Sean Joseph
Actress Emmy Rossum jumped into her role in the limited Peacock series Angelyne with both feet. She underwent a complete transformation to capture Angelyne, a mysterious blonde bombshell who took over Los Angeles in the mid 80s with her billboards.
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Angelyne, who was born Ronia Tamar Goldberg, is a singer, actress, media personality, and model. She used a series of now iconic billboards in the Los Angeles area to catch the attention of local news outlets. The simple billboards would feature her posing suggestively with one word, “Angelyne.”
The attention the billboards created led to movie role offers, magazine interviews, and television appearances for the blonde bombshell.
The Peacock series is loosely inspired by a 2017 Hollywood Reporter article. That article revealed Angelyne’s secret past as a Polish-born daughter of Holocaust survivors. She is credited as one of the first famous for being famous people that ultimately led to the influencer culture.
I did not recognize her because she was lost in this person
As for Rossum, the 35-year-old had to undergo about four or five hours of makeup per day. She also had to bleach her eyebrows and wear 3 pound fake breasts to complete her transformation. A transformation her husband, writer and producer Sam Esmail, said left her unrecognizable.
“When I say that there are times where I did not recognize her because she was lost in this person, I really mean it. This is my wife I’m talking about. It’s kind of eerie,” says Esmail of his wife’s transformation into Angelyne.
During an interview discussing the role, Rossum revealed just how challenging it was physically to play the part of Angelyne. She detailed how she suffered from a tear duct complication due to having to wear two pairs of contact lenses. And how the fake breast she wore during filming left her with blisters.
Angelyne hit Peacock last month. Rossum has since recovered from her injuries and is now back to looking like herself.
In recent years Angelyne has turned her attention to politics. She ran from Hollywood city council back in 2002 then for governor of California in 2003. Her latest attempt at politics came in 2021 when she ran in the California gubernatorial recall election of Gavin Newsom. She received 0.5% of the vote and finished 18th out of 46.
