Emily had originally intended to get into the theater department at her college in East Carolina, but the head of the theater department told her that he thought she did not have what it takes to become an actress and that it would not work for her. According to Emily's own words, this was a great inspiration to go out and do it anyway. After the move to Los Angeles, her father provided the costs for acting school for two years. Before even graduating, she had already landed a number of small roles in films such as Jerry Maguire (1996) and Breast Men (1997), where she appeared along with David Schwimmer and Chris Cooper. She has only appeared topless in her career twice in two scenes featured in Breast Men. During the 1995