# Emily Hampshire
**Emily Hampshire** (born 1981 in Montreal, Quebec) is a Canadian-American actress best known for playing Stevie Budd on the CBC comedy *Schitt's Creek* (2015–2020) and Jennifer Goines on the Syfy drama *12 Monkeys* (2015–2018). She has won a Screen Actors Guild Award and six consecutive [Canadian Screen Awards](https://www.edgepedia.org/canadian-screen-awards), and in 2026 she joined the [Marvel Cinematic Universe](https://www.edgepedia.org/marvel-cinematic-universe) as the artificial intelligence E.D.I.T.H. in the Disney+ series *VisionQuest*.
| Key fact | Detail |
|---|---|
| Born | 1981, Montreal, Quebec, Canada; Rotten Tomatoes and Tribute.ca give 1981, while IMDb lists 1979[1](https://www.rottentomatoes.com/celebrity/emily_hampshire) • [2](https://www.imdb.com/name/nm0358922/) |
| Signature roles | Stevie Budd in *Schitt's Creek* (2015–2020, 78 episodes); Jennifer Goines in *12 Monkeys* (2015–2018, 40 episodes)[2](https://www.imdb.com/name/nm0358922/) |
| Major awards | SAG Award 2021, Outstanding Performance by an Ensemble in a Comedy Series; six consecutive Canadian Screen Awards for Best Supporting Actress; 2001 Gemini Award for *The Industry*[3](https://www.imdb.com/name/nm0358922/awards/) • [4](https://banffmediafestival.playbackonline.ca/2023/speakers/989579/emilyhampshire/) |
| Early start | First starring film role at age 17 in *Boy Meets Girl* (1998); left Montreal for Toronto at 16[1](https://www.rottentomatoes.com/celebrity/emily_hampshire) • [5](https://www.scotsman.com/news/why-being-back-on-the-rig-is-a-coming-home-for-emily-hampshire-4913225) |
| Recent work | Rose Mason in *The Rig* (2023– ); E.D.I.T.H. in Marvel's *VisionQuest* (2026); cast in *Heated Rivalry*[5](https://www.scotsman.com/news/why-being-back-on-the-rig-is-a-coming-home-for-emily-hampshire-4913225) • [6](https://varietyindia.com/visionquest-edith-emily-hampshire-playing-ai-changed-perspective-on-everything-exclusive/) • [7](https://globalnews.ca/video/12034240/emily-hampshire-on-pickleball-schitts-creek-heated-rivalry) |
| Other work | Voice roles in *Braceface* and *Ruby Gloom*; the graphic novel *Amelia Aierwood: Basic Witch*; television development with Sony, Page Boy Production, and Universal[1](https://www.rottentomatoes.com/celebrity/emily_hampshire) • [8](https://watch.plex.tv/en-GB/person/emily-hampshire) • [4](https://banffmediafestival.playbackonline.ca/2023/speakers/989579/emilyhampshire/) |
## Early life and start in acting
Hampshire grew up in Quebec in the 1980s and gravitated toward acting after being exposed to live theater as a child; she has said that seeing *Les Misérables* at age 11 set her on the path[1](https://www.rottentomatoes.com/celebrity/emily_hampshire) • [5](https://www.scotsman.com/news/why-being-back-on-the-rig-is-a-coming-home-for-emily-hampshire-4913225). She left her Montreal home at 16 for Toronto to pursue acting and landed television and film roles soon after[5](https://www.scotsman.com/news/why-being-back-on-the-rig-is-a-coming-home-for-emily-hampshire-4913225). Her first starring film role came at 17, in the [Sean Astin](https://www.edgepedia.org/sean-astin) romantic comedy *Boy Meets Girl* (1998), and she appeared in a few episodes of the children's series *Are You Afraid of the Dark?*[1](https://www.rottentomatoes.com/celebrity/emily_hampshire).
Through her early twenties she worked mainly in the Canadian film industry, in films such as *Posers* (2003), *Twist* (2003), *Snow Cake* (2006), and *The Trotsky* (2009). She also built a voice-acting career, most notably on the [Alicia Silverstone](https://www.edgepedia.org/alicia-silverstone) series *Braceface* (2001–04) and as Misery in the YTV animated series *Ruby Gloom* (2006–08)[1](https://www.rottentomatoes.com/celebrity/emily_hampshire) • [8](https://watch.plex.tv/en-GB/person/emily-hampshire).
