‘Shameless’, a comedy-drama TV show that aired from January to April in 2021, had many across the globe hooked on to it for 11 continuous seasons. Still, during the 9th season of the show, fans were faced with the sudden shock of actress Emmy Rossum leaving the show behind as her character Fiona bid goodbye in the finale.
Rossum’s sudden exit shocked many fans and filled the watchers with speculations about the reasons why she left it. Here’s what Rossum had to say about her exit from the show at the time.
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Reasons Behind Emmy Rossum’s Exit From ‘Shameless‘
Although Emmy Rossum’s character Fiona Gallagher was given a fitting sendoff by the end of Season 9 of ‘Shameless‘, it still left fans feeling a little empty perhaps because she was largely believed to be one of the backbones of the show.
The news came in when Rossum announced her departure from the series herself on her social media handles. She called her time playing Fiona “a gift,” and had great affection for the character. Though Rossum had loved the character since reading the pilot, she felt it was time for her to move on.
“The opportunity to play Fiona has been a gift… There are few characters — female or otherwise — as layered and dynamic. She is a mother lion, fierce, flawed, and sexually liberated. She is injured, vulnerable, but will never give up. She is living in an economic depression but refuses to be depressed. She is resourceful. She is loyal. She is brave. I knew it the second I read the pilot script, this was different, this was special,” Rossum wrote in the caption of her posts.
Speaking more about it to Entertainment Weekly, she said, “I will never be saying goodbye to Fiona. Fiona is a part of me and has been like every character is a part of you and you are a little bit part of them.” She also spoke about the importance the show’s cast has assumed in her life, stating that her ‘Shameless’ family “is really my second family”.
“I’ve spent so much time with them — 10,000 hours — that it really feels like we’ve all grown up together. I started on the show when I was 23 and now I’m not. [Laughs.] And it’s a wonderful, wonderful amount of time and I feel incredibly proud of everything we have created. I’m just filled with gratitude for everyone’s hard work,” she said.
Rossum further shared that she officially left ‘Shameless’ because of “contractual issues and a desire to pursue other projects”, as 2019 was also the year that Rossum began working as star and executive producer of the Peacock miniseries ‘Angelyne’.
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What Happens To Fiona At The End Of ‘Shameless’?
Before her farewell in Season 9, Episode 14, Fiona Gallagher can be seen working as a gas station clerk. At the time, situations are bleak for her character. Just when it seems her bad real estate investment will haunt her forever, a former business associate arrives with a $100,000 check, informing her that a successful deal went through. This turns the tables for Fiona.
She accepts the cash buyout and decides to distance herself from the real estate business. She is entirely free from domestic responsibilities at this point, leaving scope for a new life with solid financial means in place.
As she contemplates her future, Fiona visits Ian in jail and informs him of her potential plans to leave the town. Though she leaves Chicago in the episode, her final destination remains a mystery. In the last episode that she did, Fiona admits she’ll probably end up “Somewhere near the equator…I hate winters,” suggesting a destination far away from the American Midwest.
She skips the farewell party arranged by her family, says goodbye to her siblings, and walks out the front door with a suitcase in tow. Her final moments on the show has her boarding an airplane beside a little girl, both flying for the first time. She leaves her family with one last act of gratitude: $50,000 and a fond farewell note reading: “Love You.” However, where she went is left to the viewers’ imagination.
Emmy Rossum Worked On Several Other Projects In Her Career
Although playing Fiona was a huge part of her career, Emmy Rossum worked on various projects, both on and off screen, since ‘Shameless‘. The first project for Emmy after the show was the Peacock miniseries ‘Angelyne‘ for which she was the star and executive producer.
Later Rossum was also seen starring alongside Tom Holland and Amanda Seyfried in ‘The Crowded Room’ on Apple TV+ which is based on the 1981 nonfiction thriller ‘The Minds of Billy Milligan‘ by Daniel Keyes. Rossum plays Candy Sullivan, the mother of Holland’s character who ends up in a bad relationship and testifies against her son in court.
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