A multi-talented whiz kid not afraid to put Justin Bieber in his place. An advocate with
a fascination for a mysterious Los Angeles socialite — and on top of all that she had a
nanny who once met Hitler. Stay tuned to witness the stunning transformation of Emmy Rossum.
Emmy Rossum was born in Manhattan in 1986 to Cheryl Rossum, a corporate photographer and
single mom. According to an interview with Complex, Cheryl has been a big influence on
Rossum's professional sensibilities. When asked why she never attempted pop music, Rossum cops —
"Modern pop music is fun, but it's never something I felt I could do organically or
believably. [...] And don't think that people didn't make me try. Maybe I just have an
older sensibility because I was raised by older nannies and a mom who had me when she was 40."
When asked by ScreenerTV how she created her role for "Shameless,"
Rossum was quick to credit her mom, saying that her character's loyalty
and fierce protective nature were borrowed traits from her mother.
"Let me review Jessie for you sir —
Jessie is a — is a condescending, entitled, privileged, piece of hipster trash."
In the Complex interview, Rossum discussed her father, who walked out on the family
while her mother was still pregnant and has only met his daughter a couple of times. When
asked how that paternal absence informs her Fiona character, Rossum admitted —
"I definitely have feelings of abandonment and self-protection over that, and Fiona does too […]
We all have that childish hope that somebody who doesn't care about you suddenly will."
In the 2014 Complex cover issue, Emmy Rossum talked about the nannies who helped out when
she was a kid. When asked her craziest nanny story, she told the story of Gertie,
an Austrian woman who was given a prize as a child by singing the best German national anthem.
The prize giver? None other than Adolf Hitler. She elaborated, saying —
"My mom is Jewish, so that was a little bit awkward,
but Gertie was a great nanny. She would tell that story,
but she knew Hitler was a bad guy. [...] And she was a child — she didn't know any better."
But, not all the nanny experiences were positive. Since Cheryl only chose
nannies that were in their 60s, Rossum lived under the influence of several older women.
Some may have gotten her hopes up unnecessarily, in regards to her father, as she shared —
"My nannies told me that if you wanted it bad enough,
impossible things could happen — like your dad coming back. That was something that
was verbalized to me as a kid […] it made me disillusioned as a teen when that didn't happen,
and when I started becoming known as an actress, and it still didn't happen."
In spite of all that, Rossum has become a well-rounded, compassionate woman.
At just 7 years old, Emmy Rossum joined the Metropolitan Opera Children's Chorus,
remaining a member through the age of 12, with her time there earning her unexpected benefits.
"And so I would stop in at the butcher's and if I could sing them an aria,
they would give me a hot dog."
When asked what motivated her to start performing during an interview for Variety,
she said her mother sent her to music school, explaining —
"When I went to real school they heard me sing, and sent me over to the opera. [...] I
felt immediately more at home in an opera and in a creative environment.
Even at a young age, that escapism was more safe for me somehow."
This love of performing led to an interest in acting,
so Rossum began classes at The New Actors Workshop in New York City, working with
acting coach Terry Knickerbocker. Rossum is quoted on Knickerbocker's website as saying —
"Terry continues to impress me with his commitment to character
and story. I wouldn't be as fearless or as confident without his guidance."
Upon leaving the opera at age 12, Emmy Rossum decided not to return
to her previous private school, and her mom agreed to let her study with tutors online,
incorporating classes available through Stanford University.
As a result, the whip-smart teen received her high school diploma at 15 years old.
By 2008, she was enrolled at Columbia University, studying French, art history, and philosophy.
She has also enrolled in classes at London's Le Cordon Bleu. She learned that she had Celiac
disease when she was a preteen, so she enjoys being more than capable of cooking her own food.
And, as portrayed in her approach to her television and film characters,
Rossum has an innate emotional intelligence that she's able to parlay into her work.
