18 Fun Facts About Shameless (US)
If you're not watching Shameless, you totally need to. The show premiered in January 2011 and is about the Gallagher family who are definitely not your typical brood. William H. Macy plays Frank, an alcoholic who can't really keep it together long enough to raise his family… which is why his kids have to raise themselves and each other. Yup, it's definitely a dark family drama, but it's got some heart, too, and that's why fans have been captivated by it for the past eight seasons. The cast is truly all-star and Emmy Rossum, in particular, does a great job as Fiona. But everyone is really great, and it's always interesting to follow the lives of Frank and his six kids. Yup, six kids. It's one big family for sure.
Even though this show has been on for that many seasons, it's not one that is talked about as much as it probably should be. It's one of those amazing shows that is super high quality but has managed to fly under the radar. Not anymore. We're talking about facts that everyone should know about this amazing TV show. Read on to find out 18 facts we definitely didn't know about Shameless!
18 It's Loosely Based On A British TV Show With The Same Name
Shameless is actually based on a British TV show that has the same name. If we've only seen or heard of the American version, then we might not have known this.
The American version premiered in January 2011 on Showtime, and the British version was on the air from January 2004 until May 2013.It was on Channel 4.
The American version is set in Chicago, but the British one was set in Manchester and was about a working-class family.
The show did super well and critics loved it. The shows are both about the same thing: a family who don't have much but who are trying to make it. It makes sense that since it was such a success, another version would be produced, and we're glad that it was since it's such a good show.
17 The Actors Can't Use Scripts And Have To Know Their Lines Perfectly The Day Of Filming
Not while they're on set, that is. According to a story on Buzzfeed, it seems that the showrunner and creator, John Wells, doesn't want anyone to have scripts when they're on set.
It seems like the actors have to absolutely make sure that they know their lines before they start filming or rehearsing. That sounds like a lot of pressure on the one hand, but on the other, that's basically your job as an actor, right? So it's really not such a big deal. It's just interesting to know since this is something unique about the Shameless set and doesn't seem to happen on other TV sets. Maybe everyone's cool with it since it would really inspire you and motivate you to make sure that you know your lines. They probably got used to it, anyway.
16 Justin Chatwin Eats Tuna Before Intimate Scenes
Justin Chatwin and Emmy Rossum play Steve and Fiona, two characters who date each other. Before they have intimate scenes,
Justin apparently likes to eat tuna and other food that smells super bad in order to prank Emmy and have some fun.
This is pretty hilarious and definitely a fun fact to learn. We wonder if other TV couples have done something like this?! They probably have, they just don't talk about it. It's always awesome to see what we can learn about behind-the-scenes happenings of our favorite shows and movies and this is one of those things for sure. Plus, eating fish before a make-out scene is just too funny. There's really no way around it. It sounds like it's a fun set and like this kind of stuff goes on all the time.
15 Fiona Was Once Blonde And Heavy
Emmy Rossum is, of course, brunette and very lovely and delicate-looking, and her character looks like she does IRL (although a bit less girly). It turns out that at first, her character Fiona had a very different look, and it might be hard to even imagine if we're big fans of the show and have been watching since the very beginning.
At first, Fiona was supposed to be both blonde and heavy. But this was changed and the character ended up looking like Emmy does for the most part. It's interesting to think about what the show would be like if the showrunner had gone through with the original idea. The way that your main character looks (or one of your main characters) are a big deal and one of the most important elements of a show.
14 Woody Harrelson Was Supposed To Play Frank
We probably all love Woody Harrelson. It's impossible not to. Whether we're watching him in contemporary films like Zombieland or Edge Of Seventeen, or we were big fans of his show Cheers, we can agree that he's awesome in both comedic and dramatic roles.
At first, Woody Harrelson was going to play Frank Gallagher.
That might be hard to imagine since we're so used to seeing William H. Macy in that role. Woody didn't end up playing the character, mostly because the TV air date was delayed a few times.
