Emily had the urge to join the ranks of celebrity from an early age but  when she attempted to enter the theater department at her college, the head of the department informed her that in his opinion she really didn’t have what it takes to be an actress. Undeterred by his comments Emily’s first move in the direction of the performing arts came when she was employed as the weather anchor at WNCT-TV in Greenville, North Carolina. With bigger things in mind Emily realized that she would have to take her talents to a more auspicious location.

Procter made a move to Los Angeles in her quest for fame and while in L.A. her father funded her acting lessons for two years. The lessons paid off as Emily was soon filling small roles in movies such as ‘Leaving Las Vegas’ which saw her acting with Nicolas Cage and Elizabeth Shue in the successful 1995 movie. Emily’s success with Cage and Shue guaranteed her another role in a Hollywood blockbuster, ‘Jerry Maguire’ with Tom Cruise, Renee Zellweger, Kelly Preston and Cuba Gooding Jr, in 1996 in which she played Jerry’s ex-girlfriend, and that was quickly followed by her breakthrough movie role as Laura Pierson in the 1997 movie ‘Breast Men’ which starred David Schwimmer, Chris Cooper and ex-husband of Julia Roberts, Lyle Lovett.

Emily next appeared with funnyman Leslie Neilson in ‘The Family Plan’ in 1998 where she landed the role of Julie Rubins  in this sweet follow up movie to ‘Rent a Kid’ in which Nielsen played the same character. But the role that would really introduce Emily to a larger audience came when she was chosen to play the role of Detective Calleigh Duquesne in 2002 with the cast of CSI: Miami which also included David Caruso and Adam Rodriguez.

Since then she came into "The West Wing" as the gorgeous Ainsley Hayes, a conservative Republican that the President, played by Martin Sheen, hired for an Associate Counsel's position on his staff. Her role was recurring until the show closed in 2006. ‘The West Wing’ was one of the biggest roles of Emily’s career to date and obviously showed her ‘doubting Thomas’ acting teacher that with her appearing alongside the likes of John Spencer, Stockard Channing and Rob Lowe, his assessment of her future acting career was less than accurate.