| Emily O'Brien | |
| Birth Name: | Emily O'Brien |
| Occupation: | Actress |
| Years Active: | 2003–present |
Emily Roya O'Brien is an English three-time Daytime Emmy-nominated actress and writer who is known for her role of Jana Hawkes Fisher on The Young and the Restless from 2006 to 2011. She voiced The Woman in Love, Death and Robots Season 1 episode of The Witness, which won The Emmy for Best Animation. She went on to portray motion capture and the voice of Eve in season 2 of Love, Death and Robots entitled Pop Squad. She also portrayed Julia in the 2014 film Pernicious and provided the voices of Camille and Samira in League of Legends, and Y'shtola in . Emily also voiced Gamora in and Special Agent Iman Avesta in . In 2018, she became part of the main cast of the animated film Dagon Troll World Chronicles. She also voiced Amelie and young Bridget Strand in the 2019 game Death Stranding. In 2020, O'Brien joined the cast of Days of Our Lives and currently portrays the character Gwen Rizczech, the daughter of Jack Deveraux (Matthew Ashford) on the daytime drama.[1] In October 2023, O'Brien took over the role of Theresa Donovan, the daughter of Shane Donovan (Charles Shaughnessy) and Kimberly Brady (Patsy Pease).
Emily O'Brien was in plays at Carlsbad High School, where she graduated in 2003, and at MiraCosta College, where she completed a theater major in 2005. In 2005, she graduated with a degree in theater from Mira Costa College.
She was named a finalist in the Kennedy Center American College Theater Festival’s Irene Ryan Acting Competition in 2005, where she was pitted against several hundred students from colleges and universities across the country. She attended Guildhall School of Music and Drama in London, England and wrote, produced and directed her first project Beatrice in 2011 which won best film at BIFF.
She portrayed Jana Hawkes Fisher in The Young and the Restless. O'Brien was nominated for three Daytime Emmy Awards for her performance in The Young and the Restless. She portrayed the role again in November 2008, when a parody of the show was the theme of the 1st showcase on The Price Is Right. O'Brien portrayed the role initially on a recurring status from 11 May to 5 September 2006,[2] and then on contract from 10 October 2006 to 20 February 2007,[3] when the character disappeared from the canvas temporarily until her return on 15 June 2007.[4] O'Brien earned two Daytime Emmy Award nominations for Outstanding Younger Actress in 2008 and 2009.[5] [6] In March 2011, news broke that O'Brien had been let go from The Young and the Restless,[7] with her final airdate on 6 May 2011. Prior to her dismissal, O'Brien was pre-nominated for another Daytime Emmy in the same category.[8]
O’Brien is in much demand as a voice actor, and provided the voices of Y'Shtola in , Camille in League Of Legends, Faris Scherwiz in World of Final Fantasy, and Veruca Salt in .[9]
Emily then portrayed Julia in the 2014 supernatural horror film Pernicious, directed by James Cullen Bressack.[10]
She also voiced Gamora in the Telltale video game, .[11] She voiced Special Agent Iman Avesta in , a fan of Batman.[12] O'Brien is partially deaf, and teared up having to voice a scene where the character can be rendered deaf by the Riddler.
In 2018, she briefly played Jillian Marshall in the Focus on the Family radio program Adventures in Odyssey. That same year, she provided the voice of Renee Chandler in the CW Seed animated series .[13] She also appeared as the suspicious Portia in the thriller Dangerous Matrimony, then signed on to play the voice of Ruth the human mother and wife of the Ambassador of Earth in the upcoming dark fantasy motion comic Dagon Troll World Chronicles that is set to be released in 2021. She reprised the role of Gamora in .
O'Brien appeared in Hideo Kojima's 2019 game Death Stranding[14] as the voices of Bridget and the young Amelie Strand, characters using the likeness of Lindsay Wagner. She has several projects in hand that are currently in post-production, like Vampire Dad, Iris, and Beautifully Flawed.
