Emmy Rossum opens up about how some ‘Shameless’ scenes have affected her dating life because men had some specific ‘preconceived notions’

Emmy Rossum recently revealed that her tenure as Fiona Gallagher on the long-running show Shameless created unexpected hurdles for her personal life. The actress, who starred on the series for nine seasons, shared that the frequent nudity required for her role led to some frustrating experiences when she was trying to date.

Rossum explained that the nature of her work often left potential partners with misguided ideas about her personality or sexual history. She opened up about these challenges during a conversation on an episode of Pretty Tough with Maria Sharapova, Variety reported. She noted that it became quite tricky because of the nudity on the show. She added, “All of the guys that I would go out with had preconceived notions of who I was or how I was sexually.”

The situations she described sound incredibly uncomfortable, especially when she encountered people who seemed to prioritize their own public image over getting to know her as a person. She recounted one specific interaction with a man who had aspirations of a political career.

The man was clearly worried that her past work might interfere with his future goals

Rossum recalled the interaction, stating, “He was like, ‘I really want to be president someday.’ And I was like, ‘Wow, that’s a great goal.’” She continued, “He’s like, ‘But I feel like running for office 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 was only 24 when she started the show. She reflected on the difficulty of growing up in front of an audience while balancing her professional and personal identity. She mentioned that you are trying to figure out who you are while coming into your own as an artist.

There is an added layer of complexity when people confuse the character with the person. She said, “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 people can get confused.”

Before she became a household name for her work on Shameless, Rossum had already built an impressive resume. She appeared in films like The Day After Tomorrow, Mystic River, and The Phantom of the Opera. Her performance in the latter even earned her a nomination for a Golden Globes Award.