Shameless’ Emmy Rossum Found The Grittiness Of Her Role ‘Liberating’ – Looper

Emmy Rossum made that assertion with her “Shameless” castmates in tow and did so in answer to an audience member who asked how it felt to glam down on the show after roles in glitzier projects like “The Phantom of the Opera.” Admitting it was indeed liberating to change her image by getting gritty on the set of “Shameless,” Rossum went on to add, “I mean, we’re all more comfortable at home in our sweatpants. So coming to work and not having to get all glammed up is kind of a relief.”

Outside of the obvious comfort levels that come with not being weighed down by loads of makeup and extravagant costumes, Rossum further admits an unexpected caveat of glamming down to play Fiona Gallagher is that people find the character all the more attractive for it. “It’s also so cool that I get a lot of men on the street, or at airports, or whatever, who really think this character is desirable, and beautiful, and sexy,” she said. And in the very next breath, she claimed genuine delight in helping further the narrative that women don’t have to get glammed up “for people to think we’re worth something.”

In true Fiona fashion, Rossum made that last statement while dryly noting she’d gotten gussied up for The Rosie Show appearance. But her point was still exceedingly well made. And it’s all the more proof that Rossum was pretty much born to play the part of her gritty, fiercely-opinionated “Shameless” character.