Emmy Rossum revealed on “Call Her Daddy” that her years-long fight for equal pay on Showtime‘s “Shameless” only ended because her contract negotiations went public in 2016. The leak resulted in overwhelming public support for Rossum, so much so that her pay dispute was “resolved within a day” after she spent more than five years fighting for what she’s worth.
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“Shameless,” which ran for 11 seasons on Showtime between 2011 and 2021, starred Rossum as Fiona Gallagher, the strong-willed daughter of William H. Macy‘s deadbeat alcoholic Frank. Macy was the marquee name among the cast when the show began, which is why it “made a lot of sense” for him to earn “a lot more money than me” at the start, Rossum told “Call Her Daddy” host Alex Cooper. Rossum was untested as a TV star when she landed the role, having come off successful movies such as “The Day After Tomorrow,” “Mystique River” and “The Phantom of the Opera.”
Fiona, however, quickly became the standout character in “Shameless,” with Rossum emerging as Macy’s co-lead. The first time she advocated to be paid more was for Season 3 because her team felt there were enough “receipts” and “fan engagement” on her side. She was instantly denied, explaining: “We didn’t get it… and that’s fine. We tried and we didn’t get it.”
“It’s always scary asking for what you think you are worth,” Rossum said. “It’s their job to make the show for as little as possible to make the most profit. That’s any business. I can understand it from the other perspective, too.”
Rossum’s pay battle continued over the years and hit its breaking point ahead of Season 8. At that point, Rossum was indisputably the show’s co-lead in the eyes of fans. Some would argue she was the bonafide lead, as Fiona had more screen time than Frank in many episodes. Rossum and her team fought again for increased pay. That request was “shut down pretty fast,” leading to a standstill between Rossum and the studio. She “wasn’t sure if we was going to get it” at this point in the negotiation process. Then news of her pay dispute went public in late 2016.
“I was on a writer’s retreat, and I was procrastinating, and I opened up Twitter, and it was a headline that we were in a stalemate, and I was shook,” Rossum told Cooper. “It’s a private business negotiation, and I never imagined it would become public. Not just for the public, but for the cast and crew. Everyone was doing their own negotiation. So I certainly didn’t want that… I didn’t say anything.”
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“After the first headline or article, I was like what’s going to happen? And the tide really shifted,” she continued. “People seemed to write other articles, like immediately commenting on that, being quite surprised that I wasn’t already being paid equal. And it was resolved within a day. I was shocked, and quite frankly, very, very surprised that we actually got it.”
Rossum ended up returning for “Shameless” Season 8 and continued with the series through the following season. Her exit after Season 9 had nothing to do with resentment over the years-long pay dispute or “a common misconception” that she wanted to start a family and have babies. Rossum was developing Peacock’s “Angelyne” and started a production company and simply wanted to be more in the driver’s seat of her career.
Amid the pay dispute standstill, Macy spoke out in support of Rossum. He told TMZ at the time that it’s “about fucking time” she gets paid for what she’s worth on “Shameless,” adding: “She works as hard as I do. She deserves everything.” The duo appeared together at Vulture Fest in 2017 after Rossum’s pay battle was settled and Rossum made it clear that she always “felt so supported” by Macy during her fight. Macy said it was a “no-brainer” and “it’s something the country’s gotta fix. You get there earlier, you work harder. Just a silly discussion really… Who’s the center of the show? It’s Fiona. Of course she should get paid.”
“I only desire to remain professional, and my focus is never on money, it’s on what’s fair and what’s right, and I believe that people should be paid for their labor,” Rossum told Cooper while looking back at the dispute. “It was really about being valued equally when I was doing equal work. For me, it was as simple as that. I was very, very happy when we got it, and very, very happy for what it seemingly did for other women.”
Rossum stayed on “Shameless” for another two years after winning her equal pay battle, walking away at the end of season 9, while the show continued through season 11.
Watch Rossum’s full interview on “Call Her Daddy” in the video below.