William H Macy Encouraged Cameron Monaghan Not To Leave ‘Shameless’
As it turns out, fans of Shameless weren’t the only ones unhappy with Cameron Monaghan’s decision to exit the show.
Shameless star William H. Macy – known for his role as the questionable patriarchal figure Frank Gallagher – recently opened up about his shock and disappointment when he learned Cameron would be exiting his role as TV son, Ian.
Just 17-years-old when the Showtime series featuring the dysfunctional Gallagher family debuted back in January of 2011, Monaghan transitioned from being a teenage actor to being an adult actor during the production of Shameless.
After nine seasons of playing the role of Ian Gallagher, Cameron broke the heart of Shameless fans everywhere when he made the decision to exit the show.
As Season 9 returns from winter break tonight, Parade recently caught up with Macy to get the inside scoop on the second half of the season. During the interview, the 68-year-old actor admitted that he gave Cameron a “gentle” push not to leave the show.
“When I found out that Cam was leaving, I was really upset. I didn’t like it. In a very gentle way, I tried to talk him out of it just actor to actor,” Macy explained during the interview.
Similar to the reaction he had when he learned of Emmy Rossum’s – who played the role of his daughter, Fiona – decision to leave the show this season as well, Macy did admit to understanding the young actor and actresses’ desires to move on with their careers.
“Both Emmy and Cam are magnificent actors and they’ve got big careers ahead of them. I totally get that they want to get to it. They’ve done Shameless,” he added.
William H. Macy Called Emmy Rossum's "Shameless" Departure "Frightening" And Now I'm Crying https://t.co/WSriwkQHNy
— BuzzFeed (@BuzzFeed) January 17, 2019
Macy continued to explain that leaving the series wouldn’t make sense for him the same way it made sense for his younger co-stars, as he was no longer in the prime of his career.
He proceeded to give fans a little relief as he revealed he was in a solid place and ready to push forward with Shameless for a few more years.
“I like the steadiness of it, so I’m good for another year or two at least, especially since the writers continue to evolve and continue to write really challenging, wonderful scripts.”
As fans of the series know, Season 9 returns to Showtime tonight. Cameron exited the show during the first half of the season, and Emmy Rossum is slated to exit during the season half of the season.
We’re baaaaaaaack. #Shameless returns this Sunday. Don’t miss it at 9pm #OnlyOnShowtime pic.twitter.com/Yeme3UnYgO
— William H. Macy (@WilliamHMacy) January 18, 2019
While Macy has insisted in multiple interviews that he believes the series can continue despite losing two regular cast members, Showtime has yet to renew the series for Season 10.
