emmy rossum phantom of the opera kissing

Watching her in costume and full makeup, co-star Butler stood behind Schumacher at the monitor and whispered “hire her” in his ear. Lloyd Webber’s stage version premiered in London in 1986 and has since taken in more than $3.2 billion worldwide - the top-grossing stage production of all time. While they have the last word, they’re not paying me to read lines.”īased on the 1911 novel by Gaston Leroux, “Phantom” tells of a budding star caught between two powerful men: the dashing theater patron Raoul (Patrick Wilson) and the Phantom (Gerard Butler), her disfigured but charismatic mentor. I go along with directors after I agree with them. I have strong feelings about the emotions of the character and am not shy about expressing them. It’s not about control but perfectionism - my biggest vice and one of my biggest assets.

“Some actors come to the set and don’t know what scene they’re playing, but that would make me crazy. “I’m heavy on preparation,” she said, speaking at breakneck speed.

On “Phantom,” she says, Schumacher gave her creative freedom, and she was determined to make the most of the role. Self-possessed and intelligent, she admits to being “sassy” and headstrong - and makes no apologies for that. And, next month, the 18-year-old will be competing for best actress, musical or comedy, at the Golden Globe ceremony. The Broadcast Film Critics Assn also gave her a critics’ choice award. The National Board of Review called her portrayal of Christine, a young soprano at the Paris Opera who falls under the Phantom’s spell, the best breakthrough performance by an actress this year. Nothing prepared her, however, for assuming the lead roles - with two other unknowns - in Joel Schumacher’s $70-million film version of Andrew Lloyd Webber’s “The Phantom of the Opera.” Though the picture has elicited mixed reviews, Rossum has come out a winner. Two years later, she picked up pointers from a Who’s Who of Hollywood talent, playing Sean Penn’s murdered daughter in Clint Eastwood’s critically acclaimed “Mystic River.” Last summer, Rossum co-starred as a brainiac love interest in the global-warming disaster film “The Day After Tomorrow.” After a series of TV roles, the 13-year-old Rossum played a tooth-deprived Appalachian orphan in Maggie Greenwald’s “Songcatcher” - a performance the Independent Spirit Awards honored as the “best debut” of 2000.

Emmy rossum phantom of the opera kissing