Emmy Rossum - Early Life

Early Life

Rossum was born in New York City, the only child of Cheryl, a single mother who worked as a corporate photographer and an investment banker. She was named after her great-grandfather, whose first name was Emanuel, using the feminine spelling Emmanuelle. She is the niece of designer Vera Wang, to whom she is related by marriage. Rossum's mother is Jewish and her father is Protestant. Her parents divorced before she was born and she only met her father twice while growing up.

Upon singing "Happy Birthday" in all 12 keys, Rossum was welcomed to join the Metropolitan Opera Children's Chorus by chorus director Elena Doria at the age of 7. Over the course of five years, she sang onstage with the chorus and had the chance to perform with other opera greats, such as Plácido Domingo and Luciano Pavarotti. For anywhere from $5 to $10 a night, Rossum sang in six different languages in 20 different operas, including La bohème, Turandot, a Carnegie Hall presentation of La damnation de Faust, and A Midsummer Night's Dream. She also worked under the direction of Franco Zeffirelli in Carmen. Rossum joked in interviews that her vocal talent and affinity for music developed because her mother always listened to classical music and operas while she was pregnant with her.

By age 12, Rossum had grown too big for the children's costumes. An increasing interest in pursuing acting led to taking classes with Flo Salant Greenberg of The New Actors Workshop in New York City. She also hired an agent and auditioned for many acting roles.

Rossum attended the Spence School, a private school in Manhattan, for years before dropping out to pursue career opportunities. She received her high school diploma at 15 years old via online extension courses offered by Stanford University's Education Program for Gifted Youth (EPGY). She later attended Columbia University.