I love having curly hair; always have, always will. It’s such a gift! The bounce, the presence, the in it gives me with poodles — curly hair has been a constant source of joy in my life. My only befuddlement has been, why do so many people spend an inordinate amount of time and effort straightening it? (I’m looking at you, Kidman!) And yes of course I was among those who were vehemently indignant that Anne Hathaway’s royal makeover in The Princess Diaries involved straightening her hair (instead of getting those curls the leave-in moisturizing product they were crying out for!). Well, as the wise man once said: the arc of the follicle universe is long and wavy, but it bends toward curly. Just like with the revolution against fashion stilts (aka high heels; every day our numbers are growing), so too are women reclaiming ownership and love for their natural curls.
Case in point: Emmy Rossum. Emmy looked lovely at the Emmy Awards in a Julie de Libran gown, but it was her hair and face card that stole the show. The same can be said for the Innovator Awards she attended in NYC last week. While on the red blue carpet, a reporter asked Emmy if the humidity was a problem for her hair (we’ve had some days approach the 70s here, I have yet to abandon sandals for the season). Emmy’s response was an elegant schooling in curly hair pride.
Emmy Rossum is in her curly-hair era.
When Page Six Style jokingly asked about her hair getting frizzy in the humidity, the actress, 40, got serious.
“Yeah, but I like that,” she told us on the WSJ Magazine Innovator Awards 2026 red carpet.
“I embrace my wholeness,” Rossum continued, “my whole ethnicity, my specificity of texture. I think it’s important to step fully into who we are and not, you know, make ourselves smaller than we need to be.”
Rossum, who looked fabulous in a black sparkling Hermès gown, can be seen rocking her natural curls in the Hulu series “Furious.”
“There is an emotional intent there for me to be able to be more of my private self in public,” Rossum told People at the “Furious” premiere in July.
“I think it’s important for me to feel empowered in my authenticity and my uniqueness,” she explains. “And every time someone says that they like it, even though that shouldn’t be making me feel better, it does.”
This comes after years of chemically straightening her locks.
In a 2022 Instagram video for Vogue, the “Shameless” alum shared how her perception of her hair has changed.
“What I love about curly hair, I think that it projects a confidence,” she said. “For so many years, I straightened my hair. I keratin-ed my hair. I would flat-iron and blow-dry and try to kind of contort this into a different ideal of beauty.”
“And finally, embracing my natural hair is something that now makes me feel so unique,” she added.
The revelation was partly due in part to her daughter, whom she welcomed with husband Sam Esmail in 2021.
“I also had a daughter, and I was like, you know, I should just start wearing my hair the way it is,” she told Kelly Clarkson on Clarkson’s talk show. “Why should I tell her that she should make her hair look [like] anything other than how it grows out of her head?”
“Embracing my natural hair is something that now makes me feel so unique.” Exactly! It’s the uniqueness of curly hair that’s always made me love it and eternally grateful to have it. And good for Emmy for choosing to set a curly-positive example for her daughter. I can kind of relate: my long-haired Chihuahua My Guy has the most darling set of curls framing his face, but only in that one place. It’s like he did a small test sample of getting a perm, and it’s freaking adorable. In other Emmy news, I guess I should check out Furious, huh? Celebitchy said it was dark, but I can do dark. Plus the series is from writer/producer/showrunner Elizabeth Meriwether, whose credits include New Girl, The Dropout (which I bet is getting a lot of rewatches thanks to the Elizabeth Holmes documentary), and my favorite show of 2025 (and beyond!), Dying for Sex. Plus she’s adapting Britney Spears’ memoir The Woman in Me into a screenplay to be directed by Jon M. Chu. And she’s accomplished all that, despite not having curly hair.
Photos credit: Lucia Sabatelli/INSTARimages, Jacob Lewis/INSTARimages, Roger Wong/INSTARimages, Image Press Agency/Avalon
That’s one glorious mane she has!
I would sell my kidney for this hair!!!! Its beautiful
I’ll see your kidney and raise you a testicle (uh, someone else’s, of course). I love, love, love curly hair, and her hair is glorious, sexy and vibrant.
I would kill for Emmy’s hair
I looove curly hair! I know it can be difficult to take care of, but it is gorgeous. Mine has wave, but sadly that is all.
I know the grass always seems to be greener on the other side, but I love curly hair and I would be ecstatic to have hers. Mine is stick straight and I’ve always thought curls were beautiful and romantic.
It’s always the same story. People with curly hair hate it and people who don’t have curly hair wish they had it. I love her hair and she was great in Furious!!
Three cheers for being her authentic self! People can wear their hair (etc.) how they want, but it’s sad when people feel like they have to suppress their wants in order to fit in.
” And she’s accomplished all that, despite not having curly hair.” Reader, I cackled.
Emmy looks incredibly sultry/sexy with those curls. Love the highlights as well. Not too much, not too little, just the right amount.
That is some GLORIOUS hair!
I remember when Keri Russell was famous for her beautiful curly hair. She hasn’t worn it curly in many years, but it would be so interesting to see. Emmy has gorgeous hair. I have curly hair, but not nearly as thick or curly as hers, and it definitely takes some work for it to look nice. I always wear it curly, but I can’t just get out of the shower and leave it.
Love curly hair! It’s gorgeous.
My hair decided at 34 that curls/waves were the future so now I have curls after a life of mostly straight hair. Love the look, not the biggest fan of the extra work
I have curly hair. I wore it natural most of the time when I was younger, but since I hit 50 I’ve straightened or at least smoothed it. It just doesn’t look as good in it’s factory setting any more for some reason. My goal is to look neater now. But I think Emme’s is gorgeous.
Has anyone watched her show, “Furious?” Rossum is so good (as she was in “Shameless”).
Oh, I watched it – it was terrific! We had a whole watching group with my pilates group and everyone really thought it was top notch.
Two things can be true: she looks great and she’s also an entitled cod to work with
I remember Lainey often mentioning how “difficult” her personality was on sets. I’m curious to hear if she’s changed at all.
Her hair is really beautiful.
Gorgeous.
Love it!!! She looks wayyyy better with her natural curls – beautiful, healthy hair.
Her hair is gorgeous!
I can’t believe that was hiding under the straight styles she’d been wearing.
Part of why it looks fabulous is that is so thick too.
I’ve got wavy/curly hair but it’s a combo of fine and thin (from genetics, hormones, stress) PLUS the hair on my crown tends to be much less wavy than the rest, so unless I keep it pretty short and manually curl some sections, it tends to default to a bed head/caught in a light rain look when I try to let my natural waves go free.
(One of these days I want to see someone about the thin hair part, if I can find a good doc … my current derm is all about the Nutrafol, which helped a bit, but not interested in looking further… but life keeps getting in the way. )