Shameless fans, I can’t believe the moment is finally here. After months of the Showtime series’ final season being a giant question mark on the schedule due to Covid-19 delays and more, Shameless is finally airing its 11th and final season this month. Now, showrunner John Wells has spoken out about how Emmy Rossum’s Fiona character could still come back in Season 11 and what that would look like, should the scheduling work out.
Right now, either John Wells is awesome about keeping spoilers to himself or he still hasn’t quite worked out a come back on the show for Emmy Rossum, who currently is on a break from the Angelyne production that was halted due to the pandemic. If she were to join Shameless, it definitely wouldn’t be for a major multi-episode arc, but John Wells says he is trying really hard to find a way to work the character in on a smaller scale.
I would love for her to come back. We have talked and she would love to try and be able to do it. The reality is that they had to stop production on Angelyne and don't know when they're going back. As we get closer to it, if they have not gone back into production and if she is on the West Coast, there is a good chance that we'll be able to get her in to do something. It won't be a big thing because of all of her other obligations. There is so much up in the air trying to schedule things during the pandemic. As I write it, I'm going to talk to her about it again, hoping we can work something out, but it may not happen.
Like a lot of productions right now, the scheduling for Shameless (and for Emmy Rossum's other big project right now Angelyne) has been tricky and filled with pitfalls. We in fact, didn’t even know the show had gone back into production until other series lead Emma Kenney (Debbie) posted about it on her social media back in September. Due to circumstances this year, the 2020 premiere date has also been a surprise. As John Wells intimated to THR, we shouldn’t get our hopes up about Rossum in Shameless’ finale, but if you can’t help yourself the Showtime series is still trying its hardest to make it work, despite the “logistical” nightmare.
The showrunner does want to make it abundantly clear that whatever happens is not totally on Emmy Rossum, either. This year has been unprecedented and has changed a lot about how TV productions work. John Wells also elaborated further on why these types of minor cameos are less easy to work out than they used to be.
And it won't be because she doesn't want to do it. It would be because logistically we can't figure out how to do it. Everything is a bit of a nightmare from the logistical scheduling point to keep people safe. It's all being done for the right reasons, but it can make what used to be easy — fly out here Saturday, shoot Monday and leave Monday night — none of that's happening anymore.
So, if Emmy Rossum doesn’t show up, don’t blame her too much. Meanwhile, the Internet has been totally obsessed with Ian and Mickey today, so a Fiona-less finale would still presumably have a lot to offer for fans. Still, I’m waiting and hoping that the original cast gets its moment in Season 11. Yet 2020 has made abundantly clear, however, we can’t always get what we want.
Shameless the final season will air Sunday nights at 9 p.m. ET, only on Showtime. To take a look at what’s heading to the schedule this winter, peruse CinemaBlend’s full winter TV schedule.
