'Shameless' Season 11: Is Emmy Rossum Returning for the Final Season?

Shameless Season 11 premieres this weekend, and many are wondering if Emmy Rossum will be returning for the series' final season. Ultimately, the show's producers don't know the answer to this question either, as Shameless EP John Wells recently told Entertainment Weekly that it's been pondered, but that there are no concrete plans. Essentially, as Wells explains it, things all boil down to an uncertainty over shooting schedules between Shameless and Rossum's current TV project.

"Yeah, sadly, I'm not being coy at all," when asked about his aversion to outright answering this question in the past. "Emmy is doing Angelyne, a show for Peacock, and they had to shut down in the middle of it and they're not sure when they're going to go back. She and I have talked, and I think she would like to come back for a brief something. Whether or not that will be possible given what our shooting schedule is and what her shooting schedule is and where she's going to be in the country, I have no idea."

Wells went on to say, "Again, not trying to be clever about it or anything. It will be based on circumstances when we're ready to shoot, whether or not she'd be able to. But would love her to, I think she would like to, not sure it will be possible."

Rossum announced her exit from Shameless in August 2018, just before the premiere of the series' ninth season. She took to Facebook to make the announcement, writing in a post that "the opportunity to play Fiona has been a gift." She went on to say, "There are few characters — female or otherwise — as layered and dynamic. She is a mother lion, fierce, flawed and sexually liberated. She is injured, vulnerable, but will never give up. She is living in an economic depression, but refuses to be depressed. She is resourceful. She is loyal. She is brave."

Rossum later opened up about the decision to leave the show — which she starred on since its debut in 2011 — confessing, "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. It's both scary and wonderful." Shameless returns for its 11th and final season Sunday, Dec. 6 at 9 p.m. ET, only on Showtime.