Emmy Rossum - School Dropouts, Career and Facts

Emmy Rossum was born as Emmanuelle Grey Rossum to single mother Cherly Rossum in New York. Her parents had separated when her mother was pregnant. Her mother worked as a corporate photographer.

Raised as a Jewish, she turned to singing at a young age. By seven, she became a member of the Metropolitan Opera Children’s Chorus. Within a span of five years, the exposure turned out to be immensely helpful for her as she got the chance to perform on stage and even shared the mic with renowned and notable opera singers.

Interestingly, she sang in six different languages in 20 different operas. What’s more, she also worked under the direction of Franco Zeffirelli in Carmen. By the time she turned twelve, she started developing interest in acting.

To pursue a career in acting, she enrolled for classes with Flo Salant Greenberg at The New Actors Workshop in New York City. Meanwhile, she continued her mainstream studies at Spence School in Manhattan. She dropped out of the same later on.

When she was fifteen, she obtained her high school diploma from Stanford’s University’s Education Program for Gifted Youth through online extension courses and later went on to attend Columbia University.

She made her acting debut in a guest role in the television program, Law & Order, as Alison Martin, in 1997. Following this, she bagged a recurring role in the long running daytime soap opera ‘As the World Turns’ as Abigail Williams.

Meanwhile, she played the guest role of Caroline Beels in ‘Snoops’. The same year, her work in the made-for-TV movie ‘Genius’, earned her a Young Artist Award nomination for Best Performance in a TV Movie.

In 2000, she was seen portraying the role of young Audrey Hepburn in the ABC TV movie, ‘The Audrey Hepburn Story’. The same year, she made her debut on big screen with the movie, ‘Songcatcher’. In it, she played the role of Deladis Slocumb, an Appalachian orphan.

Her acting skills in the film, ‘Songcatcher’ were much appreciated as she received an Independent Spirit Award nomination for Best Debut Performance. She even had the opportunity to display her vocal talent in the movie as she sung a duet with Dolly Parton.

Following this, she was cast in the film Nola in 2003 where she played the lead character. Her major break in films came with Clint Eastwood's ‘Mystic River’, where she played the character of Katie Rossum.

The magnum opus of her film career was her portrayal of the role of Laura Chapman in Roland Emmerich eco-disaster film, ‘The Day After Tomorrow’. The film was much appreciated and so was her acting.

Eventually, she bagged the coveted role of Christine Daae in the on-screen adaptation of composer Andrew Lloyd Webber's ‘The Phantom of the Opera’. Her perfect portrayal of the role earned her a Golden Globe Award nomination for Best Actress in a musical or comedy. With this, she became the youngest actor to be nominated for the award. She even won the Critics' Choice Award and Saturn Award among others.

Year 2006 was a significant one in her career calendar as Wolfgang Petersen's high-budget remake of the disaster film ‘The Poseidon Adventure’, ‘Poseidon’ was released. The same year, she performed as Juliet Capulet in Williamstown Theatre Festival production of William Shakespeare's ‘Romeo and Juliet’.

She followed this up with her role as Dragonball in ‘Dragonball Evolution’. Simultaneously, she served as one of the members of the Broadway's 24 Hour Plays in which actors, writers, and directors collaborate to produce, and perform six one act plays.

In 2011, she starred in the DJ Caruso’s social film, ‘Inside’. It was an online film and had fans make guest appearances through Facebook video. Following year, she appeared in the third season of ‘Shameless’.

In 2013, she appeared in two films, ‘Beautiful Creatures’ and ‘You’re Not You’. Additionally, she shot for two more films the same year - ‘Comet’ and ‘Curfew’.

In addition to her acting career, she did not give up on her musical abilities and post her role in ‘The Phantom of the Opera’ started working towards releasing her debut album which she eventually did in 2007 under the name, ‘Inside Out’. She turned a songwriter as well with the album.

In 2013, she came out with her second album, ‘Sentimental Journey’. Unlike the former album, it comprised of a collection of covers of classic songs that spanned from ‘20s to the ‘60s. The album was more of a musical calendar that helped the listener take an emotional journey of time.

Her role in the film, ‘The Phantom of the Opera’ won her a couple of awards including the Saturn Award for Best Performer, National Board of Review’s Best breakthrough Performance, BFCA’s Best Young Actress and Young Artist Award’s Best Performance in Feature Film.

In 2009, the Savannah Film Festival bestowed upon her the Young Hollywood Awards for the film, ‘Dare’.

From 2004 to 2005, she was in a relationship with French heir and art dealer David Wildenstein.

In 2008, she went into the nuptials with music executive Justin Siegel. However, the two filed for divorce the following year.

She was in a romantic relationship with Adam Duritz but the unison did not last long. In 2010, she got legally separated from Siegel.

From 2011 to 2013, she dated Tyler Jacob Moore, her co-star from ‘Shamless’.

This actress suffers from celiac disease, which is an autoimmune disease in which the body cannot tolerate any foods containing gluten.

She is an avid activist and a YouthAIDS ambassador. She constantly works for raising the awareness of breast cancer.

This American actress of ‘The Phantom of the Opera’ fame claimed her favourite opera to be ‘Carmen’.