Emmy Rossum has had many roles throughout her career, but she's arguably still most famous for playing Fiona Gallagher during her stint with the cast of Shameless. The maternal oldest sibling of the Gallagher clan, Fiona certainly has her share of unapologetic moments on the show, and they make the character a true pop culture icon in my book. Rossum also performed nude scenes and did so without shame. However, the actress recently shared one negative side effect those explicit scenes had on her life.
While Shameless may not compare to some of the most sexually explicit movies and shows on Netflix, the Showtime original still has plenty of adult content. Emmy Rossum was only in her early 20s when the show debuted in 2011 and, as she explained during her interview on Pretty Tough with Maria Sharapova, she was still trying to figure herself out in some respects. Unfortunately, her work on the hit show complicated that in one way:
It made dating quite tricky because of the nudity on the show. …. Because all of the guys that I would go out with had preconceived notions of who I was or how I was sexually. It was totally bizarre. It was like they couldn't separate.
I can certainly see where the fan-favorite actress is coming from, and I do feel for her. Based on her comments, the men she was seeing couldn't separate her from Fiona, especially when it came to the fictional character's sexual nature. I think it's fair to say that actors are not their characters, and that's definitely the case here.
Apparently, not only did men link Emmy Rossum with Fiona’s sexual image, but the Phantom of the Opera actress said that it also brought up some concerns from her prospective partners. Rossum recalled one specific chat she had with someone she dated years ago:
I met this guy on a plane, and he was very cute. And he took me out on a date, and he was like — we were not meant to be together. But he was like, in real estate or something. He was like, ‘I really want to be um I really want to be president someday. And I was like, ‘Wow, that's like a great goal.’ He's like, ‘But I feel like running for office, dating someone, you know, who's been exposed in the way that you have. Do you think that would be tricky for me?’ And I was like, ‘This is an insane conversation to have.’
Talk about an awkward conversation. It's unfortunate hearing about Rossum's challenges as far as the dating scene goes, and said issues were on top of the professional hurdles she had to overcome. For instance, there was even an excruciating time when Rossum was asked to wear a bikini for a movie audition to see if she was the right body type. During her recent interview, the Golden Globe nominee continued to talk about difficulties with fans blurring the lines between art and reality:
So, I think growing up in your 20s, you're dating. You're trying to figure out who you are. You're coming into your own as an artist. And there's also all these preconceived notions about you that are out there that are associated with because your body is your art, right? And people can get confused, and so that certainly came up for me in a more serious way.
Taking on nude scenes is a very brave choice to make as an artist, there are stars who've had their own share of challenges that come from doing such scenes. For example, Outlander’s Caitriona Balfe struggled with nude scenes due to being self-conscious about how audiences would view her body.
Sydney Sweeney spoke about being disgusted by how the internet treated her Euphoria nude scenes, as users would actually tag her family members in such posts on social media. While stars can’t control judgment when they do nude scenes, they ideally shouldn’t have to live in fear of how these explicit scenes could impact their private life.
When it comes to Emmy Rossum, she's now reached a new period in her life, though. Since leaving Shameless after its ninth season in 2019, she's taken on different roles. Her personal life has also flourished, as she married writer/director/producer Sam Esmail in 2017 and has since welcomed two children with him. Although Rossum's early dating days are behind her now, it's still admirable of her to speak so candidly about the pitfalls she experienced.
You can watch Emmy Rossum give her unflinching performance in Shameless, as all 11 seasons can be streamed with a Netflix subscription. You can also watch Rossum’s latest show, Furious, by using a Hulu subscription.
