When Emmy Rossum's Fiona Gallagher left Shameless, fans couldn't help but speculate. They wondered why one of the most important characters on the show was leaving. Of course, the quality of John Wells' Showtime series, which was based on a British show of the same name, started to go downhill at a certain point. And yet, most of the rest of the cast stuck around. Even when the impressively wealthy Cameron Monaghan decided to give up playing Ian Gallagher, he eventually came back. But Emmy didn't. Not even for the finale. While this has been partially blamed on the global pandemic and the restrictions associated with it, not all Shameless fans bought the excuse.
With Emma Kenney's recent bombshell comments about Emmy Rossum's on-set activities, fans are wondering if she actually left the show on bad terms. Even if that's not the case, it has caused everyone to reevaluate the true relationship Emmy had with each of her co-stars. Here's what we know...
Emma Kenney's Comments On "Call Her Daddy" Reveal A lot About The On-Set Dynamics
In order to truly understand how the entire cast of Shameless really felt about Emmy, you have to dissect Emma Kenney's comments. In October 2021, Emma went on the "Call Her Daddy" podcast and spilled a lot of tea about her experience making the beloved comedy/drama. But most of the attention from the press was regarding her comments about her on-screen sister, Emmy Rossum.
In the interview, Emma explained that the dynamic between the two was complicated, to say the least. Especially in the earliest years on the show when Emma was extremely young, entering the world of showbusiness thanks to successfully nailing the audition for Debbie Gallagher.
"We were both so young, I was obviously a lot younger. There were times where she would try to be a good influence and then there were times where she'd be blatantly giving me not the best advice," Emma Kenney said to "Call Her Daddy" host Alex Cooper. "Maybe she was struggling with her own inner problems and taking it out on other people, but we all handle situations differently."
Emma seemed to be claiming that Emmy was extremely challenging on set and also that she could be somewhat manipulative. However, Emma also claims that people were trying to pit the two against each other as they were the only two women in the Gallagher family.
"I was 9 and she was over 10 years older than me, so I'm like why is there a weird competition here when I'm not trying to compete? I don't know if it was other people on set creating that, or if it was her creating it, but I know I wasn't creating it."
According to some Reddit threads, fans have been wondering about Emmy's true nature for years and stated that Shameless showrunner, John Wells, originally didn't even want to hire Emmy. This is because she apparently had a negative reputation in Hollywood for being overly demanding and having a bad attitude. However, she could act like nobody else and her excellent take on Fiona landed her the role.
When Emmy decided to leave Shameless after nine seasons, Emma claimed that the atmosphere on set immediately changed as Emmy could be challenging to deal with.
"It was weird at first for sure but it also — the set became a little bit more of a positive place, I'm not gonna lie," Emma admitted. "I remember pre [Rossum] leaving, I'd go to set some days and I'd be very anxious about having a scene with her because if she had a bad day, she made it a bad day for everybody."
Still, there wasn't purely hatred in Emma's heart for Emmy as she also said, "I have a lot of love for Emmy, I've known her for so long. We haven't spoken in years... but that's okay. I have a lot of love for her, and I hope that she finds her happiness."
So, What About The Rest Of The Cast?
To be fair, the rest of the cast of Shameless have done an excellent job of keeping their mouths shut about Emmy Rossum. Not only have they not shaded her in the way that Emma publicly did, but they also haven't even commented on what Emma said on "Call Her Daddy". Then again, it doesn't seem as though many of the cast members have maintained a close relationship with Emmy, which does speak volumes.
Unlike other cast members, Emmy seems to have a different life than the rest of her Shameless family. Even William H. Macy appears to hang with the cast more than she does. A quick look at each cast member's Instagram shows that many of them still spend time with one another. And when they don't, they're constantly commenting on each other's photos... But Emmy... not so much.
This is with two or three major exceptions. Shanola Hampton (who played Veronica) and Jeremy Allen White (Lip) have made posts about Emmy and reached out in a way that shows that they care. Additionally, William H. Macy has said some pretty incredible things about Emmy, particularly her acting talents. Many of his comments were made around the time Emmy resigned from the show.
It's clear that not everything on the set with Emmy Rossum was positive. And the fact that she hasn't maintained a close relationship with the cast in the way that they have with each other is telling. However, we are only being presented a part of a much larger story. So, it's hard to fully judge the situation. What is clear, Emmy's colleagues respected her impact on the show and were upset when she left. But it's also clear that her presence negatively impacted at least one of her co-stars.