Emmy Rossum landed the role of Abigail Williams on "As the World Turns" in 1998, a year after
she made her small screen debut on an episode of "Law & Order." She did a TV movie called "Genius,"
and later, played a young Audrey Hepburn in the made-for-TV film "The Audrey Hepburn Story." Her
silver screen debut was in "Songcatcher", playing an orphan in the Appalachian Mountains of western
North Carolina. In a self-taped Q&A from 2008, Rossum said that her mom's favorite movie is
likely "Songcatcher," both because her mom likes that type of music, and because her mother would
probably like to think of her precious daughter as no older than 13 — pretty much forever.
Rossum's performance in "Songcatcher" earned her a nomination for Best Debut Performance
with the Independent Spirit Awards. She went on to land the lead in 2003's "Nola,"
then did her biggest studio film, working with director Clint Eastwood and Sean Penn as her
on-screen father in "Mystic River," that same year. Incidentally, Rossum admitted in her Q&A
that "Mystic River" is probably her mom's least favorite — not because it's a bad film,
but because of the unfortunate story arc for Rossum's character.
In 2003, when Emmy Rossum was just 16, she set out to do a screen test for Andrew Lloyd
Weber's cinematic version of "The Phantom of the Opera." As she told the story to BlackFilm.com,
Rossum had a meeting on a Wednesday with director Joel Schumacher. He asked for a screen test on
Saturday, but she couldn't make it and said no at first. Little did she know that Schumacher
had been casting for the role of Christine for six months, and she was the last person he was
going to see. Needless to say, she ended up doing the screen test and landed the role.
On receiving the good news, she said in the interview —
"At first I thought it was a practical joke […] I was sitting at the breakfast table after hearing,
and my mom was reading The New York Times, over her toast. I said, 'Mom, I got 'Phantom
of the Opera,” and she said, 'Oh, that's nice, honey,' and kept on reading about Somalia!'"
While Rossum didn't think she would get the part, her mom, however, was not at
all surprised. Rossum turned 17 while filming but retained a professionalism beyond her age,
thanks to her previous experience at the Met.
"It was my first time really carrying a big movie like this but it was a lot of responsibility."
Emmy Rossum released an album called "Inside Out" in 2007, which makes sense — her soulful
pipes were nominated for a Golden Globe for "The Phantom of the Opera." "Inside Out" was
a very personal album and not pop music, which is what most people expected of such a young person.
When asked about her debut album in an interview with AskMen.com, Rossum said -
"I don't find lyrical inspiration from anybody. I really find that from myself."
In revealing herself, versus portraying a character, she said —
"The idea behind 'Inside Out' is turning yourself inside out and showing people
who you really are inside, and that's why the record is somewhat autobiographical."
In 2013, she released her second album, "Sentimental Journey," featuring great,
traditional songs like "Summer Wind," and "Pretty Paper," as well as the title track. It rose to
No. 1 on Billboard's Jazz Albums on February 16, 2013. In an interview with Elle, Rossum said that
she grew up with music from the 1930s because it’s what her mom loved. She told Rolling Stone —
"I just wanted to make a record the way that old records were made. They had all their songs,
recorded them in one or two takes, and that was the track they used."
Emmy Rossum's mother, Cheryl, is Jewish,
and while Rossum considers herself more spiritual than religious,
she has a great respect for her heritage. In an interview with ShalomLyfe, she said —
"My mother instilled in me the Jewish code of ethics and morals. That stays with me
very strongly every day. I enjoy having a Shabbat dinner with my close friends,
even though it is not something I grew up doing weekly."
And, she's none too pleased when someone makes a culturally insensitive remark.
Take, for instance, the incident in 2013 when Justin Bieber posted on a
Facebook page of the Anne Frank House that he hoped Anne Frank would have been a fan.
Rossum was angry, and tweeted about her objection to Bieber's comment.
Her feud with Bieber aside, Rossum is trying to make a difference in the world now.
As a member of the Muslim Jewish Advisory Council In 2017, she tweeted a press release
in 2017 issued by the organization. Made in response to a speech from Donald Trump, the
release talked about accountability for denouncing hate crimes while promoting protection and peace.