We often hear these types of stories and it's always crazy to think that someone else was originally going to play a character. We definitely get so attached to seeing certain actors as certain characters.
13 The Pool Was In The Movie 'Cruel Intentions'
It's always super cool to learn about some crossover locations in movies and TV shows. That's the case with Shameless. There's a scene where Fiona and Steve hook up in a pool, and according to Buzzfeed, that pool was also in Cruel Intentions. It's actually a hotel pool and is located in LA at a hotel called Millennium Biltmore Hotel. If any of us go on vacation to LA, we can definitely check it out, which would be super fun.
Remember Cruel Intentions?! We probably all watched the movie starring Sarah Michelle Gellar, Reese Witherspoon, Selma Blair, and Ryan Phillippe when we were maybe a bit too young. It might have been just a bit too, um, mature for us. Yeah. Mature is the right word. But we were interested and we couldn't help but watch it.
12 Emmy Rossum Loves Playing A Not "Glam" Character
Fans of Emmy Rossum know that she's a real beauty. And her character, Fiona, is a bit less girly and more rough around the edges than the actress actually is IRL.
It turns out that's totally on purpose and, what's more, Emmy is a big fan of that. This makes a lot of sense if we think about it because actors definitely love to stretch themselves creatively and do something different. It must get kind of boring and dull if you're just playing yourself all the time, right? It's awesome that Emmy embraces her character. We might assume that if someone was playing someone less "glam" than the way that they really look, they wouldn't be a big fan, but Emmy is cool with it.
11 Veronica Has A Baby Because The Actress Does
Sometimes art imitates life and that seems to happen the most when an actress is pregnant. We love to joke about how TV shows handle pregnancies and the fact that they try to hide that the actress is expecting a baby sometimes. A character will literally be standing behind furniture and lamps in the funniest cases… and other times, they'll wear a lot of huge coats or something like that. Or they'll hold a pillow in front of their stomach.
In season four of Shameless, the character Veronica has a storyline where she's expecting a baby. And that's because the actress who plays her, Shanola Hampton, was expecting too.
This was surprising for fans because the character had been known for not being able to conceive.
10 The British Show's Creator Calls The Family "No Collar"
Paul Abbot, the creator of the British show and the showrunner for the British show, has said that instead of calling the Gallagher family "blue collar" which is a typical way to talk about working class people, they're "no collar."
He once said a very popular quote that tons of people have shared, "It's not My Name Is Earl or Roseanne. It's got a much graver level of poverty attached to it. It's not blue collar; it's no collar." This definitely makes sense to fans of the show who have seen every episode. The family is for sure very poor and there are a lot of sad storylines attached to their social status. It's hard to watch sometimes, but it's always very well done and that keeps us coming back.
9 The Show Is Filmed In Chicago And L.A.
The magic of film and television is a real thing. It can really suck to realize that some of our favorite shows and movies were literally filmed on a soundstage in L.A. and that the locations weren't what we thought. For instance, some houses aren't actually houses but random sets on a soundstage in Hollywood. But that's the way that it goes. The fact that we don't usually notice proves how good these sets are.
In the case of Shameless, the show is shot in both L.A. and Chicago. The exteriors are filmed in Chicago. Since the series is set in Chicago, it's nice to know that at least some things are filmed there, but it's definitely mostly shot in L.A like most television shows are.
8 Lip And Mandy Are Actually In Love
Jeremy Allen and Emma Greenwell play a couple on the show, Lip and Mandy, and as it turns out, they're actually dating.
The two of them seem super cute together, and there's a lot of online speculation about whether they're going to get engaged soon.
Of course it's really none of our business because we don't know these famous couples personally and they can do whatever they want. But it makes sense that people would be so attached to the idea of a TV couple actually being super and madly in love in real life. It just seems like the best thing ever to work with someone that you're in love with. It's something that a lot of us probably dream about, even though people say that working with your spouse can be really tough.
7 Four Child Actors Portrayed Liam
Liam is the youngest kid in the Gallagher family, which is why he's been played by four different actors. Yup. Four.
