Emmy Rossum: I Was Definitely a 'Creative Geek' in School

By Jeanne Wolf

Emmy Rossum has sung with the "Phantom of the Opera," gone down with the ship in "Poseidon," and faced the end of the world in "The Day After Tomorrow." Now she's exploring new territory in the very low-budget "Dare."

In the film, Rossum gets her first sex scene playing a high school student who loses her virginity to the class bad boy. And that's only the beginning. Parade.com's Jeanne Wolf found out why Rossum is downplaying her first foray into big-screen passion.

Don't expect to see her naked: "I think the sexuality in this movie is used to show kids discovering themselves. There's no real nudity. It's not like explicitly focusing on boobs and other body parts. It's very awkward. I mean, there are moments of awkward funniness in life and sex when you're young in high school. I could connect with that."

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But that didn't mean it was easy: "Doing my first sex scene was definitely awkward, especially with a bunch of crew members watching. But, by the time that we shot those scenes, everyone in the cast had all become really close. We were on such a limited budget that we didn't have trailers and just hung out on set. Some of my best friends came from making this film, and half of them are staying at my house right now."

What she's like off the set: "I push myself out of my comfort zone a lot of time in my work, but not necessarily in my life. I lead a pretty normal existence. Everything around me is kind of a little hyper-normal sometimes, but I still do my laundry and make my bed and stuff. So my life is not that abnormal."

Photos: Emmy Rossum's Sweet Tooth

OK, there was one time ... :"When I was 15, my friends were having a pool party in Manhattan in an indoor pool. We ordered Chinese takeout, and when the delivery boy came to the door we were like in our bikinis in the middle of winter, soaking wet. I think he was super confused. So on a dare, my friend said, 'We should get that reaction out of more people.' She was like, 'Let's run down Madison Avenue without our shoes on soaking wet in our bikinis in the middle of winter.' So I did it with a bunch of my friends. We have pictures, which I hope will never surface. Please don't let them show up on TMZ."

A perfect high-school kid: "I was definitely a creative geek. I was short and kind of pudgy. No one believes that, but it's true. I loved music and I loved musicals and I just walked around singing all the time and pretending to play drums on my desk. I think that's why my second grade teacher sent me to audition for the opera. She was like, 'You have way too much energy; you can not sit still in the classroom.' But, I was kind of a kiss-ass to my teacher. I always wanted to be perfect when I was younger."

Well, there was one time ... : "I hadn't studied enough for a test, so I wrote all the answers that I thought my teacher would ask on my hand and I totally aced it. Later on during class, being the kiss-ass that I was, when the teacher asked a question I raised my hand really, really high, and she said, 'What's that on your hand?' So I got busted for cheating."

Still pushing herself: "I think it's easy to become a workaholic. I'm definitely prone to it. I love to work, I love to be on set, I love the family environment that I didn't have growing up because my parents were divorced when I was quite young. So it's a conscious decision to only work on projects that mean something to me that I think are going to be fun to make. I just have to be careful not to burn myself out too fast."

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Another album is in the works: "I'm still writing and thinking and dreaming, trying to figure out exactly what kind of tone I would want in my next record. I feel like my music is an opportunity for me to not be playing a character, but to really show everyone my heart and soul and to find for myself as well. I think writing the songs helps me focus on what's important to me in life."

Turkey day at her house: "If the bird gets burned, I'll order Chinese or pizza. I'm like, 'Hey, you didn't know? Pizza's the new thing for Thanksgiving. It's like the new turducken.' I have all the stragglers at my house, an amalgamation of estranged people. Anyone who doesn't have anywhere to go comes over. I make sweet potato pie souffle and orange shells, so that's my designated job. I can't handle the turkey. It's too overwhelming."