<\/p>\n
Shameless<\/em> star Emmy Rossum was \u2018\u201cshook\u201d when her equal pay dispute became public knowledge.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/li>\n The actress sought to be paid the same amount as costar William H. Macy.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/li>\n The matter was quickly resolved after the initial headlines.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n Shameless<\/em><\/a> star Emmy Rossum<\/a> admits to being \u201cshook\u201d when her push for equal pay with costar William H. Macy<\/a> went public.<\/p>\n Back in 2016, ahead of season 8 of the beloved Showtime series, news broke<\/a> that the actress and the network were in a standoff over her salary demands.<\/p>\n \u201cI was on a writer\u2019s 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,\u201d she told Alex Cooper on the new episode of Call Her Daddy<\/em><\/a>. \u201cIt\u2019s 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\u2019t want that. I didn\u2019t say anything.\u201d<\/p>\n But it turned out that the matter going public worked in Rossum\u2019s favor, and the headlines would soon be that she struck a new deal.<\/p>\n \u201cThe tide really shifted,\u201d she explained. \u201cPeople seemed to write other articles, like immediately commenting on that, being quite surprised that I wasn\u2019t 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.\u201d<\/p>\n William H. Macy and Emmy Rossum on \u2018Shameless\u2019Credit: Jordin Althaus\/Showtime<\/p>\n<\/figcaption><\/div>\n<\/figure>\n For nine seasons, Rossum starred on Shameless <\/em>as Fiona, the fierce and loyal eldest sibling of the chaotic Gallagher family. Ahead of being cast, Rossum had a nice collection of film credits, between Mystic River<\/em>, The Day After Tomorrow<\/em>, and The Phantom of the Opera<\/em>. But the r\u00e9sum\u00e9s of Rossum and her fellow younger castmates paled in comparison to their onscreen father played by Macy.<\/p>\n The Oscar-nominated actor starred as Gallagher patriarch Frank, and Rossum concedes that, at the start of the show, it \u201cmade a lot of sense\u201d for Macy to earn \u201ca lot more money than me.\u201d Then, as the series, went on, Fiona became, at minimum, the co-lead of Shameless<\/em>, and so Rossum first pushed for a raise in season 3, believing she had the \u201creceipts\u201d and \u201cfan engagement\u201d to prove her worth.<\/p>\n That request was denied, and then, before the negotiation leaked to the public ahead of season 8, Rossum said that her latest quest for a pay increase was \u201cshut down pretty fast.\u201d It got to the point that she \u201cwasn\u2019t sure if we were going to get it.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cI only desire to remain professional, and my focus is never on money, it\u2019s on what\u2019s fair and what\u2019s right, and I believe that people should be paid for their labor,\u201d she added. \u201cIt 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.\u201d<\/p>\n Get your daily dose of entertainment news, celebrity updates, and what to watch with our <\/em><\/strong>EW Dispatch newsletter<\/em><\/strong><\/a>.<\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n Rossum stayed on Shameless<\/em> for another two years after winning her equal pay battle, walking away at the end of season 9, while the show continued through season 11.<\/p>\n \u201cI will never be saying goodbye to Fiona,\u201d she told <\/a>Entertainment Weekly<\/em><\/a> upon announcing her exit.. \u201cFiona 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. My Shameless<\/em> family is really my second family and I\u2019ve spent so much time with them \u2014 10,000 hours \u2014 that it really feels like we\u2019ve all grown up together. I feel incredibly proud of everything we have created. I\u2019m just filled with gratitude for everyone\u2019s hard work.\u201d<\/p>\n