Fredi Magazine Special Digital Edition 2017 | Page 47

italiaricci
Follow
Born in Richmond Hill and raised in Newmarket,
the 30-year-old TV star has always been drawn to
acting. As a child, she didn't have a dream job – she
had many. “I used to watch movies as a little girl and
wanted to be whatever [job] the main character was,
which ended up being everything,” Ricci told fredi.
“I figured being an actor was how I could experience
so many different people’s lives and tell their stories.
My parents put me in theatre when I was about five
and the bug bit me immediately.”
From community theatre, Ricci would move on to
studying Drama at Queen’s University. She filled her
summers with acting gigs in music videos and com-
mercials – remember those refreshing face-splashed-
with-water Clean & Clear ads in the early 2000s?
Ricci does. Her summer gigs quickly snowballed into
more nuanced roles. One year, a friend asked her to
...
keep persisting and going for auditions to put her-
self ‘out there.’ “It’s often disappointing, but when
you get the call that you’ve booked something, it’s so
worth it.”
Her first big break came in her leading role as April
in the drama series Chasing Life. It's also when she
first started truly connecting to her fans. Forget physi-
cal fan mail, Ricci kept her Facebook private mes-
sage inbox open where fans would tell her stories
about how they connected to her portrayal as the
young, cancer-stricken reporter.
As social media has evolved from a series of status
updates and photo albums to a live feed of a user’s
life, Ricci has been able to connect more intimately
with her fans. With every Facebook Live, Twitter
Q&A and Snapchat or Instagram Story Ricci does,
she leaves more snippets for her fans to find.
“And I try
to give my
social media
followers
the sneak
peeks that I
would want
to see.”
play an extra in a movie, which eventually led to a
fully-fledged character in its sequel. And while Ricci’s
parents were always supportive of her acting dreams,
they weren't permissive of everything. They made
Ricci finish her degree before pursuing acting full-
time and moving to Hollywood, a move Ricci reflects
on and says was “fair.”
“I don’t think I would’ve had the confidence to do
what I do without my family behind me.”
As much as Ricci acknowledges her luck, she's also
had her fair share of frustration. After university,
she moved out to L.A. and spent several years living
in and around Hollywood. It takes a devastatingly
high level of resilience to make it in Hollywood, and
even more to actually make it onto the small and big
screens. When you're going up against hundreds, if
not thousands of other young aspiring actors, many
are crushed along the way when they can no longer
afford their dreams. For Ricci, she knew she had to
“I’m fascinated by the behind-the-scenes moments
and what [other actors] are like when the cameras
aren’t rolling,” she says. “So I like to imagine that the
people who follow me are into the same thing. And I
try to give my social media followers the sneak peeks
that I would want to see.”
For a celebrity with a following of 88,000 on Twitter,
360,000 on Instagram and 192,000 on Facebook (her
favourite platform), there are precautions. Safety is a
concern; she has to always be cautious about tagging
her location. And yes, even for a woman who has
made it on HELLO Canada’s Most Beautiful People
list, she gets hateful comments. When it comes to
mean internet users, Ricci doesn't mince any words:
“They suck. Bullies are the worst.” Ricci tries to read
everything, but says it can send her into a “spiral.” It’s
the fans (she calls them “the bee’s knees”) that make it
worth it. “I mostly end up really happy and feel tons
of love from, and for, them.”
fredi digital 2017 •
47