Biography
Emmanuelle Grey “Emmy” Rossum (born September 12, 1986) is a Golden Globe-nominated American actress and singer. She is probably most well known for her leading roles in the films The Day After Tomorrow and the 2004 version of The Phantom of the Opera.
Early life
Emmy was born in New York City to a Jewish American family; her father is a banker and her mother is a corporate photographer. Her parents divorced when she was just three years old and Emmy has not remained close to her father. At the age of seven, Emmy made $5 a night at the Metropolitan Opera singing with the children’s choir. According to her, “There were horses onstage that were getting $150.” At age seven, she joined the Metropolitan Opera Children’s Chorus and was asked to sing Happy Birthday for her audition.
Emmy Rossum was enrolled at the prestigious all-girl Spence School in Manhattan until administrators upset with her frequent absences delivered an ultimatum - forego all career opportunities in order to concentrate on schoolwork, or withdraw. She opted for the latter, and graduated from high school after completing “virtual classes” sponsored online by the University of Nebraska-Lincoln. She left the school to pursue an acting career.
Career
Emmy Rossum appeared in a number of productions as a child in the Metropolitan Opera Children’s Chorus, including Tchaikovsky’s The Queen of Spades and the acclaimed Franco Zeffirelli-directed Carmen. She has sung with performers as diverse as tenor Plácido Domingo and country singer Dolly Parton. Her television appearances include Law & Order (1997), As the World Turns (1999), and The Practice (2001). She also portrayed the teenage Audrey Hepburn in the made-for-television biopic The Audrey Hepburn Story, starring Jennifer Love Hewitt (2000).
Rossum’s films include Songcatcher and It Had to Be You (both in 2000), Mystic River (2003), and The Day After Tomorrow and The Phantom of the Opera (in which she played the role of Christine Daaé, opposite Gerard Butler and Patrick Wilson), both in 2004. Rossum had never seen the stage version of The Phantom of the Opera prior to filming and at the direction of the composer and director waited to see it until after filming had been completed. She studied Degas’ paintings of ballerinas in the Musee d’Orsay to learn how to stand like one for her role in the film. After the film was released, Rossum was offered to make a classical music album by several companies, but declined, deciding instead to record an album of contemporary music, on which she has recently begun production. Rossum describes the album as “pop music… but not bubblegum” Rossum also says that the lyrics are coming from her personal journals and diaries… which she thinks makes it more relatable to people.
Rossum’s latest role is in Poseidon, a high-budget disaster film in which she plays the daughter of Kurt Russell’s character. The film opened on May 12, 2006 to mixed reviews and flopped at the box office. Rossum has expressed a desire to choose a “smaller” and “more intimate” film for her next project. During the summer of 2006, she appeared as Juliet in a Williamstown Theatre Festival production of Romeo and Juliet
Personal life
- Rossum lives with her mother in Manhattan. She dated David Wildenstein, a member of the French billionaire art-dealing Wildenstein family, from 2004 to 2005, but they have since broken up. Rossum has said that she would not date other celebrities, and prefers to keep her personal life away from the media spotlight, wishing to “fly under the radar” by living in her native New York City.
- Rossum has elected not to attend college but has enrolled in some extension courses offered at Columbia University. She has already completed a course in art history, being inspired by her study of Degas in Paris. Emmy has recently become a youth ambassador for YouthAIDS.
- Her favorite actors are Sean Penn (her Mystic River co-star) and Miranda Richardson (her The Phantom of the Opera co-star).
- Emmy has Celiac Disease, an auto-immune disease where the body has an intolerance to all foods containing gluten and any wheat.
Selected Trivia
- Attended the Spence School in Manhattan, an elite private girls school that was also attended by Gwyneth Paltrow and Kerry Washington.
- Has appeared in 20 different operas singing in five languages.
- Had never seen the stage version of The Phantom of the Opera (2004) prior to filming it.
- First appeared on stage at age seven when she was chosen to join the New York Metropolitan’s opera.
- At seven years old, Emmy Rossum made $5 a night at the Metropolitan Opera singing with the children’s choir. According to her, “There were horses onstage that were getting $150.”
- For her audition for the Metropolitan Opera, she was asked to sing Happy Birthday. She was only seven years old.
- Shares the same date of birth as Ming Yao, Linda Gray and Edgar L. Davis.
- Her father is a banker and her mother is a corporate photographer.
- Took cooking classes at Le Cordon Bleu in London.
- In preparation for her role in The Phantom of the Opera (2004), she attended a seance at the Spiritualist Association of Great Britian where a medium talked to her about her late grandmother.
- Won Best Young Actress in 2004 Critic’s Choice Awards
- She obtained her high school diploma online via a Stanford University program.
- Has Celiac Disease, an auto-immune disease where the body has an intolerance to all foods containing gluten and any wheat.
- Is an only child
- Her favorite actors are Sean Penn (her Mystic River (2003) co-star) and Miranda Richardson (her The Phantom of the Opera (2004) co-star).
- Attending Columbia University
- Hobbies include reading, horseback riding, and ballet
- Her favorite book is John Steinbeck’s “Of Mice and Men.”
- Is Dutch and Scot-Irish.
- Currently recording a pop album for Geffen Records [April 2006]
- Cousin is Cecilia Becker, daughter of world-famous designer Vera Wang.
- Her favorite designer is Ralph Lauren.
- She is a fan of the film star Audrey Hepburn.
- Her favorite opera is “Carmen”.