Emmy Rossum says 'Shameless' nudity led to 'preconceived notions' in dating life

Emmy Rossum has opened up about how nude scenes in Shameless affected her dating life, saying some men formed “preconceived notions” about her based on her character, Fiona Gallagher.

Rossum discussed the experience with Maria Sharapova during the Sept. 16 episode of Pretty Tough. The actress starred as Fiona for nine seasons of the Showtime series, which premiered in 2011 when she was 24.

“It got quite tricky because of the nudity on the show,” Rossum said. “All of the guys that I would go out with had preconceived notions of who I was or how I was sexually.”

Rossum described the experience as “bizarre” and recalled one date with a man who had political ambitions.

According to Rossum, he was concerned about whether dating an actress known for appearing nude on Shameless could affect his future political career.

“He was like, 'I really want to be president someday.' And I was like, 'Wow, that's like a great goal,'” she recalled. “He's like, 'But I feel like running for office dating someone who's been like 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 also reflected on navigating her identity as a young actress while dealing with perceptions created by her work.

“You're trying to figure out who you are,” she said. “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 [you] because your body is your art, right? And and people can get confused.”

Rossum is now married to Mr. Robot creator Sam Esmail. The couple married in 2017 and share a five-year-old daughter and three-year-old son.

Rossum said she and Esmail share similar values, including putting family first. “We're so like-minded,” she told Sharapova. “We're so family first. We're so work second.”