Why Did Emily VanCamp Leave 'The Resident'? Details on the Star's Exit

Spoiler alert: This article contains spoilers for Seasons 4 and 5 of The Resident.

When it comes to The Resident, the stakes are always life or death. With so much going on, fans are always worried something is going to happen to their favorite characters. Other medical dramas like Grey's Anatomy have shown that doctors seem to have the worst fates. In the case of Emily VanCamp, and her character Nicolette “Nic” Nevin, her time on the show came to an end in Season 5.

Nic was at the forefront of many major storylines throughout the series, and her death in Episode 3 of Season 5 was a huge blow, both to her colleagues at Chastain Park Memorial Hospital, and to audience members who have enjoyed the show for years. Read on to learn more about Nic’s past — and potential future — on the Fox medical drama.

According to Deadline, Emily asked to be released from her contract around the end of Season 4, ahead of the reveal of Nic's pregnancy. Nic's journey on The Resident officially came to an end when it was revealed her character had been in a car accident. Nic was absent from the first two episodes of Season 5 because she was on a wellness retreat (after a traumatic pregnancy, who could blame her?) She texted her on-screen husband Conrad Hawkins (Matt Czuchry) that she was "almost home" with no follow-up.

In Episode 3, Conrad opens his door to find two police officers waiting with bad news. Nic's injuries were too serious to treat, but she would save lives even in death through organ donation. Hints that Emily's character was going to be killed off had been swirling around the internet for months, even making an appearance on infamous gossip site Deux Moi.

In an interview with Deadline following Emily's exit from the show, she clarified that her exit was mutually agreed upon. “I loved doing The Resident so much for the four years I was on it. Oftentimes you hear about someone exiting a show because something bad had happened or there was some bad blood. But in this case, it’s the exact opposite," she said. "There’s nothing but love and respect between all of us and this decision was not an easy one for anybody but it was the right one for me, personally. I’m grateful that I was met with understanding and compassion."

Emily also talked about how her priorities shifted with the birth of her daughter, Iris, in August of 2021.

"I spent so many years on network television, but then suddenly priorities shifted. I think there comes a moment in every woman’s life — in every person’s life — where it becomes less about work and more about family, and that’s what happened while I was making the show," she said. "Doing that many episodes in a different city and then you add COVID to that, most of us couldn’t see our families for almost a year. It really solidified for me that family is where my heart is at the moment.”

In March 2017, Emily — an alum of the TV shows Everwood, Brothers & Sisters, and Revenge, as well as the Captain America films — signed on the dotted line to play Nicolette “Nic” Nevin in the pilot for The Resident. At the time, Deadline described the role as the “female lead” and the “on-again-off-again romantic fling” of Matt Czuchry’s character, Conrad Hawkins.

The actress later told Deadline that she had taken time off after Revenge and wasn’t loving the scripts she was getting until she got the pilot script for The Resident. “I loved the pilot and thought it was relevant to what’s happening today. I get to be a champion for all nurses who are so undervalued, underpaid, and who do most of the work,” she said.

The show premiered in January 2018 with 8.65 million viewers watching, and Emily and Matt starred in every episode after that, alongside Manish Dayal (The Hundred Foot Journey) as Devon Pravesh, Shaunette Renée Wilson (Black Panther) as Mina Okafor, and Bruce Greenwood (Star Trek) as Randolph Bell.

The Resident is available to stream on Hulu. You can also catch new episodes Tuesday nights on Fox.