She’s back! Emmy Rossum confirmed that she will be returning to Shameless for season 8, meaning that the actress resolved her pay dispute.
The Phantom of the Opera star, 30, tweeted the good news on Wednesday, December 14. “Playing Fiona Gallagher has been one of the greatest privileges of my life. I’m so happy to continue w my SHAMELESS family!Back to work in May!” she wrote.
According to reports, Rossum initially demanded to be paid the same amount as her costar William H. Macy for the Showtime series. An insider told Variety that Rossum was offered pay equality months ago, but she held out and asked for more. The Day After Tomorrow actress asked to be paid more than Macy to “make up for previous seasons where she was making significantly less than him,” according to the website.
As an Emmy winner and Oscar nominee, Macy started off with a higher salary when the series began in 2011. Seven seasons later, Rossum has become a lead and an integral part of the storylines, while Macy’s character Frank Gallagher was almost killed off in the season 6 finale.
Macy, who has already finalized his contract for season 8, supported his costar’s demand, telling TMZ, “She works as hard as I do. She deserves everything.” He added, “They wrote the Equal Rights Amendment in 1927. It didn’t get passed by both houses of Congress until 1972. It still hasn’t been approved by all the states. It’s about f–king time, don’t you think?”
