'Shameless': Shanola Hampton Lines up Her Next Big Role

By Michael Hein

Shameless finally came to its conclusion last year, and it looks like actress Shanola Hampton may have found her next big role to follow it up. Hampton played Veronica Fischer on Showtime's Shameless, gradually becoming a fan-favorite on the series. Now, she will reportedly play a special kind of investigator on the new NBC pilot Found.

Found is a one-hour drama about public relations specialist and anti-crime crusader Gabi Mosley (Hampton), who works to solve missing persons cases. Having been the victim of a missing person case herself, Mosley now attempts to spread the word about these crimes and ensure that the people who go missing are not forgotten or overlooked. The pilot order was announced in early March, according to a report by Deadline, and Hampton was attached as the star from the beginning. The show is written by Nkechi Okoro Carrol and produced by Berlanti Productions.

Hampton was a producer and star on Dangerous Moms – a promising pilot that NBC produced in June of 2021. She was cast in the role in part because she had signed a one-year talent holding deal with NBC Television & Streaming and Universal Television. Although Dangerous Moms did not move past the pilot stage, it reportedly helped put Hampton in line for her role on Found.

This just goes to show how fickle the TV industry can be, but fans of Shameless are no doubt hoping to see Hampton back in the spotlight. She was a breakout star on the Showtime dramedy as the Gallagher family's neighbor "V" Fisher. She was also Fiona's best friend over time she took on a starring role in her own right.

Hampton also has a background in musical theater and several other acclaimed TV credits to her name, including Reba, Scrubs and Criminal Minds. For some fans, she is instantly familiar from the video game Left 4 Dead 2, as she was the face model for the character Rochelle.

Found would be a decidedly social turn for Hampton. She will play Gabi Mosley, a public relations specialist who works on missing persons cases. Having once been gone missing in a crisis herself, Mosley is particularly focused on seeing that people of color are found and are not forgotten in the shuffle. As the series builds, more aspects of Mosley's personal history would reportedly come to light.

The show would reportedly center on Mosley's team of crisis management experts, but so far no other cast members have been revealed. Executive producers on the series would include Greg Berlanti, Sara Schechter, David Madden, Carroll Dunn and Lindsay Dunn. The pilot will need to get a series order before fans have a chance to see it for themselves.

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