Emmy Rossum reflects on 'Shameless' intimate scenes' impact on love life

Emmy Rossum is reflecting candidly on an unexpected consequence of her nine-season run playing Fiona Gallagher on Shameless, the impact its intimate scenes had on her personal dating life in her twenties. 

Speaking with Maria Sharapova on the Pretty Tough podcast, Rossum, 40, said the fallout extended well beyond the show itself. 

"It got quite tricky because of the nudity on the show," she said. 

"All of the guys that I would go out with had preconceived notions of who I was or how I was sexually."

Rossum recounted one particularly striking example of the dynamic, describing a date with a man she'd met on a plane who had political ambitions. 

"He was like, 'I really want to be president someday.' And I was like, 'Wow, that's a great goal,'" she recalled. 

"He's like, 'But I feel like running for office and dating someone 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.'" 

Rossum said she began Shameless at just 24, a time she described as an inherently difficult period to navigate identity and dating simultaneously, noting, "You're trying to figure out who you are. You're coming into your own as an artist... And people can get confused."

Rossum, who starred in Shameless from its 2011 premiere through her departure after Season 9, has since built a career including roles in The Day After Tomorrow, Mystic River and The Phantom of the Opera, which earned her a Golden Globe nomination. 

She currently stars in Furious as an FBI agent tracking a serial killer targeting Jeffrey Epstein-like predators. 

Rossum, previously married to music executive Justin Siegel from 2008 to 2010, has been married to Mr. Robot creator Sam Esmail since 2017, with whom she shares two children.