From 2007 to 2010, Emmy Rossum was a YouthAIDS Ambassador,
helping with fundraising campaigns and making public appearances to educate
young people about the threat of HIV and AIDS. In 2012, she became the official spokesperson
of PiNKiTUDE for Susan G. Komen for the Cure®. She's helped out with environmentalist causes, and
she is a big supporter of The Best Friends Animal Society. She's quoted on their website as saying —
"I encourage everyone to find their new best friend at their local animal shelter
and together we will save them all."
The organization did a feature on her in April 2015,
and she has participated in their marketing campaigns.
In addition to her work on the board of the Muslim Jewish Advisory Council, she is vocal about equal
pay for equal work, which led to a dispute with Showtime. On the heels of Robin Wright Penn's
similar dispute with Netflix, Rossum said she would not agree to an eighth season of 'Shameless'
until she was promised a salary commensurate with co-star William H. Macy's, as well as
back pay for the seven seasons prior, when she was earning less. Macy, in a soundbite with TMZ,
fully supported her fight, and eventually her negotiation proved to be successful.
As if all of that wasn't enough, she marched to fight Prop 8 in California in 2009,
and has volunteered for many different causes over the years. In a Q&A with Glamour in 2013,
Rossum shared about her involvement with an Origins cosmetics charity event, saying —
"I've always been most interested in eco charities. I've always been involved with
Global Green for years […] Origins, which is a great company [is] partnering with Charity:
Water to build more water wells in Ethiopia. That kind of turned me on."
In addition to her gluten-free diet, Emmy Rossum is in great
physical shape. She told Shape that one of the ways she achieves her level of fitness
is to take lots of dance classes. She further described her workout regimen, saying —
"Generally, I take spinning, and I try to do things in groups. I don't like a one-on-one
trainer — too much pressure. And I hate push-ups. I hate them with a passion."
According to Radar Online, her favorite healthy meal is her mom's roasted lemon chicken,
paired with cooked spinach and brown rice. She keeps eggs and garlic on hand at all times,
and her favorite soup to make is dairy-free carrot
ginger soup. She even revealed what her splurge meal would be, saying —
"A black-and-white milkshake, a medium rare cheeseburger on a gluten-free bun
and sweet potato fries."
"If you weren't an actress, what would you be doing?"
"Eating."
[laughter]
“A lot!”
To stay healthy, she also tries to get plenty of sleep
and to relax in a bubble bath whenever she can.
In a YouTube video, Emmy Rossum shared that she had,
at the time, two dogs, and since the video’s release, she has adopted another through
her association with Best Friend Animal Society. In an interview with Esquire,
we learned that she also has a cat, named Fiona G. Kitty. Saying about the feline —
"I found her in Chicago. She was a stray, and she set up shop in my trailer.
She was mean. I mean really mean […] I took her to a vet and they said she was probably
dying of breast cancer […] I hate cats. But this cancer cat made me feel bad."
It turns out the cat did not have cancer, but a hernia. Rossum's stuck with Fiona G. Kitty,
but it seems the cat has grown on her. To People, she said that growing up, she thought she was
allergic to cats, and that her first pets were fish and snails — all named after presidents.
Emmy Rossum has a mature outlook on relationships.
She married in 2008 to music executive Justin Siegel,
though the marriage ended just a year and a half later. Of the split, Rossum told InStyle Hair -
"Everyone messes up in relationships and has peaks and valleys in their personal lives.
When I realized it wasn't the end of the world and I would keep on standing,
I knew it was going to be OK."
Rossum was later linked romantically to Adam Duritz,
lead singer of the Counting Crows, after touring with the band, but they split amicably in 2010.
Now, she's married to "Mr. Robot" creator Sam
Esmail, who proposed to her while she was in the bathtub.
"And then I got out of the bathtub because I didn't want the story to be that I was
in the bathtub when it was happening and then I got cold as it was still going on,
got back in the bathtub."
