Nearly 10 years later, Shameless star Emmy Rossum has opened up about her behind-the-scenes fight for pay equity.

The Golden Globe nominee recently recalled that she “was shook” when her 2016 negotiations for a raise on the Showtime series went public, noting that she “certainly didn’t want” to impact her fellow cast and crew amid bargaining for their own salary.

“Well, when I started the show, it made a lot of sense that [William H.] Macy made a lot more money than me,” she explained on the Call Her Daddy podcast. “He was coming in much older, much more accomplished, tons more credits, and number one on the contract.”

Rossum added, “And then by season three, they approached us—we had a six-year contract—approached us to add another year. And I think my lawyers felt at that time that we had the receipts. We could see the way the story lines were shaping. We knew about fan engagement and we felt that it made sense to ask for that. We didn’t get it. And that’s fine. We thought, ‘We tried. We didn’t get it.’

In 2016, Rossum revisited negotiations with Warner Bros. TV, with the talks going public that December, ahead of her return for Season 8.

“And by that point I had been directing a lot on the show and it very much felt like a two-hander. And we said, ‘Let’s go for it again.’ It was kind of shut down pretty fast and they kind of lingered for a while. And then I wasn’t sure if we were going to get it. It’s always scary asking for what you think you’re worth, to say, ‘I think this is what I’m worth.’ You have to take up space in the room and it’s their job to make the show for as little as possible to make the most profit. Any business runs that. So, I can understand it from the other perspective, too,” she said. “And I didn’t know if they were going to come over to our side and do it or not, and we were getting kind of close to filming the next season.

“And I was one day sitting—I was on a writer’s retreat, and I was procrastinating, and I opened up Twitter, and it was a headline that we were in a stalemate, and I was shook. It’s a private business negotiation, and I never imagined it would become public. Not just for the public, but for the cast and crew. Everyone was doing their own negotiation. So, I certainly didn’t want that,” said Rossum.

The actress noted that she “didn’t say anything” to her co-stars or the press about the reports. “And the tide really shifted. People seemed to write other articles, immediately commenting on that, being quite surprised that I wasn’t already being paid equal. And it was resolved within a day. I was shocked, and quite frankly, very, very surprised that we actually got it,” she recounted.

Days later, Rossum closed a deal with WB, setting her return for the next season. “Playing Fiona Gallagher has been one of the great privileges of my life. I’m so happy to continue w my SHAMELESS family! Back to work in May!” she wrote on Twitter at the time.

“I only desire to remain professional, and my focus is never on money,” Rossum told Call Her Daddy host Alex Cooper. “It’s on what’s fair and what’s right, and I believe that people should be paid for their labor. It was really about being valued equally when I was doing equal work. For me, it was as simple as that. I was very, very happy when we got it, and very, very happy for what it seemingly did for other women.”

Rossum continued portraying street-wise Chicago South Sider, Fiona Gallagher, through Season 9 before exiting the series. The John Wells-developed dramedy series, adapted from Paul Abbott’s U.K. series, ultimately ran for 11 seasons from 2011 to 2021.

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