In May 2020, it was announced that O'Brien had joined the cast of Days of Our Lives in the role of Gwen Rizczech. She made her first appearance on 1 June of the same year.[15]
On October 2, 2023, it was announced she would assume the role of Theresa Donovan on Days of Our Lives.[16]
In November 2024, it was announced O'Brien would return to play her iconic character Theresa in March 2025, before reprising her role Gwen Rizczech in July 2025 on Days of Our Lives.[17]
| Year | Title | Role | Notes | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2006 | Séance | Girl | ||
| Coma | Nurse | Video short | ||
| 2010 | New Glasses | Short film | ||
| 2011 | Matchup | His Sweetheart | Short film | |
| Beatrice | Beatrice | Short film; also writer and producer | ||
| 2012 | SuperWannabeHeroes | Super Sally | Short film | |
| 2014 | Edgar Allan Poe's the Cask | Short film | ||
| Pernicious | Julia | |||
| The Janus Project Preview | Lexi | Short film | ||
| On the Run | Amy | Short film | ||
| 2016 | Restoration | Rebecca Jordan | ||
| Honey Jar: Chase for the Gold | Ann Jordan | |||
| The Bad Batch | Dream Girl | |||
| 2017 | The Bigfoot Project | Jamie Kerrigan | ||
| Veruca Salt (voice) | Direct-to-video | |||
| 2018 | Get Married or Die | Sandi | ||
| Too Close | The Girl | Short film | ||
| Vampire Dad | Natasha | |||
| Dangerous Matrimony | Portia | |||
| Constantine: City of Demons – The Movie | Renee Chandler (voice) | |||
| 2019 | Iris | Iris | Short film | |
| Dagon Troll World Chronicles | Ruth | |||
| The Cloud | Margerie | |||
| 2021 | Jade, Lin Kang (voices) | Direct-to-video | ||
| 2022 | The Sea Beast | Villager 1 / Villager 2 | ||
| 2023 | Batman: The Doom That Came to Gotham | Talia al Ghul, Martha Wayne (voices) | Direct-to-video[18] |
| Year | Title | Role | Notes | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2006 | What About Brian | Girl at Club | Episode: "Two in Twenty-Four" | |
| 2006–2011 | The Young and the Restless | Jana Hawkes | Series regular | |
| 2016 | Rock in a Hard Place | Young Debbie | Unknown episodes | |
| 2017 | One Day at a Time | VO Operator | Episode: "Hold, Please" | |
| 2018–2019 | Renee Chandler (voice) | 2 episodes; web series | ||
| 2019–2021 | Love, Death & Robots | Eve, The Woman (voices) | 2 episodes | |
| 2019 | Beautifully Flawed | Susan | TV movie | |
| 2020–present | Days of Our Lives | Gwen Rizczech Theresa Donovan | Regular role | |
| 2024 | Young Agent, Passenger #2 (voices) | Episode: "Whanaungatanga" |
| Year | Title | Role | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2013 | Final Fantasy XIV: A Realm Reborn | Y'shtola | English dub |
| 2014 | Eryn | ||
| 2015 | Additional Voices | ||
| 2016 | World of Final Fantasy | English dub | |
| League Of Legends | Camille, Samira[19] | ||
| 2017 | |||
| 2017–2018 | Iman Avesta / Bartender / Agency Female #3 | ||
| 2017 | Paranormal Activity: The Lost Soul | The Witch | |
| Rats Whisperers | |||
| 2018 | God of War | Additional Voices | |
| Additional Voices | |||
| Thief of Thieves | Taraneh Jamshidi | ||
| 2019 | The Elder Scrolls Online | Khamira / Additional Voices | |
| Days Gone | Additional Voices | ||
| Gamora | |||
| Indivisible | Mary | ||
| Death Stranding | Amelie, young Bridget | Lindsay Wagner as model | |
| Apex Legends | Additional Voices | ||
| 2020 | Tell Me Why | Mary-Ann Ronan | |
| 2021 | Nier Reincarnation | Mama | [20] |
| 2022 | Saints Row | Player Voice 6 | |
| Gotham Knights | |||
| God of War Ragnarök | Verðandi | ||
| Marvel's Midnight Suns | |||
| 2023 | Starfield | Sarah Morgan | |