Everything the Actress Has Said About Being a Mother

Actress Emmy Rossum is head over heels for her two children.

The Shameless star and her husband, Sam Esmail, began dating after meeting on the set of Comet, which he directed and she starred in. The couple got engaged three years later in 2015 and tied the knot in May 2017 at the Central Synagogue in New York City.

Rossum and Esmail surprised fans in May 2021 by announcing the birth of their first child — a daughter. In April 2023, their son was born. Since then, Rossum has spoken about her love of being a mom.

“I love it, it’s incredible,” she shared on the Today show in November 2024. “It’s such a journey … a responsibility of figuring out what kind of world do we want to leave for our children. How do we help shape them and give them the tools to survive on their own? To be confident and to embrace their uniqueness?”

She went on to share how becoming a mother had made her less selfish and more accommodating. “Just generosity of spirit,” Rossum shared, of what her children have taught her. “Realizing that these little tiny humans … they need you.”

From their births to their family’s favorite activities, here’s everything Emmy Rossum has said about her two children.

Rossum and Esmail welcomed their daughter in May 2021

Rossum surprised fans by announcing that she’d given birth in May 2021.

“5.24.21,” she captioned an Instagram carousel of two maternity photos and one of her daughter’s tiny footprints. “On a sunny Monday morning, at 8:13AM, we welcomed our daughter into the world.”

Four months later, Rossum gave fans some insight into her pregnancy and labor by sharing throwback pregnancy photos on her Instagram Stories in honor of Labor Day. “A pic of all the vessels in my face I broke pushing in labor,” she wrote on one selfie.

Another showed her watching a basketball game from an exercise ball. “If you know me, you know I love the Knicks… So of course I early labored over a ball during one of the big games,” Rossum wrote.

One weird craving even gave her a hint that she was about to go into labor. “Earlier in the day I had [felt] motivated to go out and take down a bucket of chicken wings,” Rossum shared. “I’ve never had a chicken wing in my life so I figured I was going into labor… Then ordered a sandwich. Then Pad Thai. Then baby. Happy Labor Day.”

Rossum almost gave birth to her first child in an Uber

One year after welcoming her daughter, Rossum shared more details from the birth while co-hosting Live with Kelly and Ryan alongside Ryan Seacrest.

“I gave birth almost a year ago today in New York and went into labor and took an Uber to the hospital,” she explained. “My worst nightmare … I had this [mental] picture of my holding on [handle above the door] in the car with the baby coming out in the Uber.”

Rossum shared that the driver was “lovely and considerate” — which was not ideal for the situation at hand. “I want to go,” she said. “If it’s an orange [light], just take that as a green and go.”

The Day After Tomorrow star’s labor “progressed very quickly” and she later realized how dangerously close she was to her nightmare coming true. “I was actually nine centimeters dilated at that point, so real close,” she said. “I was basically 10 minutes away from having a child.”

Rossum learned she was pregnant with her son while filming The Crowded Room

Rossum starred in the 2023 limited series The Crowded Room as the mother of Tom Holland’s character. The actress said she was drawn to the role because of the relationship between the mother and son.

“[I] fell in love …. with their closeness and everything that they’re grieving in later episodes,” she told Entertainment Tonight in June 2023.

The experience “brought up a lot” of feelings for Rossum, who learned she was about to become a mom for the second time while on set.

“Finding out during our last couple episodes that I was pregnant with my son, who was born 8 weeks ago, it brings up a lot about our imperfections as people, the unrealistic expectations that we place on ourselves, and how we are really just a product of our own upbringings,” she said.

Rossum added, “I think the show has a lot to say about love and empathy and understanding of those who are different than we are.”

Rossum and Esmail welcomed their son in April 2023

Rossum and Esmail’s son was born on April 5, 2023.

“On a foggy Wednesday morning, our son was born,” the couple captioned an Instagram post that included a photo of Rossum’s bump, a close-up of her son’s face, a picture of his footprints and details of his birth.

Rossum and Esmail’s daughter appeared to quickly take to being a big sister. One month later, the actress shared a photo of the little girl sweetly holding her baby brother with the help of her mom.

Rossum took four years off of acting to raise her kids

In November 2024, Rossum opened up on the Today show about taking a break from acting to focus on being a mom.

“You did something really cool, you took time off to spend a lot of time raising your kids, and now 4 years later, here we are,” host Hoda Kotb said before asking how Rossum felt reentering the entertainment world.

“It’s incredible,” Rossum said. “Especially being on-stage in a live theater performance, there’s nothing quite like it. It really has reaffirmed my love of this art, it is incredible.”

Rossum, who began acting as a child, said she was thrilled to be working in the field she loves again. “I loved performing, I loved being part of a company, I just loved telling stories,” she explained. “I feel so grateful that I get to do this.”

Rossum helps out at her daughter’s school

When she’s not acting, Rossum is happy to help out at her daughter’s school.

“I am like the third string backup,” she explained on Today of her substitute teaching. “Like a backup, backup, third string teacher.”

When asked if the kids listen to her, Rossum said it was a pretty easy gig. “You’re kind of like an exciting novelty in the classroom, because they are used to their teachers and you’re the new, kind of, backup teacher,” she said.

Rossum’s first Mother’s Day as a parent helped her reflect on her relationship with her own mother

Rossum often talks about her love for her mother, who was a single mom throughout the actress’ childhood. In 2017, she penned an open letter on Facebook sharing how the experience impacted her. Though she admitted that Father’s Days and father-daughter dances were hard for her, Rossum wrote that was so grateful for her mother.

“She really was both a mother and a father for me,” the actress wrote. “She was always enough. She is enough. She wasn’t perfect, no one is, but for me she was the best mom ever … So I suppose this is a public thank you note of sorts.”

That special relationship only got stronger when Rossum became a mom herself. On her first Mother’s Day as a parent in May 2022, she shared a sweet photo with her mom and wrote, “For my mother, strong, bold, brave, funny, who can master just about any skill she puts her mind to … Today takes on new meaning as I join for the first time on this Mother’s Day.”

Rossum and her daughter share this adorable trait

In February 2023, Rossum gave fans a rare glimpse of her daughter and shared a sweet trait that they have in common.

The actress first posted a snap of herself that showed off her natural long curly hair after a “winter air dry” session. She then shared a photo of her little girl with her own ringlets on full display.

Rossum’s daughter helped her make “mom friends”

In May 2022, Rossum shared that her daughter was helping her make new friends.

“She made all these friends at the park in the playground, so now I have mom friends which is so nice,” she said on Live with Kelly and Ryan. “So we’re going to have a music party with tambourines and cupcakes in the park.”

The parents swapped ideas and came up with some cute activities for their kids to do together, even though the kids weren’t old enough to understand them yet. “You know, they’re little, they don’t really know what’s going on,” she said. “So it’s more for us.”