'Shameless' Star Emma Kenney On Emmy Rossum Exit From Showtime Series

“We 100% felt like a family, and we still do,” said Emma Kenney of her fellow Shameless cast members. “We had such a bonding experience.”

And like a family, she says, relationships among the actors were complicated.

Kenney, now 22, spoke about her experience on the recently-wrapped Showtime series on the popular Call Her Daddy podcast today, including her interactions with co-star Emmy Rossum.

Kenney said her relationship with Rossum, who played her sister on the show, felt like a siblingship “in good and bad ways.

“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 would be blatantly giving me…not the best advice,” Kenney said. “Maybe she was struggling with her own inner problems and taking it out on other people. But we all handle situations differently.”

“Growing up I took note of — not just from her in particular — things I want to carry on my life and things I don’t want to carry on.”

Asked if she felt like she was living in Rossum’s shadow on the show Kenney replied, “I felt that dynamic for sure and I never understood it. 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.”

Rossum left the show in 2018 and Kenny said after she left “the set became a little bit more of a positive place.

“I remember pre-her 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.”

As for where their relationship stands now, Kenny says they are not in touch.

“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,” she said. “I have a lot of love for her, and I hope that she finds her happiness.”