Cliff Lipson/Showtime
The 'Shameless' Cast Is Crazy Busy—Find Out What They're Up to Today
It’s been more than two years since fans said goodbye to the Gallaghers, the dysfunctional but lovable family at the center of Showtime’s Shameless. The series, which ran for a decade, starred established actors like William H. Macy and Emmy Rossum, and introduced viewers to up-and-comers like (the now Emmy-nominated) Jeremy Allen White and Emma Kenney. Where is the core cast today? Turns out they’re all doing pretty well for themselves. Let’s take a look.
What is the Shameless cast up to today?
William H. Macy (Frank)
William H. Macy, who played the Gallaghers' unreliable alcoholic father, most recently appeared in an episode of ABC’s The Conners as Dan’s former high-school classmate, Smitty Cusamano. The guest role reunited him with Shameless co-star Emma Kenney, who plays Darlene’s daughter, Harrison, in the Roseanne revival.
Prior to appearing in The Conners, Macy portrayed Richard Fuisz in Hulu’s The Dropout (2022), which tells the story of disgraced Theranos founder Elizabeth Holmes. Fuisz, a former CIA agent, Harvard-educated psychiatrist, inventor and Holmes’s neighbor, famously introduced writer John Carreyrou to Theranos’s former medical director, thus providing a key source for Carreyrou to move forward with his exposé of the company.
He was recently cast alongside Maya Hawke to star in Supreme: The Battle For Roe, a 9-episode series from iHeartPodcast about the true story of the Roe v. Wade case.
Related: William H. Macy Shares the 'Excellent' Husband Move He Made for Felicity Huffman
Emma Kenney (Debbie)
Emma Kenney and Sara Gilbert in The Conners
When Emmy Kenney started playing Debbie, the Gallagher family’s precocious (and adorably crooked) kid entrepreneur, she was just 12 years old. By the time she wrapped the show, she was 22 and already starring in The Conners, which last aired its fifth season.
Emmy Rossum (Fiona)
Emmy Rossum said goodbye to playing Fiona, the Gallagher family's de facto matriarch, at the end of Season 9. She’s since had two children (a son and a daughter, both of whom she gave birth to in secret) with husband Sam Esmail and starred in Peacock’s Angelyne, which tells the true story of a Los Angeles-based woman who engineered her celebrity in the '80s by posing for mysterious billboards.
Rossum most recently appeared in The Crowded Room, a limited series from AppleTV+ that premiered June 9, 2023.
The show, which also features Tom Holland and Amanda Seyfried, is based on Daniel Keyes's 1981 novel The Minds of Billy Milligan, which tells the true story of Billy Milligan, a man with dissociative identity disorder.
Cameron Monaghan (Ian)
Cameron Monaghan, one half of Shameless's most beloved ship—Ian and Mickey—has been delighting Star Wars and video-game fans alike by voicing protagonist Cal Kestis in Star Wars Jedi: Fallen Order, which came out in 2019; and Star Wars Jedi: Survivor, which was released in April 2023.
Ethan Cutkosky (Carl)
Like his screen dad William H. Macy, Ethan Cutkosky—who played Carl, the Gallagher kid most likely to go to prison for arson—reunited with Emma Kenney for a guest spot on The Conners. In May, he released what appears to be his first single, a song called "Anyway," and he's also dabbled in fashion design with his label Khaotic Collective.
Jeremy Allen White (Lip)
Matt Dinerstein/FX
After Shameless, Jeremy Allen White broke out in a big way with his lead role in The Bear. The fast-paced series—which, like Shameless, is set in Chicago—was a critical hit and a star-making vehicle for White, who's already won a Golden Globe, SAG Award and Critics' Choice Award for his work in Season 1, and recently snagged an Emmy nod when the nominations were announced in July.
On the big screen, White will next be seen in The Iron Claw (Dec. 22), which tells the true story of the Von Erich family, a dynasty of professional wrestlers who came up in the 1980s.
Related: Can You Take the Heat? Everything to Know About The Bear Season 3
Christian Isaiah (Liam)
Christian Isaiah played Liam, the youngest of the Gallaghers, from Season 8 through the series finale. In 2022, he appeared in an episode of All American: Homecoming from creator Nkechi Okoro Carroll (keep reading for Carroll's connection to another Shameless cast member).
Shanola Hampton (Veronica)
Shanola Hampton, who played Fiona's confidant, Kev's wife and The Alibi's no-BS bartender, nabbed the lead role in NBC's missing-persons drama Found, which premiered on Oct. 3, 2023.
The show follows Hampton's Gabi Mosely, a public relations specialist who works to track down missing people (and who was once herself a missing person). But there's a twist: She's now holding her former abductor, played by Mark-Paul Gosselaar, captive in her basement.
Steve Howey (Kev)
Steve Howey, who brought us Veronica's dopey but dedicated husband, Kev, most recently starred in CBS’s True Lies, a small-screen reboot of James Cameron’s hit 1994 action comedy starring Arnold Schwarzenegger and Jamie Lee Curtis. Alas, the network announced on May 8, 2023 that the show would not get a second season.
Noel Fisher (Mickey)
Noel Fisher's Mickey started out as an aggressive, angry criminal and he ended up—well, he was still a pretty aggressive, angry criminal. But he was also sweeter and more vulnerable than he was at the beginning of the show, and fans loved him with Monaghan's Ian regardless. Fisher has gone on to guest on The Conners (who from Shameless will be next?!) and he's appeared in four episodes of The Calling. He's also been known to share book reviews on Instagram. Mickey would never!
