Emmy Rossum
Emmanuelle Grey Rossum[1] (born September 12, 1986) is an American actress, director, producer, singer, and songwriter. She is best known for her portrayal of Fiona Gallagher in the television series Shameless (2011–2019).[2] Since the mid-2010s, she has directed and produced television, including the 2022 Peacock series Angelyne in which she also stars.
Emmy Rossum
September 12, 1986
- Actress
- singer
- songwriter
1993–present
2
Born and raised in New York City, she began professionally performing as a child with the Metropolitan Opera. Early on-screen roles included Genius (1999), Songcatcher (2000), Passionada (2002), and Nola (2003). At sixteen, she was cast in her breakthrough role in Mystic River (2003). Rossum starred in the 2004 sci-fi film The Day After Tomorrow, and also received critical acclaim for her performance in the leading role of Christine Daaé in the film adaptation of The Phantom of the Opera (2004). She is also well known for acting in the films Poseidon (2006), Dragonball: Evolution (2009), Inside (2011), Beautiful Creatures (2013), Comet (2014), You're Not You (2014), and Cold Pursuit (2019).
In 2007, Rossum released her debut album, Inside Out. She also released a Christmas EP the same year, titled Carol of the Bells. In 2013, she released a follow-up album called Sentimental Journey.
Early life[edit]
Emmanuelle Grey Rossum[1] was born on September 12, 1986, in New York City.[3] She is the only child of Cheryl Rossum, a single mother who worked as a corporate photographer.[3][4][5] Her parents separated while her mother was pregnant, and as of 2007, she had met her father only twice.[6]
Rossum's mother is of Russian Jewish descent,[7] and her father is Protestant of English and Dutch ancestry.[8][9] Rossum identifies as Jewish and has stated that her mother instilled in her the "Jewish code of ethics and morals".[10][11][12] She was named for her maternal great-grandfather, whose first name was Emanuel, using the feminine spelling.[13]
Upon singing "Happy Birthday" in all 12 keys,[14] Rossum was welcomed to join the Metropolitan Opera Children's Chorus by chorus director Elena Doria[15] at age seven.[16] Over the course of five years she sang onstage with the chorus and had the chance to perform with singers such as Plácido Domingo and Luciano Pavarotti. For anywhere from $5 to $10 a night, Rossum sang in six languages in 20 operas, including La bohème, Turandot, a Carnegie Hall presentation of La damnation de Faust, and A Midsummer Night's Dream.[17] She also worked under the direction of Franco Zeffirelli in Carmen.
An increasing interest in pursuing acting led to taking classes with Flo Salant Greenberg[18] of The New Actors Workshop in New York City. She has also worked with acting coach Terry Knickerbocker.[19]
Rossum attended the Spence School, a private school in Manhattan,[20] before dropping out to pursue career opportunities.[21] She received her high school diploma at fifteen years old via online-extension courses offered by Stanford University's Education Program for Gifted Youth (EPGY).[20] She then enrolled at Columbia University, studying French, art history and philosophy.[22][23]
Career[edit]
Acting[edit]
Rossum's television debut was in August 1997, as the original Abigail Williams in the daytime soap opera As the World Turns. She also had a guest role as Caroline Beels in Snoops. Rossum was nominated for a Young Artist Award in 1999 for Best Performance in a TV movie for her work in the Disney Channel Original Movie Genius.[24] She then portrayed a young Audrey Hepburn in the ABC television film The Audrey Hepburn Story (2000).[25]
Rossum made her film debut at 13, in 2000's Songcatcher, as Deladis Slocumb, an Appalachian orphan. Debuting at the Sundance Film Festival, the film won the Special Jury Award for Outstanding Ensemble Performance.[26] For her role, Rossum received an Independent Spirit Award nomination for Best Debut Performance[27] and also had the opportunity to sing a duet with Dolly Parton on the Songcatcher soundtrack. Variety magazine named Rossum as "One of the Ten to Watch" in 2000.[28]
In Nola (2003), Rossum played the title character, an aspiring songwriter. In her first major studio film, Clint Eastwood's Mystic River (2003), Rossum starred as Katie Markum, the ill-fated daughter of small-business owner Jimmy Markum, played by Sean Penn.
Rossum had a breakthrough role as Laura Chapman in the sci-fi-disaster film The Day After Tomorrow (2004). She later returned to New York, where she was the last to audition, in full costume and make-up, for the role of Christine Daaé in The Phantom of the Opera (2004), the onscreen adaptation of composer Andrew Lloyd Webber's musical of the same name. After having nearly missed the audition due to a family engagement,[29] Rossum was asked to audition in person for Lloyd Webber at his home in New York.[16] For her performance, Rossum received a Golden Globe Award nomination for Best Actress in a musical or comedy.[30] She also received a Critics' Choice Award for Best Young Actress, along with a Saturn Award for Best Performance by a Younger Actor.
In 2006, Rossum appeared in Poseidon, Wolfgang Petersen's remake of the disaster film The Poseidon Adventure. She played Jennifer Ramsey, the daughter of Kurt Russell's character. Rossum described the character as being proactive and strong in all situations, rather than a damsel in distress.[31] Rossum also appeared as Juliet Capulet in a 2006 Williamstown Theatre Festival production of William Shakespeare's Romeo and Juliet.[32] In early 2009, Rossum appeared in a poorly received Dragonball Evolution. Her next big screen venture was the indie Dare,[33] which was an official selection of the 2009 Sundance Film Festival.[34] In November 2009, Rossum appeared in Broadway's 24 Hour Plays in which actors, writers, and directors collaborate to produce, and perform six one-act plays within 24 hours to benefit the Urban Arts Partnership. Rossum appeared in Warren Leight's "Daily Bread", directed by Lucie Tiberghien.[35]
In December 2009, Rossum joined the cast of the Showtime dramedy series Shameless, based on the British series of the same title. The series co-stars William H. Macy.[36] Rossum plays the oldest sister of a large, motherless family, functioning as a guardian/surrogate mother to her five younger siblings. The series has received consistent acclaim, with Rossum's performance being universally praised.[37] She made her directorial debut with episode four of season seven, "I Am a Storm."[2][38] In December 2016, Rossum was in a contract dispute with the show's producers over her desire for a salary equal to that of co-star Macy and back pay for the differential over seven seasons,[39] which was resolved later that month.[40] Following this news, Shameless was renewed for its eighth season beginning production in 2017.[41] In August 2018, Rossum announced her departure from Shameless after nine seasons.[42]
Charity work and advocacy[edit]
Rossum was a YouthAIDS ambassador.[55] In 2008, she was signed as the spokesperson for Pinkitude, an apparel line inspired by the Pink Panther character, to help raise breast cancer awareness.[56] In 2010, she appeared in public service announcements for the Natural Resources Defense Council (NRDC) Action Fund.[57] She also works with Global Green USA to raise money for environmental protection and awareness of ecological issues.[58][59] In 2015, Rossum campaigned with the Best Friends Animal Society to encourage animal adoption.[60]
On May 26, 2009, Rossum attended a march in West Hollywood California protesting the California Supreme Court's ruling to uphold Proposition 8.[61]