Emmy Rossum’s innocent beauty and stunning singing voice have made her one of the brightest rising stars in Hollywood. Born in New York City on September 12, 1986, Rossum was a successful child actress and began singing with the Metropolitan Opera Children’s Chorus when she was only seven years old. The enormously talented, classically trained singer performed in over 20 different operas including Franco Zeffirelli’s “Carmen”.
Like her contemporary Scarlett Johansson, Rossum was raised in Manhattan and attended an elite private school while developing her career. In her case it was the famed all-girls Spence School, but Rossum dropped out due to pressure arising from her budding career. She recently finished her high school degree with online classes through Stanford University. Some of her early credits include appearances on “Law & Order” in 1997, “As the World Turns” in 1999, and “The Practice” in 2001. The busy teenager also portrayed the young Audrey Hepburn in a 2000 made-for-TV biopic of the legendary actress. Jennifer Love Hewitt played the adult Hepburn.
Rossum was soon turning heads with her performance in the 2000 indie “Songcatcher”, which earned her an Independent Spirit Award nomination for Best Debut Performance. After starring in the indies “Passionada” and “Nola”, Rossum made her first foray into big-budget cinema with Clint Eastwood’s 2003 Oscar-winner “Mystic River”, playing Sean Penn’s slain daughter. Though her performance was brief, Rossum effectively played a mixture of fragility and mystery that perfectly illuminated her pivotal role in the film’s tragic story. She was soon back on screen as Jake Gyllenhaal’s love interest in 2004’s “The Day After Tomorrow”, and later that year captivated audiences as Christine in the big-screen adaptation of Andrew Lloyd Webber’s “Phantom of the Opera”. “Phantom” earned her a Golden Globe nomination, and despite being only 17 years old at the time of filming she gave a full-bodied, memorable performance that more than justified the film’s unorthodox casting.
Rossum is currently trying to stay afloat in the mega-budget disaster flick “Poseidon”, in which she stars with Kurt Russell, Josh Lucas, and Richard Dreyfuss. She is not currently attached to any upcoming film projects as she is working on a debut pop album, which undoubtedly will prove to be a major step in her already bustling career.