Shameless star Emmy Rossum slams 'misconception' about why she left show after nine seasons
When it comes to American adaptations of UK shows, there is a very small number that actually managed to stick the landing.
For every US version of The Office there were ten US versions of shows that more resembled the failed adaption of The Inbetweeners (widely considered one of the worst pilot episodes ever made) where the humour and drama just didn’t translate.
One of the undeniable best versions of this however was the American version of iconic TV show Shameless, which ran for 11 seasons just like the British version.
Moving from Manchester to Chicago, the US series placed a much heavier emphasis throughout the show on the Gallagher family outside of Frank. In the UK version Fiona is gone by the end of season two, Lip leaves after season four, Debbie and Ian are gone after season six and seven respectively, whilst Carl leaves after season nine.
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In the US version however, which spawned a huge celebrity star in Jeremy Allen White, the Gallaghers remain huge parts of the show from start to finish, with the entire family making it all 11 seasons – except for Fiona.
Emmy Rossum played the character for 110 episodes and Fiona was the lifeblood of the show, but season nine finishes with her finally lucking out and using a new windfall to leave Chicago and start her life fresh.
Rumours have flown around about what caused this split, with many assuming it was linked to a public pay dispute she had in which she demanded parity in her wages with her fellow co-star William H Macy.
Speaking out on the Call Her Daddy podcast however, she has cleared up rumours about this, as well as slamming another rumour that she quit to ‘go and have babies’.
Discussing leaving after season nine, Rossum said: “I wanted to stay in the job. I loved the job. I wasn’t walking away from the job.
“I loved the job until it felt like there wasn't enough juice to squeeze out of the lemon. We had made 110 episodes and by the time I left and they offered us two more years I had already started my production company. I had set up my first show [Angelyne] and I was green lit and getting ready to make it.”
She stated that, when she was offered two more years, she felt ‘beholden to the other job’.
The now 39-year-old actor continued, adding: “I think a common misconception is I left to go have babies. That's could not be further from the truth.
“I left to go make the show I had been developing that our showrunner John Wells had encouraged me to kind of get in the driver's seat of my own career and make my own shows and make things. I left with a lot of grief and sorrow because I would I would miss all those people and I couldn't believe that they were going to go on the journey without me. But I was also really excited. I felt like I was launching and getting ready to start this new chapter.”
Rossum confirmed that her pay dispute came after seasons of being the co-lead in the show with William H Macy, leading her to demand a higher salary than him in season eight and nine to compensate for this.
She ended up being paid $350,000 an episode towards the end of her run, saying: “My focus is never on money. It's on what's fair and what's right. And I believe that people should be paid for their labour. It was really about being valued equally when I was doing equal work.”
Topics: TV and Film, TV, Money, Celebrity
Michael Slavin