Emily Fields
Emily Catherine Fields is a fictional character created in 2006 by author Sara Shepard. She is a character in both Pretty Little Liars
Emily's characteristics and stories have the same methodology in both books and television. However, there are some perceptual differences between the two versions, since the television series usually does not follow the books' scripts. For example, Emily's parents on the screen have different names from the books, and in the books, she has siblings, while in the television series, she does not. Another noticeable difference between the two versions is the physical and psychological characteristics. The character is portrayed by Shay Mitchell in the television series.
For her portrayal, Mitchell was nominated twice for a Teen Choice Award, once for a People's Choice Award, and shared a nomination for an MTV Fandom Award with Sasha Pieterse for Ship of the Year.
Character in print
Pretty Little Liars is a series of novels that follows the lives of four teenage girls nicknamed the Pretty Little Liars or simply the Liars, whose clique falls apart after the disappearance of their queen bee leader, Alison DiLaurentis. Three years after her disappearance, the girls begin receiving threatening messages from an anonymous character named "A", who threatens to expose their secrets, including long-hidden ones they thought only Alison knew. Shortly after the messages begin, Alison's body is discovered buried in her yard. The books progress with the four girls trying to figure out who "A" is and facing many dangerous obstacles and twists.In the first book, Emily is introduced as a loyal, sweet girl who struggles with her sexuality. She is described as having hazel eyes and strawberry-blonde hair that is tinted blue-green due to chlorine. At her school, Emily is recognized by the students for her achievements in swimming. Emily is largely motivated by matters surrounding family, romance, and ambition. Emily is also superstitious, although most of her superstitions are unique only to her; for example, making a wish at "4:56" instead of "11:11".
Story lines
Emily develops a romantic attraction for her best friend Alison DiLaurentis. She dated a boy named Ben Coogan before realizing her true feelings were for girls. She falls for and secretly dates Maya St. Germain. When "A" outs Emily to the whole school, her parents force her to go to Tree Tops, a "de-gaying" rehabilitation center. Failing that, Emily is shipped off to Iowa to live with relatives; deeply unhappy there, she runs away. Her parents ask her to come home, stating that they will learn to accept Emily for who she is. Emily comes to discover that she's bisexual, when she falls for and eventually sleeps with a boy named Isaac Colbert. Although they break up soon after, Emily learns she's pregnant and secretly gives the baby up for adoption during summer break. As a senior in high school, she accidentally meets Kelsey, a girl whom Spencer framed for drug possession the past summer; Emily ends up falling for her, but the relationship ends when Kelsey attempts suicide.In Burned, while on a school-hosted cruise for spring break, Emily begins a new relationship with Jordan, a criminal who is on the run and being pursued by the FBI. Jordan is arrested and sent to prison on a tip from "A"/Alison. She is later murdered by someone paid by Alison, who had Jordan killed out of revenge for "stealing" Emily from her. Severely depressed and increasingly desperate, Emily contemplates committing suicide and very nearly attempts it; she is only talked out of it when the Liars remind her that it's what Alison wants: for them to die.
In the last book, Emily and the other Liars are later put on trial after Alison fakes her own death and frames them for it. Emily, unbeknownst to the other Liars, fakes her own suicide to trick Alison. Emily tracks down Alison and Alison's mother, who are in hiding, and after a confrontation with them, is able to expose them as criminals. After Alison's trial, she moves out to California and begins a new relationship with a girl named Laura, finally feeling at peace.
Having fallen in love with Alison in the seventh grade, she frequently fantasizes about Alison still being alive and loving Emily back. Emily admits to being somewhat obsessed with Alison, priding herself on knowing everything about her. For a brief period, when Alison comes back as "Courtney", the two have a romantic relationship; Emily is heartbroken when Alison reveals it was all a lie. Unbeknownst to the other girls, Emily attempted to save Alison from the DiLaurentis' burning Poconos house. She feels tremendous guilt over her actions, especially after Alison returns as "A". However, eventually, Emily begins to hate Alison; Jordan's death at Alison's hands sends Emily into a spiral of rage and deep depression. Following Jordan's death, Emily swears revenge on Alison and remarks that she would not mind killing Alison.
Emily's closest friends are the other Liars, and during the periods when they are not associating with one another, Emily is very lonely. She is quite popular at school but feels as though she's not close with anyone. She is constantly searching for a "best friend" to take Alison's place. Though she is well-liked by the other Liars, they are often annoyed by how sensitive she is and her devotion to Alison, especially Spencer. Emily's insistence that Alison is alive often causes problems for them as a group. Her relationship with her family is strained, predominantly due to her bisexuality and "A"-related events. She ends up severing ties with her family at the end of the series.
