When the Raleigh, North Carolina, native tried to get into the theater department at East Carolina University, they told the future “CSI: Miami” star that they were full. Procter studied journalism and dance instead and got a job as a weather girl on the Greenville CBS affiliate while working on her degrees. She moved to Los Angeles after graduation and her father paid for her acting classes for two years. Her first Hollywood speaking role was an appearance in Tobey Maguire’s extremely short-lived series “Great Scott” (Fox, 1992). The former sorority girl and soup kitchen volunteer ironically got early breaks with a small role in “Leaving Las Vegas” (1995) and an appearance that year on NBC’s powerhouse sit-com “Friends.” Procter then made a string of TV guest appearances, including “Lois & Clark: The New Adventures of Superman” and “Early Edition.” She also played an anchorwoman on a 1997 episode of the NBC sit-com “Just Shoot Me."

Her movie credentials quickly started piling up with a role as one of Tom Cruise’s ex-girlfriends in “Jerry Maguire” (1996), followed by a part in the well-reviewed HBO movie “Breast Men” (1997) opposite David Schwimmer. In the film, two plastic surgeons (Schwimmer and Chris Cooper) pioneer silicone breast implants—Procter plays the object of Schwimmer’s desire who becomes first his patient and then his wife and partner. The film includes eyebrow-raising shots of Procter before and after a staged augmentation. The first shot is the real Emily Procter, while the second is a CGI-enhanced shot of her upper body.

The late 90s brought many movie roles Procter’s way, including: “The Girl Gets Moe” (1997) with Tony Danza, the telepic “The Dukes of Hazzard: Reunion” (1997): “Family Plan” (1998) with Leslie Nielsen, Judge Reinhold and Joely Fischer; the indie “Kingdom Come” (1999) and the well-reviewed “Guinevere” (1999) as one of Stephen Rea's many former students/paramours. Proctor played Whitney, the cool dance club employee, in “Body Shots” (1999), the underwhelming graphic 90s dating expose with Amanda Peet, Sean Patrick Flannery, Tara Reid. She then appeared in the hair industry mockumentary “The Big Tease” (1999) and “Forever Fabulous” (2000) with Jean Smart.

Her star rose to new heights in 2000, when she joined “The West Wing,” cast in a breakout role as the endearingly ultra-verbal, tough-minded aide Ainsley Hayes, the lone Republican on Jeb Bartlett’s White House staff, as well as the only potential love interest to ignite real sparks with Rob Lowe’s character, Sam Seaborn. As Ainsely provided a conservative political counterpoint to the left-leaning main characters, many “West Wing” fans mourned her quick and unexplained departure following the 2002 season. Off-screen, Procter’s star was on the rise: she soon reappeared as the gorgeous, tough, gun-toting Detective Calleigh Duquesne on the forensic franchise spin-off “CSI: Miami” (CBS, 2002 - ), a role that made her a household name, particularly after her character received more screen time following first-season lead Kim Delany’s departure. She next co-starred alongside Martin Lawrence in “Big Momma’s House 2” (2006), playing a clueless Southern belle who hires the FBI agent disguised as Big Momma to be a nanny to her children.