Emily Goss

Goss grew up in San Mateo, California.[1] Goss has described her lineage as "half Italian",[2] and both her parents are lawyers.

She attended Crystal Springs Uplands School, where she had played soccer, serving as the striker position.[1] Among her teammates were Verónica Pérez, who later played soccer professionally, including with the Mexico women's national football team. Goss started studying theatre at Crystal Springs, a pursuit which eventually took precedence over soccer.[1]

Goss graduated from the USC School of Dramatic Arts and spent a year at the London Academy of Music and Dramatic Art, receiving an MA in Classical Acting. She stated that the exchange programs available to her from USC did not interest her, instead opting to do her own international studying.[3][1]

Regarding her acting influences, she mentioned to an interview with Ferntv.ca, "I want to be risky and honest like Maggie Gyllenhaal, be uncompromising and powerful like Viola Davis and do my own stunts like Jackie Chan. I’m always open to influences."[4]

In 2014, Goss portrayed the role of the main character Jennifer in The House on Pine Street. The film served as a breakout role for Goss, who, after filming, recalled, "I remember saying to friends in LA when I came back from Kansas, if nothing else happens, THAT just happened. And that’s enough. It still is."[5] The film made its world premiere at the Cinequest Film Festival,[6] and Goss' role as Jennifer earned her three Best Actress awards and one Best Actress nomination in the American festival circuit. The film's directors, twin brothers Austin and Aaron Keeling, also attended USC one year behind Goss; but, while the Keelings had seen Goss's student films, they had not met there. While they were filming, the cast and crew had lived in the titular house.[1] She said that she loved living in the house, describing it as like living in a museum, considering it was built in the 1840s. She also did her own stunts in the film, while wearing a pregnancy prosthetic.[7]

She also won two Best Actress awards, including a Best Supporting Actress nod from the IFS Film Festival, for her role as Louise, a poetry enthusiast who is the 1960s lover of a younger Rose (Shannon Collis), in the 2018 film Snapshots. The film was inspired by a love affair that the mother of the film's writer and producer Jan Miller Curran had in the 1930s with a photographer named Louise. One element that compelled Goss to audition was that she knew that the director Melanie Mayron was involved with Jane the Virgin, a TV show Goss admits to being a "big fan" of; when she went to do a chemistry read for Snapshots, she was starstruck to be facing the film's director, who had played Professor Donaldson from Jane the Virgin.[8]

Goss played the character Iris, who falls in love with Mardou (Laur Allen) in the 2019 lesbian-themed holiday romantic comedy Season of Love, directed by Christin Baker and released by Tello Films. Iris and Mardou were one of three lesbian couples profiled in the film, which was marketed by its creators as "the first queer women-centric holiday romantic comedy movie".[9]

Goss has worked for the Glendale-based Antaeus Theatre Company, for which she has acted in plays such as The Cripple of Inishmaan from January to March 2019.[10] Other theatres she has worked for include the Pasadena Playhouse, Theatre @ Boston Court, Sacred Fools Theater Company, and The Odyssey Theatre Ensemble.[11]

She had a role in the 2021 social media horror film Shook, released on the streaming service Shudder.

Goss's debut as a director, producer, and writer is slated to be a short film titled A Little House in Aberdeen, which she is also acting in. The film details a story of a woman named Britney, who, uncertain and confused about her future, receives an abortion, and banters about her life in a "stream of consciousness" way with her doctor during the procedure. The short film is being crowd-sourced by Film Independent, and will reprise a pairing of both Goss and her Season of Love co-star Laur Allen.[12]

Goss presently lives in Los Angeles, and had quarantined with her boyfriend during the early stages of the COVID-19 pandemic.[2]

Regarding her support of LGBT and BIPOC representation in film, Goss has stated, "The people need to hear the voices we don’t hear. We need to welcome them into rooms they have been kept out of and given decision-making positions. The representative casting plays a role. But we mistake by thinking this is where the work ends... And we need to hold the productions and companies in our lives accountable. I am working hard to educate myself for changes that can be made at every level."[4]

In an interview with Queer Media Matters, Goss, a former soccer player herself, expressed admiration for professional soccer player and activist Megan Rapinoe.[2] And on top of soccer, Goss had also engaged in rock climbing and ropes courses in her youth.[7]

• Othello, A Noise Within; Pasadena, California, 2018-19[13]
• Rosencrantz and Guildenstern Are Dead, A Noise Within; Pasadena, California, 2018-19[13]
• The Cripple of Inishmaan, Antaeus Theatre Company; Glendale, California, 2019[10]
• Trying, North Coast Repertory Theatre; Solana Beach, California, 2021[14]
• 91505: Burband "True Sound", Antaeus Theatre Company; Glendale, California, 2021[10]

• Emily Goss on Instagram