You might have been surprised when Emmy Rossum announced Thursday she is leaving “Shameless” after its upcoming ninth season — but William H. Macy wasn’t.
“We’ve been expecting it,” Macy said of Rossum — who plays his daughter, Fiona Gallagher, on the Showtime series — in an interview with Entertainment Weekly Friday. “I tell you, when you get to season 9 and you think of [whether] to keep going, it’s daunting. It’s hard not to think of: ‘What would my life be post-‘Shameless’?’ And part of it is very frightening and part of it is very exciting. She’s young and I think she’s made the right choice. She’s got another show that she’s an executive producer on, so she’s going right into something and she wants to branch out. Plus, she just got married. I wish her well. I can’t wait to see what she’s going to do next.”
Rossum revealed she was walking away from “Shameless” after nine seasons on the Showtime series in an open letter Thursday.
“I know you will continue on without me, for now,” Rossum wrote. “There is much more Gallagher story to be told. I will always be rooting for my family. Try not to think of me as gone, just think of me as moving down the block.”
Per her post, Rossum believes the show can carry on without her — and Macy agrees.
“Totally. It’s a well conceived show from the outset. It’s a perfect number of characters, especially with Kev and V,” Macy told EW. “And the other genius thing about it is that there are kids and they’ve been growing up and as they grow up it opens up a brand new world of plot possibilities. My character is a little bit more problematical, because I’m playing a character that by definition doesn’t change. But they’ve done a magnificent job of figuring out where to go with this thing — and it’s exciting.”
“Shameless” Season 9 premieres Sept. 9 at 9/8c on Showtime.