Who Is Emmy Rossum's Husband? New Details On Sam Esmail
The Shameless star married the director and screenwriter in May of 2017.
Instagram We've gotten to know Emmy Rossum as Fiona Gallagher on Shameless, but who is Emmy Rossum's husband in real life?
As Rossum prepares to leave her longtime Shameless role, many speculate upon what the talented actress might bring to her audience next. Shameless is currently in its ninth season, so it’s no wonder that Rossum’s fans are invested in the eldest Gallagher sister’s life and goings-on outside of the show.
While the 32-year-old did not directly address her reasoning behind leaving her biggest and longest-running role, she took to social media to post a goodbye letter to the show, her costars, and her fans.
“This business is always an adventure, full of travel and opportunities to tell stories,” she says in the post. “Until Shameless came into my life 8 years ago, I led that kind of transient wonderful life of an actor. And I never realized how much I craved the kind of continuity that this show has given me.”
She goes on to describe how Shameless, a Showtime family dramedy, has given her a sense of family. Growing up as an only child, she says, she craved the feeling of having a large family like The Gallaghers. Playing the matriarchal big sister on Shameless afforded her that opportunity.
This leads some to wonder whether Rossum’s true reason for leaving the show is to start a large, Gallagher-esque family of her own. On May 28, 2017, she tied the knot with Sam Esmail at a New York City synagogue and has appeared to enjoy her marital bliss ever since.
While she previously noted that the two were taking life somewhat slowly, nearly a year and a half into the marriage may be enough to speculate about what the couple’s next steps are. Her husband’s career could be another possible indicator of “Fiona’s” next steps: the two have worked together previously, leading some to believe that they might have another collaboration on the horizon.
1. Who is Sam Esmail?
Emmy Rossum’s husband, 41-year-old Sam Esmail, is a screenwriter and director. According to IMDB, he is best known for his work on TV shows Mr. Robot and Homecoming. He is also the director of the movie Comet, which stars Emmy Rossum alongside Justin Long. In the movie, the two meet during a meteor shower, sparking a long-term, dazzling romance between the two. The film is set in a parallel universe, yielding to one of Esmail’s signature dream-like settings.
2. Rossum and Esmail met on the set of Comet.
In 2014, Rossum was cast in Esmail’s film, Comet, in a leading role. The two hit it off and began dating shortly after meeting. According to People, the two announced their engagement in August 2015, nearly two years after they began dating. At the time, Rossum told People about the meaning behind the vintage 1920s engagement ring that Sam Esmail gifted her.
“I don’t know the story behind it, but it’s from 1920 in Paris, so I like that I’ve inherited someone’s story, and I hope that it’s a good one.” The couple shares an appreciation for the sentimental details surrounding the relationship.
3. Esmail’s breakthrough TV show, Mr. Robot, is ending.
Mr. Robot began in 2015 and is a Golden Globe winner for Best Television series. The storyline focuses on a cybersecurity engineer who twilights as a high-caliber hacker. While Mr. Robot was perhaps Esmail’s most successful and critically-acclaimed work to date, it was rather short-lived. In August of 2018, USA Network announced that the series would be canceled in 2019, marking the end of its fourth season. This means that both Rossum and Esmail’s schedules will be free of their largest respective projects next year.
4. He isn’t Rossum’s first husband.
Before being cast in Comet, Emmy Rossum was married to music executive Justin Siegel for a year and a half before the two filed for divorce in 2009, citing “irreconcilable differences.” According to Huffington Post, she then briefly dated Counting Crows frontman Adam Duritz in 2010, then dated Shameless costar Tyler Jacob Moore for two years before splitting up in 2013.
On her marriage to Siegel, Rossum concedes that she was too young at the time of the nuptials.
"Honestly, I was so young, I don’t think I knew what marriage meant. My parents were never married, and I was teased in school and called a bastard. So the idea of marriage as safety forever was idealized in my head, and we rushed into it,” she told Cosmopolitan in a 2014 cover story. She noted that she was open to marriage in the future, getting engaged to Esmail just one year after the interview. With hindsight and maturity, she was much more prepared to marry the screenwriter and director.
Emily Van Devender is a writer and Colorado native who writes about pop culture, news and relationship advice. She is interested in politics, feminism, and psychology and enjoys photography and outdoor activities in her spare time.