Jeremy Allen White ‘Very Sad’ About Emmy Rossum’s ‘Shameless’ Exit


As most Shameless fans know by now, Season 9 is set to be the last season with the character Fiona Gallagher, played by Emmy Rossum, as she recently announced she is leaving the show. While a lot of fans were devastated over this news – and expressed concern over whether the series could survive without her – it appears as if fans aren’t alone in having a hard time with this news.

Variety recently caught up with Jeremy Allen White, who plays the role of Fiona’s brother Lip Gallagher, to see how he feels about Emmy leaving the show. Speaking to Marc Malkin of Variety during the Toronto Film Festival premiere of White’s new TV series titled Homecoming, Jeremy agreed the news was “very sad.”

“I mean, nine years we’ve all grown up together. It’s gonna be hard,” the actor continued to explain. The first season of Shameless premiered nine years ago in January of 2011. Born on February 17, Jeremy was just 18-years-old when the series kicked off. His television sister, Emmy, was 22-years-old at the premiere of Season 1. So, Jeremy and Emmy entered adulthood together during the nine years they spent working on Shameless.

Allen did clarify to Variety that he did not blame Rossum for her decision to walk away from the series. “I can’t fault Emmy. I think she’s ready to leave,” he explained.

The Shameless star also noted he does not believe Rossum is a character that can be properly replaced. So, the cast will have to “keep trying” to push forward after her exit.

“They’ll never be able to find actors that can fill her shoes, so we’ll just have to keep trying.”

As the Inquisitr has previously reported, Jeremy isn’t the only member of the Shameless cast to come forward with their thoughts on Emmy’s exit. William H. Macy, who plays the role of Emmy’s and Jeremy’s father Frank Gallagher, revealed the cast and crew of the series had been expecting the departure of Emmy for some time.

Macy clarified that Emmy is young, in the prime of her career, and “made the right decision.” He looks forward to seeing what his television daughter does with her future.

“I tell you, when you get to season 9 and you think of [whether] to keep going, it’s daunting. It’s hard not to think of: ‘What would my life be post-Shameless?’ And part of it is very frightening and part of it is very exciting. She’s young and I think she’s made the right choice. She’s got another show that she’s an executive producer on, so she’s going right into something and she wants to branch out. Plus, she just got married. I wish her well. I can’t wait to see what she’s going to do next.”

While fans do have to brace themselves for the departure of Emmy, they still get to embrace Fiona Gallagher for one more season. Season 9 is scheduled to premiere tomorrow night only on Showtime. At this time, it is unclear how Rossum’s character will exit the show.

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