Emmy Rossum Opens Up About Her Departure From Shameless

Emmy Rossum is setting the record straight about her departure from Shameless, the Showtime series that aired from 2011 to 2021.

The 39-year-old Golden Globe-nominated actress portrayed Fiona Gallagher throughout the show's first nine seasons out of its 11-season run. Her exit has long been the subject of speculation, with discussions ranging from her public equal pay dispute to personal reasons.

During an appearance on the July 8 episode of Call Her Daddy, Rossum addressed the circumstances surrounding her decision to step away from the drama.

"I wanted to stay in the job. I loved the job," Rossum stated. "I wasn't walking away from the job."

She elaborated on the creative factors at play: "I loved the job until it felt like there wasn't enough juice to squeeze out of the lemon. We had made 110 episodes and by the time I left and they offered us two more years I had already started my production company. I had set up my first show [Angelyne] and I was green lit and getting ready to make it."

When the network proposed extending her contract for an additional two years, Rossum found herself in a difficult position professionally. "I felt beholden to the other job," she explained.

Rossum also tackled one persistent misconception about her exit: that she departed to focus on starting a family. She shares two children with husband Sam Esmail—a daughter born in May 2021 and a son born in April 2023.

"I think a common misconception is I left to go have babies," Rossum clarified. "That's could not be further from the truth."

Instead, she emphasized her professional ambitions. "I left to go make the show I had been developing that our showrunner John Wells had encouraged me to kind of get in the driver's seat of my own career and make my own shows and make things," she said.

Despite her excitement about this new direction, the transition wasn't without emotional complexity. "I left with a lot of grief and sorrow because I would miss all those people and I couldn't believe that they were going to go on the journey without me. But I was also really excited. I felt like I was launching and getting ready to start this new chapter."