Nearly 10 years later, Shameless star Emmy Rossum has opened up about her behind-the-scenes fight for pay equity. The Golden Globe nominee recently recalled that she “was shook” when her 2016 negotiations for a raise on the Showtime series went public, noting that she “certainly didn’t want” to impact her fellow cast and crew amid the discussions.
Rossum’s push for equal pay actually began years earlier, back when Season 3 was in the works. At the time, her team believed the show’s ratings and her growing fan base gave her a strong case to match William H. Macy’s salary, but the request was turned down. Macy, who came into the series with far more industry experience, had originally commanded the higher paycheck, a gap Rossum says made sense in the beginning, given how untested she was as a leading actress at the time.
By the time Season 8 negotiations rolled around, though, Fiona Gallagher had firmly become the emotional center of the show alongside Frank, and Rossum felt the numbers no longer reflected her role. When talks broke down and the story leaked to the press in December 2016, she braced for backlash, instead, public support flipped almost overnight, with fans questioning why she hadn’t already been paid on par with her co-star. The standoff ended within a day of going public, closing out a fight Rossum had been quietly waging for years.