Character on screen
Casting
Shay Mitchell was cast in the role of Emily Fields in a regular capacity in December 2009. Mitchell had initially auditioned for the role of Spencer and then tried for Emily.Background
In the television adaption, Emily's personality is almost the same as her book counterpart. She is the jock of the group and swims competitively at school. In the show, she is of Irish/Scottish, Korean and Filipino descent. She has long dark hair and brown eyes and dresses fashionably. In addition, she is a lesbian and is not superstitious. She eventually takes off the friendship bracelet Alison gave to her in an attempt to let go of her feelings for Alison.Season 1
Emily was a former student at Rosewood High School in Rosewood, Pennsylvania, a star and a non-competitive swimmer. A year before the start of the series, Emily had been best friends with Alison DiLaurentis, a cruel popular girl who went missing one day. At the beginning of the school year, Emily befriends a girl named Maya St. Germain, her new next-door neighbor whose family has moved into the old DiLaurentis house. Emily and Maya instantly bond, and the next day they kiss when Emily walks her home. The appearance of "A" reveals that Emily is questioning her sexuality and may have been in love with Alison. After Maya stays over at Emily's house for a night, Ben, Emily's boyfriend, senses that Emily is losing interest in him; he attempts to rape her in the school locker room but is stopped by Toby. Grateful and not wanting to deal with her homosexuality, Emily grows closer to Toby, despite the warnings of her friends, who believe him to be "A"/Alison's killer.Emily goes with Toby to Homecoming, much to the dismay of her friends; Emily later admits to Toby that she wants to come with Maya. Convinced by her friends that Toby is dangerous, the two get into a physical confrontation; as Emily tries to run away, she trips and hits her head, falling unconscious. Toby drops her off at the hospital in Rosewood, which convinces Emily that he is innocent. When a tornado warning traps everyone inside the high school, Emily finds herself haunted by memories of Alison. That day, she is outed by Detective Darren Wilden, who accuses her of destroying Alison's memorial in the park. Emily tearfully confesses to her friends that she was in love with Alison; although surprised, they are instantly accepting of her being a lesbian. "A" later mails Emily's mother a copy of the same picture of Emily and Maya kissing. Although devastated, she doesn't confront Emily about it, instead later showing it to Emily's father when he returns home from his tour of duty in Afghanistan.
Toby comes to visit Emily to prove that he is innocent, but when he is arrested, he believes that she is responsible for it. Believing that Emily and Toby were involved romantically, Emily's father confronts her about it; after denying that anything is going on, she ends up coming out to her shocked father. Emily's relationship with her parents soon becomes very strained due to the truth about her sexuality, although her parents attempt to accept her by inviting Maya over to dinner. Although Emily's father soon warms to Maya, Emily's mother tells her that she is disgusted by Emily being gay. Believing Maya has corrupted Emily, she can have Maya sent away to "True North", a camp for juvenile delinquents, which causes Emily and her mother's relationship to suffer even more.
When Emily re-joins the school's swim team after a brief injury, she finds herself in a rivalry with Paige McCullers, an excellent swimmer who had taken Emily's place in her absence. A title from an episode, If at First You Don't Succeed, Lie, Lie Again Highly competitive, Paige lashes out at Emily with homophobic insults, later even physically threatening her. Soon after, however, Paige apologizes to Emily, explaining that she was jealous of how "easy" Emily's life seemed. After Paige's homophobic and demanding father accuses Emily of getting preferential treatment, Emily's mother stands up to him, which helps to repair the relationship between Emily and her mother. Paige apologizes for her father later that evening and comes out to Emily by kissing her. Having grown close despite their rocky start, Emily and Paige begin to secretly date. They break up when Emily expresses dissatisfaction with having to hide their relationship and Paige gets jealous seeing a girl from another school, Samara Cook, flirting with Emily. Emily's father is sent to Fort Hood in Killeen, Texas, to help with military training, and Emily's mother reveals to Emily that they are moving down to Texas to join him. Emily is dismayed, feeling as though she has only just begun to fit in at Rosewood.
Emily recalls a memory from the day Alison went missing: Alison visited her and gave her a snow globe, which, unbeknownst to Emily at the time, contained a key to a storage locker. Realizing Alison had hidden something away, the girls use the key to discover a series of videos that Ian Thomas had filmed. Believing that Ian is A/Alison's killer, the girls make plans to confront him. Their plans go astray when A kills Ian and takes his body from the crime scene, leaving the police suspicious of Emily and her friends.