Short Biography

Emmanuelle Grey Rossum, better known as Emmy Rossum, (born September 12, 1986) is a Golden Globe-nominated American actress and singer-songwriter. She is probably most well known for her leading roles in the films The Day After Tomorrow, Poseidon and The Phantom of the Opera.

Early life

Rossum was born in New York City, New York, an only child of Sheryl, a corporate photographer and a banker. Her family is Jewish. She is the niece of Vera Wang, whom she related to by marriage. Her parents divorced when her mother was pregnant and she was raised by her mother, having only met her father twice. Her song "Anymore" from her album Inside Out, is based on this experience.

Upon singing "Happy Birthday" in 12 different keys, Rossum was welcomed by the director, Elena Doria as a member of the Metropolitan Opera Children`s Chorus.
Over the course of five years, Rossum sang onstage, and, along with the many other members of the chorus, with the likes of such opera greats as Placido Domingo and Luciano Pavarotti. For $5 a night (there was once a horse on stage with her who got $150 a night[citation needed]), Rossum sang in five different languages, in 20 different operas such as La Boheme, Turandot, a Carnegie Hall presentation of The Damnation of Faust and A Midsummer Night`s Dream. among others, and worked under the direction of Franco Zeffirelli in Carmen.

By age twelve, Rossum had grown too big for the children`s costumes, and an increasing interest in pursuing acting led to her getting an agent, and subsequent auditions for many acting roles.

Career

Acting career
The year 1997 saw Rossum`s television debut with a guest appearance on Law & Order as Alison Martin. A recurring role as the original Abigail Williams, in the long-running daytime soap As the World Turns, and a guest role as Caroline Beels in Snoops was soon to follow (1999), as were several other minor roles in two movies and mini-series. Rossum was nominated for a Young Artist Award nomination in 1999 for Best Performance in a TV Movie for her work in the made-for-tv movie Genius, followed by roles such as the young Audrey Hepburn in the ABC TV movie The Audrey Hepburn Story (2000).

Rossum made her big screen debut in 2000`s Songcatcher as an Appalachian orphan, Deladis Slocumb. Debuting at the Sundance Film Festival, it won the Special Jury Award for Outstanding Ensemble Performance. For her role, Rossum received an Independent Spirit Award nomination for Best Debut Performance and also had the opportunity to sing a duet with Dolly Parton on the Songcatcher soundtrack.

In Nola (2003), Rossum played the title character, an aspiring songwriter; in her first major studio film, Clint Eastwood`s Mystic River, Rossum stars as Katie Markum, the ill-fated daughter of small-business owner Jimmy Markum, played by Sean Penn. As Katie, Rossum is said to have "projected an aura of innocence that made her character`s tragic death memorable and heartbreaking".

Following Mystic River, Rossum made a breakthrough role as Laura Chapman in the Roland Emmerich eco-disaster film The Day After Tomorrow, which portrays about the effects of global warming. Following her return to New York, Rossum was the last to audition, in full costume and make-up for the coveted role of Christine Daaé in the screen adaptation of composer Andrew Lloyd Webber`s world-famous and longest running musical The Phantom of the Opera. Following an international

Miscellaneous Information

Friends and Family

Cheryl [Mother]

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