He presented her with a vintage engagement ring from the 1920s. As she shared with PeopleStyle —
"I like that I've inherited someone's story, and I hope that it's a good one,"
That type of thinking is typical of the actress. She wasn't your usual bride-to-be
obsessing about her wedding dress. In fact, though Carolina Herrera designed her gown,
Rossum left the design all up to the designer, telling E! News —
"The only thing that's really important to me is that we get married
and there's some kind of party […] I was always more excited by the idea,
the concept of marriage and togetherness with the person and unity."
In late May 2021, Us Weekly offered some unexpected good news:
Emmy Rossum had given birth to a baby girl. The report came courtesy of an
Instagram post from Rossum, where the happy new mom first made the exciting announcement
Since first revealing her newfound mom status, Rossum has kept fairly quiet
about her daughter. However, in an effort to inform others about COVID-19 vaccinations,
Rossum uploaded an image of herself kissing her little one's head, disclosing to her followers
that she'd gotten vaccinated while pregnant. The actor then added that she'd just learned that her
daughter had antibodies, thanks to her efforts, and urged others to get vaccinated as well.
But, of course, Rossum hasn't just shared info about her motherhood journey for
educational purposes, as she posted a series of pictures of her baby in a post on Mother's Day.
More than two years after Peacock first offered curious fans a sneak peek at the
miniseries "Angelyne," Entertainment Weekly announced that the wait for the
limited series starring Emmy Rossum was almost over. According to showrunner Allison Miller,
the miniseries isn't a hard-set biopic about the Los Angeles entertainer who became famous
by prominently advertising herself on billboards.
"She was kind of this LA icon and myth — no one really knew who she was,
where she was from, what she was selling."
Instead the story is, quote, "inspired by everything Angelyne represents."
The magazine also noted Rossum's stunning transformation into the real-life iconic
blonde, saying that the "Shameless" star was practically unrecognizable from her usual self,
who revealed in a news release for Peacock that she'd spent years focusing on this project.
Rossum emphasized her fondness of the bleached blonde, commenting that
Angelyne was a unique combination in both her personality and physical image, saying —
"I love Angelyne. She's as if Marilyn Monroe got into an Easy-Bake oven with
an '80s punk Barbie Doll and a dose of New Age spirituality."
Of course, Rossum also recognizes the importance of portraying the
famous media personality on the small screen, saying —
"She's a trailblazer, a hustler, a visionary, the original influencer,
a living-breathing piece of art."
According to The Hollywood Reporter, Emmy Rossum's new drama series will
see her playing the mother of Tom Holland's character in Apple's upcoming anthology series
"The Crowded Room." According to the outlet, Holland will star as a man named Danny Sullivan,
while Rossum will play his mother, Candy.
While Entertainment Weekly was unsure of exactly how Rossum and Holland will
believably play a mother and son due to the actors' lack of age difference,
one suspected possibility that would seemingly explain the pairing is that Rossum will appear
only in flashbacks. However, this suggestion is nothing more than speculation at this point.
In addition to acting, Emmy Rossum has branched out by taking her skills behind the camera,
as noted by The Hollywood Reporter, which announced her official directing debut for
an episode of "Shameless" in 2016. That same year, Rossum chatted with Variety about her experience
in the director's chair and what led her there. Revealing she'd been interested in directing for
a while, Rossum made the request to showrunner John Wells, who granted the actor's wish.
She took her directing debut quite seriously and prepared for the work by taking a cinematography
class at NYU and even using Lego to help determine scenes. As she told Variety —
"I felt like if I prepared my ass off and studied and took a cinematography course and
did all the things that a Type A person would do and trusted my instincts, it might not be bad."
Of course, while the star did ultimately run into roadblocks during the episode,
she followed some helpful advice, which helped her stay calm during crises.
While Rossum also disclosed her worries about the cast and crew's reaction to her directing
an episode, she said that everyone supported her taking on the role. She has since gone on
to earn additional directing credits for a second episode of "Shameless" in 2017,
an episode of "Animal Kingdom" in 2017, and an episode of "Modern Love" in 2019.
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