It would seem that 2004, the year of her 18th birthday, will be remembered as pivotal for Emmy Rossum due to her appearance in two very different films, The Day After Tomorrow and The Phantom of the Opera. Emmy's performance in the latter film gained her a Golden Globe nomination, and should assure that she will be a memorable presence in many films to come.

Being born and raised in New York City provided Emmy with the perfect place to start her professional career. After passing an audition at the Metropolitan Opera when she was 7 years old, she performed in more than 20 operas in six different languages at Lincoln Center, alongside such figures as Plácido Domingo and Luciano Pavarotti. She was directed by Franco Zeffirelli in "Carmen." She left the opera when she entered her teenage years, as she had grown too tall to perform as a child. Emmy also appeared in a Carnegie Hall presentation of "The Damnation of Faust."

In a change of venue, Emmy created the role of Abigail Williams in the daytime soap opera As the World Turns in 1999 and branched out in performances in the made-for-television movies Genius and The Audrey Hepburn Story, in which she played the title character as a young teenager. Other television work included Snoops, Law & Order, and The Practice.

Emmy made her theatrical feature debut in the indie film Songcatcher, with her good friend Rhoda Griffis, which won the Special Jury Award for Outstanding Ensemble Performance at the Sundance Film Festival in January 2000. Rossum received an Independent Spirit Award nomination in the category of Best Debut Performance for her performance as an Appalachian orphan. She played an aspiring songwriter (the title character) in the romantic comedy Nola. Cast as the ill-fated daughter of a small-business owner in Clint Eastwood's Mystic River, she projected an aura of innocence that made her character's tragic death memorable and heartbreaking. This was her first major studio film.

After six months of filming her role as the fresh-faced but highly intelligent teenage damsel in distress The Day After Tomorrow in Montreal, she returned to New York and screen-tested for the role of Christine in The Phantom of the Opera in full costume and makeup, and was finally selected for the part by Andrew Lloyd Webber after singing for him at his home. Although she was surprised to be chosen ahead of many better-known and older actresses considered for the part, the combination of her vulnerable, fragile beauty and fine, classically trained singing voice ultimately proved that she was perfectly cast. In preparation for the role, she took ballet classes for two months and started polishing her singing. Emmy has commented that, in her approach to acting, she draws heavily upon her own experiences, so she visited locations in Paris and conjured up what she terms "past memories" to draw upon in making her performance emotionally realistic. She stood on the roof of the Opéra Garnier, where Christine sings "All I Ask of You," and went underneath the opera house, where there is actually a gloomy, dark lake. She studied Degas's paintings of ballerinas in the Musée d'Orsay to learn how to stand like one.

In Poseidon, Emmy played as heroine Jennifer Ramsey, daughter of New York City Mayor.

Emmy attended the private Spence School in Manhattan through the seventh grade, then finished high school using tutors and the Internet (through Stanford University). She is now enrolled at Columbia University and has already completed a course in art history, inspired by her study of Degas in Paris.

After The Phantom of the Opera and Poseidon, she shifts gears, mostly dropped out of the film scene, to go back to her musical roots at the age of 21. Her film career is not over, however, she has been signed on to do four films in 2008.
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 prior to filming the screen version. Made her stage debut at seven years of age (she sang "Happy Birthday" for her audition) at the New York Metropolitan Opera. She made $5 a night singing with the children's choir. According to her, "There were horses onstage that were getting $150". 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, she attended a séance 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 autoimmune disease in which the body can't tolerant any foods containing gluten and wheat. Is an only child. Her favorite actors are Sean Penn (her Mystic River co-star) and Miranda Richardson (her The Phantom of the Opera 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 Audrey Hepburn. Her favorite opera is "Carmen". Is a vegetarian.