Emmy Rossum opens up about why it was the right time to leave ‘Shameless’
Onward! In the new issue of Shape, Emmy Rossum opens up about her decision to leave her long-running hit series, “Shameless,” telling the magazine she’s excited to explore new projects and opportunities — and dishing on why now was the right time to say “goodbye.” “I want to leave the show while I still love it, and I know the door is open to come back if that feels right,” she says in the February cover story. “I’m also extremely proud of what I was able to accomplish off-screen, with my negotiation for equal pay and the effect that had on other women in the industry and in general.” In 2016, Emmy successfully campaigned for pay equal to what her co-star, William H. Macy, was making, shedding light on a pay gap situation that was a little ironic given the show’s premise, in which Emmy’s character, Fiona, does all the work to hold her entire family and house together while her alcoholic father, Frank, disappears for long periods of time and has a habit of ruining everything for the family when he returns. “The way I look at it is that the end of one thing is the beginning of something else. I couldn’t be more thrilled to spend time writing, directing, and seeing what other characters I want to play,” says Emmy, who directed a number of episodes since the U.S. version of the show premiered in 2011. “It’s both scary and wonderful,” she adds. Looking ahead, Emmy’s set to appear in a TV miniseries about ’80s icon Angelyne. Her husband, Sam Esmail, wrote the TV adaptation.
