at the National Institute of Dramatic Arts (NIDA), for after she had graduated she was asked to audition for a US prime time drama.

One month after relocating to Los Angeles the Australian girl landed the role of Tess Harding, the mysterious fourth alien in the WB sci-fi teen drama Roswell.

When she left the main cast of “Roswell” after the second season, Emilie needed to go on the outlook again and soon starred in the remake of Stephen King’s horror classic Carrie. Her latest works include the independent film Brick, the dark comedy Santa’s Slay and the remake of the horror film The Hills Have Eyes. Over the last two years she also had recurring guest roles in shows like “CSI: Miami”, “The Handler” or “Navy NCIS”.

The quirky blonde takes her career very seriously for she wants to pursue it for the rest of her life. Up to now, Emilie has managed to make some wise choices with regard to the roles she accepts and the characters she portrays. Things are looking good for her since she is already considered a star on the rise. De Ravin’s wish to make a living out of acting seems to be coming true.

At the moment, Emilie lives in Los Angeles with her dog Bella. But despite, or maybe because of the long distance that separates her from her family, she still wants to spend as much time with them as possible. Especially on Christmas the Australian enjoys going home to spend the holidays and New Year’s with her friends and family. In addition to spending time with her loved ones she also likes to meet new people and make new friends.

“It’s actually fun to not know anyone and go out and find friends, or let them find you.”

Due to the fame she gathered with her performance as pregnant Claire Littleton on ABC’s new prime time hit Lost, Emilie has been out and about quite a lot lately.

When asked about it, she happily talks about fashion and make-up like every girl, but you soon discover that Emilie is not a big make-up person for she tends to wear only very little. Usually, the only thing she always carries with her is lip-gloss, “the kind that smells like roses”. Only for special occasions she wears mascara.

Also, the blond beauty does not consider fashion a vital part of her life as many other stars do. She normally wears “whatever [she feels] like wearing at the moment”. Although she admits to sometimes spend a bit more on a pair of shoes (Jimmy Choo is one of her favourites), she normally prefers to spend her money otherwise.

Regarding her choice of clothes Emilie’s current preference is vintage clothes in ’50s style. She is not a big fan of the colour orange, but otherwise does not have any real colour preference, although she “[tends] to like pink more than green or blue”.

Emilie about her personal style:
“A lot of people make a mistake by trying to be too different and too out there. If I want to stand out, I don’t want to stand out in the wrong way. I prefer classic style, maybe some things that don’t match perfectly.”

- Written by Tessi exclusively for Emilie Online