Emmy Rossum Explains Why Her First Marriage At 21 Was An Impulsive Mistake

Emmy Rossum kept her first marriage a secret from almost everyone in her life, including her mother.

The actress appeared on Alex Cooper’s Call Her Daddy podcast and reflected on her year-long marriage to Justin Siegel, which ended in September 2009.

Rossum said she kept the marriage hidden because she sensed early on that it would not work. “I knew in my gut it wasn’t right,” she said.

Rossum described how the relationship began. “I started dating Justin, and he worked at Interscope Records that I was signed to. And we were dating for maybe a couple months. We liked each other,” she said.

The marriage came together impulsively, just as Rossum was preparing to leave for the set of Dragonball Evolution in Mexico. Siegel was worried that their spark would fizzle due to the long distance, thus suggesting the idea of marriage as an alternative to breaking up over the distance.

Rossum recalled, “I remember the day that I was going away to make the movie. He said something to me like, ‘I don’t know if the relationship is gonna survive the distance. So maybe we should break up or get married.’”

She acknowledged her younger self was not fully on board but did not want to face another heartbreak.

“I literally had a flight that night to Durango, Mexico,” the Shameless star said, adding, “At that moment, I thought to myself, ‘Well, I’m just coming off these two really rough heartbreaks.’ Abandonment is my core wound. I don’t want that. That hurts me. And my 21-year-old brain thought, ‘You know. Divorce doesn’t seem that complicated. Like, it’s probably pretty straightforward.’”

Rossum revealed that it was basically a shotgun wedding that didn’t involve their friends or family or even a proper wedding gown. “(Siegel) literally printed out a marriage contract online and got some guy on the internet to come over (to officiate the wedding).”

She grabbed a white turtleneck from her closet. “Literally not hearing the smoke detector in my head being like, ‘Don’t do this. You don’t have to do this,’” she added.

Rossum did not tell her friends or family, including her mother, Cheryl Rossum. It was only after returning from the shoot that she realized the relationship was over. She described telling her mother afterwards. “I told my mom, ‘Hey, I’m breaking up with Justin, and I need a lawyer.’ She was like, ‘You did not.’ I was like, ‘I did.’”

Rossum contrasted that experience with her relationship with Mr. Robot creator Sam Esmail, whom she married in May 2017. The two met while working together on Esmail’s 2014 movie Comet.

Revealing how Esmail confessed having feelings for her, Rossum said, “(He said) I’ve just been to therapy and I really have to get this off my chest, ‘Coddle and I talked about this and I just have to tell you that I love you.’ We hadn’t even started the movie yet. I was like, ‘Huh?’ I did not say it back. I did not know how I felt.” About a week later, she told him, “I think I love you too.”

Rossum describes the relationship with Esmail as a "slow burn,” a deliberate contrast to her impulsive first marriage. The couple share a daughter and a son and live in New York City.