## Breakthrough: 12 Monkeys and Schitt's Creek
**2015 was a turning point.** [Hampshire](https://www.edgepedia.org/hampshire) began appearing in two television series at the same time: *12 Monkeys* on Syfy, in which she played Jennifer Goines, and *Schitt's Creek* on CBC, in which she played the motel clerk Stevie Budd opposite [Eugene Levy](https://www.edgepedia.org/eugene-levy) and [Catherine O'Hara](https://www.edgepedia.org/catherine-ohara)[1](https://www.rottentomatoes.com/celebrity/emily_hampshire). Both performances were well regarded, and the contrast between the deadpan, flannel-wearing Stevie and the erratic Jennifer Goines became a frequent measure of her range[1](https://www.rottentomatoes.com/celebrity/emily_hampshire).
*Schitt's Creek* ran for six seasons, ending in 2020, and grew from a Canadian series into an international success available worldwide on Netflix[5](https://www.scotsman.com/news/why-being-back-on-the-rig-is-a-coming-home-for-emily-hampshire-4913225). Hampshire's Stevie, the sarcastic motel clerk who befriends David Rose, was written as a stand-in for the audience; Hampshire has described the character's arc, in which she realizes she can run the motel without leaving town, as a Wizard-of-Oz-style lesson that the answer "was in you all along"[5](https://www.scotsman.com/news/why-being-back-on-the-rig-is-a-coming-home-for-emily-hampshire-4913225).
## Awards
Hampshire's work on *Schitt's Creek* earned her six consecutive Best Supporting Actress awards at the Canadian Screen Awards and, in 2021, a Screen Actors Guild Award shared with the ensemble for Outstanding Performance by an Ensemble in a Comedy Series[4](https://banffmediafestival.playbackonline.ca/2023/speakers/989579/emilyhampshire/) • [3](https://www.imdb.com/name/nm0358922/awards/). Earlier honors include a 2001 Gemini Award for Best Ensemble Performance in a Comedy Program or Series for *The Industry*, a 2013 Canadian Comedy Award for Best Performance by a Female in Film for *My Awkward Sexual Adventure*, and three Genie Award nominations, for *A Problem with Fear* (2004), *Blood* (2005), and *Snow Cake* (2007)[3](https://www.imdb.com/name/nm0358922/awards/). In 2012 she received the Birks Canadian Diamond Award at the Cannes Film Festival for her career and her work in [David Cronenberg](https://www.edgepedia.org/david-cronenberg)'s *Cosmopolis*[9](https://www.syfy.com/people/emily-hampshire).
## Film work
Her film credits span comedy, drama, and thriller. Notable entries include Vivienne in *Snow Cake* (2006), Alexandra Leith in *The Trotsky* (2009), Jane Melman in Cronenberg's *Cosmopolis* (2012), a role in [Darren Aronofsky](https://www.edgepedia.org/darren-aronofsky)'s *Mother!* (2017), and Amy Bosworth in *The Death and Life of John F. Donovan* (2018)[1](https://www.rottentomatoes.com/celebrity/emily_hampshire). On Rotten Tomatoes her highest-rated film is *Fitting In* (2023) at 96 percent, and she also appeared in *Self Reliance* (2023), *Mom* (2024, as executive producer), *Humane* (2024), and *Mike & Nick & Nick & Alice* (2026)[1](https://www.rottentomatoes.com/celebrity/emily_hampshire).
## The Rig and recent television
In 2023 Hampshire took on her first leading dramatic genre role as the scientist Rose Mason in *The Rig*, an Amazon Original thriller filmed in Edinburgh about the crew of the Kinloch Bravo oil rig confronting a mysterious force called The Ancestor[5](https://www.scotsman.com/news/why-being-back-on-the-rig-is-a-coming-home-for-emily-hampshire-4913225). Season two, in which Rose clashes with the company she once worked for, premiered in January 2025; Hampshire has said the role, which she initially feared taking because of its scientific dialogue, made her more confident, and that the physical shoot included walking in a metal underwater suit she called the hardest physical thing she had done on the series[5](https://www.scotsman.com/news/why-being-back-on-the-rig-is-a-coming-home-for-emily-hampshire-4913225).
She also appeared in the horror series *Chapelwaite* (2021) opposite [Adrien Brody](https://www.edgepedia.org/adrien-brody), was cast in [Zoe Lister-Jones](https://www.edgepedia.org/zoe-lister-jones)'s Roku comedy *SLIP* (2023, as Sandy), and joined the cast of *Heated Rivalry* in 2026[10](https://www.tvinsider.com/people/emily-hampshire/) • [11](https://www.metacritic.com/person/emily-hampshire/) • [7](https://globalnews.ca/video/12034240/emily-hampshire-on-pickleball-schitts-creek-heated-rivalry).
