NEW YORK: Emmy Rossum figures she was the least famous person going for the role of Christine in the film version of Andrew Lloyd Webber’s ‘The Phantom of the Opera’.

But that wasn’t the only potential roadblock to getting the part of the young soprano at the Paris Opera who becomes caught up in the teaching and music of the mysterious phantom.

“I hadn’t been singing in five years,” Rossum said. “And the kind of complexity within the character that I envisioned is not something that they normally entrust to young girls.”

Oh, and there was one other thing: “I actually confessed that I’d never seen the show to Andrew Lloyd Webber,” the 18-year-old actress recently said.

How did Lloyd Webber react? “He was happy. Because it meant that I came to the character fresh,” said Rossum, who has been nominated for a Golden Globe award for best actress in a musical or comedy for her performance in the film. — AP