Italia Ricci Information

Actor
USA

Biography:
Actress Italia Ricci can current be seen on the CBS hit series "Supergirl" with her guest role playing the first villain of the series, 'Siobhan Smythe' otherwise known as 'Silver Banshee." She is the latest hire by Calista Flockhart's media mogul Cat Grant. Ricci's character is first introduced as a workplace adversary for Melissa Benoist's heroine but later becomes a much more deadly foe when she takes on the mantle of DC Comics villain Silver Banshee. The character will appear in episode 14 and have a five-episode story arch.

Ricci's recently signed on to ABC's new straight-to-series drama "Designated Survivor" written by David Guggenheim and executive produced by Simon Kinberg. The series also stars Kiefer Sutherland, Kal Penn, Maggie Q and Natascha McElhone. Ricci plays 'Emily' who is the no-nonsense Chief of Staff to 'Tom Kirkman' (Sutherland). The conspiracy thriller centers on a lower level United States Cabinet member who is suddenly appointed President after a catastrophic attack during the State of the Union kills everyone above him in the Presidential line of succession.

Italia previously led the cast in ABC Family's drama series "Chasing Life," playing the lead role of 'April' a twenty-something smart and quick witted aspiring journalist, who is trying to work her way up the ladder at a Boston newspaper by trying to impress her hard-nosed editor.

Born in Richmond Hill, Ontario and raised in Newmarket, Italia Ricci always had a burning desire to be in the entertainment business. Beginning her career at nine years old, Italia starred in numerous local theatre productions and continued to do so throughout high school. While majoring in drama in college, Ricci participated again in school productions and did a little modeling during summers. As much as she enjoyed performing, Ricci always planned on her entertainment career consisting of entertainment law. However, one day in college Ricci's friend asked her to be an extra with him on the movie "American Pie Presents: Naked Mile". During a lunch break, one of the writers approached her and asked her if she would like to audition to be upgraded from extra to a featured player and before she knew it, she was kneeing one of the principle actors in the groin. It was during the filming of "Naked Mile" that Ricci was noticed which led her to be cast in the next "American Pie" movie, entitled "American Pie Presents: Beta House".

After graduating from Queen's University in Kingston, Ontario, Ricci deferred her plans for law school to relocate to tinsel town to give acting a serious shot; giving herself a two year limit to see if she could make a living doing what she loves. She immediately landed a recurring role as 'Chase Ravenwood' on Disney XD's original series "Aaron Stone". Ricci went on to book guest-starring roles on such television shows as "CSI: Las Vegas", "House", "Greek", and "How I Met Your Mother". She followed these with the recurring role of 'Sasha' on the Comedy Central series "Secret Girlfriend" and the lead role of 'Maggie' on the hit Cartoon Network live-action series "Unnatural History".

Ricci has also found success on the big screen. She can be seen as Samantha, the object of affection for world traveling know it all Dean Slater (played by Mitchell Jarvis), in the new independent college comedy Resident Advisor written by the Sander Brothers. In 2014 she played an early love interest for title character Jon (Joseph Gordon-Levitt) in the fall comedy feature Don Jon, and was seen in the lead role of 'Allison' in the 2014 Sony thriller The Remaining, a film that follows a group of friends trying to survive the end of the world according to the Bible, written and directed by Casey La Scala.

When Ricci isn't acting, she enjoys cooking, reading, painting, and spending time with her dogs Daisy and Boo. She is also involved with the non-profits: Stand Up To Cancer as an Ambassador and she volunteers to the organizations, American Cancer Society (ACS), Children's Hospital L.A. (CHLA), and Stupid Cancer.