## VisionQuest and playing an AI
In [Marvel Television](https://www.edgepedia.org/marvel-television)'s *VisionQuest*, the eight-episode Disney+ series that closes the first MCU television trilogy following *WandaVision* and *Agatha All Along*, Hampshire plays E.D.I.T.H., the artificial intelligence Tony Stark created and previously housed in a pair of sunglasses, first seen in *Spider-Man: Far From Home* (2019)[6](https://varietyindia.com/visionquest-edith-emily-hampshire-playing-ai-changed-perspective-on-everything-exclusive/) • [12](https://exclaim.ca/film/article/emily-hampshire-visionquest-interview). In the series, multiple Stark-created AIs live together in Mindspace, a digital environment inside Vision's quantum processors, helping him remain undetected while hiding out in Edinburgh; E.D.I.T.H., reprogrammed for fun, is a thrill-seeker with 21 costume changes whose mission is helping Vision rediscover the joys of being alive[6](https://varietyindia.com/visionquest-edith-emily-hampshire-playing-ai-changed-perspective-on-everything-exclusive/) • [12](https://exclaim.ca/film/article/emily-hampshire-visionquest-interview) • [13](https://episodemag.com/visionquest-interview-with-emily-hampshire/).
The character was created with Hampshire's voice in mind by showrunner [Terry Matalas](https://www.edgepedia.org/terry-matalas). Hampshire has said that playing an AI "changed my perspective on everything" and that she has never felt more in love with being human than while playing a character who so desperately wanted to be alive[13](https://episodemag.com/visionquest-interview-with-emily-hampshire/) • [6](https://varietyindia.com/visionquest-edith-emily-hampshire-playing-ai-changed-perspective-on-everything-exclusive/).
## Writing and other projects
Hampshire works as a writer and producer as well as an actor. She develops television projects with Sony based on [Norman Lear](https://www.edgepedia.org/norman-lear)'s catalog, with [Elliot Page](https://www.edgepedia.org/elliot-page)'s Page Boy Production, and with Universal, and she wrote and released the best-selling graphic novel *Amelia Aierwood: Basic Witch*[4](https://banffmediafestival.playbackonline.ca/2023/speakers/989579/emilyhampshire/). She has said that if she were not acting she would want to be a writer, describing writing as "acting without the anxiety of people around"[5](https://www.scotsman.com/news/why-being-back-on-the-rig-is-a-coming-home-for-emily-hampshire-4913225).
## References
1. [Emily Hampshire Movies & TV Shows List, Rotten Tomatoes](https://www.rottentomatoes.com/celebrity/emily_hampshire)
2. [Emily Hampshire, IMDb](https://www.imdb.com/name/nm0358922/)
3. [Emily Hampshire – Awards, IMDb](https://www.imdb.com/name/nm0358922/awards/)
4. [Speaker Emily Hampshire, Banff World Media Festival 2023](https://banffmediafestival.playbackonline.ca/2023/speakers/989579/emilyhampshire/)
5. [Why being back on The Rig is a coming home for Emily Hampshire, The Scotsman (4 January 2025)](https://www.scotsman.com/news/why-being-back-on-the-rig-is-a-coming-home-for-emily-hampshire-4913225)
6. ['VisionQuest's E.D.I.T.H., Emily Hampshire Says Playing An AI 'Changed My Perspective On Everything' (EXCLUSIVE), Variety India (18 October 2026)](https://varietyindia.com/visionquest-edith-emily-hampshire-playing-ai-changed-perspective-on-everything-exclusive/)
7. [Emily Hampshire on pickleball, Schitts Creek, Heated Rivalry, Global News (25 August 2026)](https://globalnews.ca/video/12034240/emily-hampshire-on-pickleball-schitts-creek-heated-rivalry)
8. [Emily Hampshire Movies and TV Shows, Plex](https://watch.plex.tv/en-GB/person/emily-hampshire)
9. [Emily Hampshire, Syfy](https://www.syfy.com/people/emily-hampshire)
10. [Emily Hampshire – Actress, TV Insider](https://www.tvinsider.com/people/emily-hampshire/)
11. [Emily Hampshire, Metacritic](https://www.metacritic.com/person/emily-hampshire/)
12. [Emily Hampshire Brings Humanity to the Machine in 'VisionQuest', Exclaim! (15 October 2026)](https://exclaim.ca/film/article/emily-hampshire-visionquest-interview)
13. ['VisionQuest' – Interview with Emily Hampshire, Episode Magazine (20 October 2026)](https://episodemag.com/visionquest-interview-with-emily-hampshire/)
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*Topic: Encyclopedia › Arts and culture › Screen and stage › Film and television › Screen people and creators › Screen actors of the Anglosphere and Europe › Canadian actors › Surnames G to I*
*Initially written Sep 17, 2026 · Reviewed: Sep 17, 2026; Sep 20, 2026; Oct 25, 2026 · Edited: Oct 12, 2026; Oct 25, 2026 · Last review: Oct 25, 2026*
*Copyright 2026 EdgeChat AI, a subsidiary of Biostate AI.*
License: Edgepedia Community License 1.0, https://www.edgepedia.org/edgepedia/license