This happens a lot, of course, since it's not possible for someone to look like they're a whole bunch of different ages. One show that does a great job of this is, of course, This Is Us which has been praised for making Mandy Moore look both really young and then older.
A few different actors play the kids at different ages, though, from childhood to teenage years.
We're used to hearing about twins playing one character, like the Olsen twins playing Michelle Tanner on Full House, but it also happens like in the case of Shameless where four kids play one character.
6 Where Fiona Works Is Based On An IRL Restaurant
Down and out TV characters often work at a restaurant or bar. It's just a thing that seems to happen. Fiona works at a place called Patsy's Pies, and apparently, this is based on a place that actually exists. According to Buzzfeed, it's called Patsy's and is in Chicago on Lincoln Avenue. Some people say that the place has actually closed down by now.
Patsy's Pies is definitely a great name for a restaurant and definitely sounds like something from a TV show or movie. It just has that perfect alliteration going on. Fans love visiting the real life locations of coffee shops, bars, and restaurants that have been featured in TV shows and movies, but since it seems like it isn't around anymore, we might have to just settle for the version on the show.
5 In The British Show, Fiona Goes To Prison
It's hard to imagine the American version of Shameless without Fiona as the main character. Although William H. Macy's Frank is the patriarch and therefore probably the main character, Emmy Rossum seems like the focus of the show. Emmy is beloved for her portrayal of this character and she really makes the show what it is.
It turns out that in the British show, Fiona goes to prison, and so she's not really there for the entire thing.
Sure, there's probably a good reason why this creative decision was made, but it's hard to think about if we're used to the U.S. show. She's just such a staple of the series. We're definitely glad that her character stayed out of prison because we really love watching her and seeing what she gets up to next.
4 Joan Cusack Replaced Alison Janney
The character Sheila has actually been played by two different actresses. If we're big fans of Alison Janney, which we totally should be because she's the best, we might be surprised to realize that she played Sheila in the pilot.
The actress left the show after that and was replaced by another actress: Joan Cusack. Of course, these are both super amazing and talented actresses.
It would have been awesome if Alison Janney had stayed and it's been amazing to watch Joan Cusack in this part.
It's so interesting to think that even though we tend to think that one character could only ever be played by that actor, things could have looked different. Actors do seem to get replaced after pilots, though, for various reasons.
3 Canaryville Is A Real Place
Shameless is set in an area of Chicago called Canaryville, which is located on the south side. But although this is a real setting, the show isn't shot there, which may or may not be something that most people realize.
Fans might be surprised to learn that the show is mainly shot in L.A… or maybe that just makes sense since that's a typical thing. Some people might be upset that it's not actually filmed in the place where it's set, especially if that's an actual place, but there must be a lot of logical and logistical reasons why that didn't happen. It's definitely easier for shows to film in L.A. since everything is all set up there, and most actors seemed to be based in either Los Angeles or New York City.
2 Emmy Got Pranked
Some TV sets have been described as being like high school or a college dorm… and that can definitely be good or bad. Some TV casts seem to be like families and they hang out all the time and have a great time together. Others have more drama and it seems like there's a ton of conflict and tension.
Shameless seems to be a TV set that is really fun and it seems like the cast really gets along and loves each other. Apparently, Emmy Rossum was pranked once by her co-stars and they did something that was super hilarious: they put a sign on her trailer that said "public restroom." People actually believed it and tried to use the bathroom there. Oh man. So good.
1 Emmy's Grandma Passed Away When Fiona's Did
Talk about art imitating life: when Emmy Rossum's grandma passed away, she had already gone through that… but with her character. Fiona's grandma passed away around the same time that hers did in real life.
We might not hear about this kind of stuff happening all that often, but it must be more common than we think. After all, there are a lot of things that happen on a television series that are super true to life. If an actor or actress plays a character for long enough (like eight seasons), they must have moments when they really relate to what's going on in the script and when they feel like they're going through the exact same thing. Now that we know these fun facts about Shameless, how psyched are we for season nine?!
