Showtime Boss Gives Insight Into Emmy Rossum’s Absence in ‘Shameless’ Final Season

Showtime president Gary Levin reveals the Shameless team held hope that star Emmy Rossum would return for the show’s finale season. However, due to scheduling conflicts, fans, unfortunately, went without the Fiona cameo they were hoping for before ultimately saying goodbye to the series. “In terms of Emmy, there were no clear understandings but there was always hope that she’d come back. But reality intruded,” Levine said during the network’s executive panel at TCA, per Deadline.

“She had a deal at Universal and she got a limited series greenlit that she was producing and starring in. We just couldn’t make the schedule work at the end of the day. John Wells tried and nobody’s better at that than John Wells.” Rossum is currently working on a project for Peacock, entitled Angelyne, which focuses on the life of model and actress Angelyne (born Ronia Tamar Goldberg). Rossum will play the lead as well as serve as executive producer. A release date hasn’t been set as of yet.

Levine continued saying the actress was “wonderful” on the show, where she appeared for nine seasons. “Emmy was wonderful when she was in it but I think the show thrived afterwards as well. It was a great 11 seasons and I miss it too,” he added. Conversations centering on Rossum’s return started to circle in April 2021, prior to the final season’s premiere. Showrunner John Wells told THR there originally were plans for Fiona Gallagher’s return, though he had to be scrapped due to the pandemic. “We were trying to get Emmy — and Emmy wanted to come back… We wanted her to return and had some storylines about her coming back and she wanted to do it,” he said. “Based on what was going on with the pandemic, when we were planning it… the quarantines went back into effect between New York [where Rossum resides] and Los Angeles [where Shameless films] and it was impossible to figure out how to get her back.”

“I think she’s down in Florida. We joked in the room that she ended up getting a job at Disney World, probably in Epcot Center because she would never get a job on the better side,” he said. “We had a lot of jokes for her but we never actually nailed it down. But she would have a life and be pursuing her own things. That’s how people move on with their lives.”