Aurora Starchild
You may know Emmy Rossum as Fiona Gallagher from Shameless, but the virtuoso has been making waves since the early 90s. The singer, actress, and composer is also a director and producer — a multihyphenate beauty, profoundly talented at what she shares with the world. Rossum is also a mother to two children and has an equally successful husband. Meet Sam Esmail, Emmy Rossum’s hubby of six years.
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Emmy Rossum Met Sam Esmail on the Set of Comet
Emmy Rossum’s full name is Emmanuelle Grey Rossum. She was born on September 12, 1986, in New York City. Raised by her single mother Cheryl, the now 36-year-old got her start in performance when she was accepted into the New York Metropolitan Opera at age 7. She played the original Abigail Williams in As the World Turns and has starred in blockbusters like The Day After Tomorrow and The Phantom of the Opera, the latter which earned her a Golden Globe nomination for Best Actress.
As a child, Rossum was able to sing operas in six languages. From youth to adulthood, she has performed with icons like Plácido Domingo, Luciano Pavarotti, and Dolly Parton. In addition to her acting career on and off stage, she has released three studio albums and five music videos. She starred in the comedy Shameless from 2011-2019 and played the titular role in Angelyne in 2022.
Rossum Has Been Married Twice
Emmy Rossum has been married twice. Her first husband was music producer Justin Siegel. The two married in secret in 2008 but divorced the following year. In 2013, she met her future husband while working on the set of Comet. Sam Esmail was the writer and director, and the two began dating. They became engaged in 2015, married in 2017, and have two children together.
Sam Esmail Has Multiple Degrees in Film and Tech
Sam Esmail was born on September 17, 1977, in Hoboken, New Jersey. He is one of four children to Egyptian immigrant parents. Esmail’s family moved several times during his childhood: to South Carolina, North Carolina, and eventually back to New Jersey. He graduated from the Tisch School of Arts in 1998 with degrees in computer science and film. In 2004, he graduated from the AFI Conservatory with a Master of Fine Arts in directing.
Esmail’s early career centered around the tech industry but eventually led to a focus in film. He worked as an editor on several projects and eventually began screenwriting. Despite the ongoing dedication to the craft, he had a hard time getting any of his films produced for many years. Finally, in 2014, a horror film that he co-wrote called Mockingbird was released. That same year featured his directorial debut with the rom-com Comet, starring Emmy Rossum and Justin Long.
Esmail Is a Golden Globe-Winning Producer and Director
Esmail is perhaps best known for his show Mr. Robot, in which the protagonist Elliot (Rami Malek) is loosely based on himself. The show ran from 2015 to 2019 and featured Christian Slater as Mr. Robot. Esmail wrote, created, executive produced, and directed the show, which won a Golden Globe Award in 2016. He has since executive produced several successful shows including Gaslit, Homecoming, Briarpatch, and Angelyne.
Before Meeting, Esmail Wrote Rossum a Letter: “Like a Combination of a Job Offer and Dating Profile”
Emmy Rossum once told Vogue that her first glimpse into her future husband’s personality was in the form of a letter. He had sent a letter to her along with the script for Comet, which went into humble and honest details that took Rossum by surprise.
“He was self-effacing, humble, and funny. He said that the film was inspired by a breakup and that my character would be a version of an ex-girlfriend of his,” said Rossum. “He also went into personal details about himself, like, ‘I’m 6 feet 4 inches but I hunch; I am broke and have tons of student loans‘—it was almost like a combination of a job offer and dating profile information, but it wasn’t an overture by any means other than a job overture, and I took an immediate liking to the tone and the person who was writing the letter.”
Esmail had to find the funds to make the film but eventually it all came together.
“I just thought he was one of the more unique, kind, creative, brilliant people I’d ever met. Just somebody that I always wanted to be around,” Rossum told Vogue.
He Proposed to Rossum In the Most Romantic Way
Sam Esmail proposed to Emmy Rossum in the summer of 2015. His proposal was something straight out of a rom-com, too.
“We have a tradition of reading the ‘Modern Love’ section of The New York Times every Sunday,” Rossum told Vogue. “I do a dramatic reading of it for him. Even if we’re not in the same place, I read it to him over the phone. Then one weekend we didn’t read it—I don’t remember why exactly—and the following Friday he reminded me that we hadn’t. I was actually in kind of a bad mood that day, so I said, ‘Oh, well I’ll read it eventually.’ And he said, ‘No, no, no, I think you should read it.’”
Rossum’s back hurt that day and she agreed to read the column but only if she could do so from the bath. Meanwhile, Esmail sat on the sink.
“I didn’t notice any kind of ring in his pocket, and I began to read the article, and the story is about a director who falls in love with an actress, and I started to think: Huh, that’s strange,” she said. “And then I realized that it was our love story. At first, I freaked out because I thought perhaps he had actually put it in the paper and I hadn’t seen it, and everyone knew it but me. And then, I kind of scanned to the end and it said, ‘Love, your Sam.’”
“I realized that he had gone through this whole process of writing this whole story,” Rossum recalled. “Apparently, he had called Daniel Jones at The New York Times and gotten their paper template and gotten the people there to print out a whole mock section on the bottom half. He had even put an ad for the Ralph Lauren Ricky Bag. I don’t think he knew that I particularly like that handbag, but everything was really researched and printed to a T.”
By the time the story was finished, Esmail was bending his knee. Rossum said “Yes.”
Rossum and Esmail Married in a New York Synagogue in 2017
They exchanged vows in May of 2017, at the Central Synagogue on New York City’s East 55th Street. Rossum looked stunning in a custom Carolina Herrera gown, featuring subtle shapes on its bodice inspired by the Guggenheim Museum. The wedding reception was held at the Guggenheim and a star-studded guest list included Christian Slater, Hilary Swank, and Robert Downey Junior.
Rossum told E! Online that her entire approach to the wedding was low-key. In People’s words, she was the “anti-Bridezilla.”
“I don’t really care what the dress looks like; I don’t really care what the plates look like; I don’t really care what the invitation looks like,” she said. “The only thing that’s really important to me is that we get married and there’s some kind of party.”
They Have a Son and a Daughter
The couple welcomed their first child, daughter Samantha, on May 24, 2021. Rossum shared a black and white carousel of pregnancy photos and a picture of their newborn’s footprint. Samantha arrived “on a sunny Monday morning at 8:13AM.” Their second child, a son, was born on April 5, 2023, “on a foggy Wednesday morning.”
Esmail and Rossum have kept their children’s identities fairly private, as is custom these days. They don’t share their kids’ faces on social media but there have been a couple small glimpses into their lives. Rossum shared an adorable photo of Samantha sitting on a sidewalk playing with bubbles last August, and her little girl has a gorgeous mop of curly dark brown hair like her papa.
And the family went to Disneyland over the Christmas holidays, too. Rossum shared a carousel of pictures including snaps with princesses and on rides like It’s a Small World.
“My daughter’s first time and she agrees — it is the happiest place!” Emmy wrote. “So much joy with friends, family and Star Wars!!!”
