Shameless' Emmy Rossum Was Miserable While Filming Fiona's Season 4 Gas Station Scene
Before landing the role of Fiona Gallagher in the U.S. remake of "Shameless," Emmy Rossum was seen by many Hollywood shot callers as the perennial "good girl" of film and television. So much so that Rossum claimed in a 2014 interview with AOL. the producers of "Shameless" initially had no desire to even let audition for the gritty role of the eldest Gallagher child.
In a defiant, Fiona-like fit of perseverance, Rossum not only pushed her foot in the door for an audition but earned what would become a career-changing role on one of Showtime's biggest hits to date. And throughout her nine-season run on "Shameless," she proved time and time again that arguably no other actor could've played the part of the feisty Fiona as convincingly. Like many of her co-stars, Rossum also found her mettle regularly tested by a creative team that seemed to delight as much in pushing the bounds of narrative decency as they did in putting the "Shameless" cast in decidedly prickly situations.
That was perhaps more true for Rossum than most, as her Fiona was a bit of a trainwreck for much of her series tenure. And yes, the character's all-but endless travails put the actor in less than favorable situations on the regular. But according to Rossum, she was particularly miserable during one Season 4 scene.
The frosty Season 4 scene was one of the toughest for Rossum to shoot
As a brief refresher, Season 4 of "Shameless" was a genuinely trying one for Fiona Gallagher as her hard-living ways nearly led to the death of her infant brother Liam Gallagher, and even found her briefly incarcerated for putting the kid's life in danger. While the emotional ups and downs of the season were undoubtedly tricky for Emmy Rossum, the actor claimed in a 2014 Reddit AMA session that one scene made her so physically uncomfortable it stood as the toughest she'd filmed for the series.
"By far the hardest to film was, I think, in [Episode] 11 of Season 4, when Fiona is outside at a gas station, in the cold, without a coat and without shoes," Rossum answered when asked about Fiona's most difficult scenes. The actor continued, "We were shooting super-late at night somewhere outside of Chicago, and I just remember it was -18." Rossum adds she actually performed the scene in just her socks, recalling, "And I just remember thinking, 'if this isn't a really great scene, I'm going to be so pissed off' because I was so cold & miserable."
Thankfully, Rossum was quick to admit the icy "Shameless" shoot more than paid off on the dramatic front, noting, "But in fact it is, the shot looked really cool, and it really does show what a s***** situation she's gotten herself in. So I was really glad that I did it ..." We'll note here that the scene actually appeared in the 10th episode of Season 4. But given what Emmy Rossum endured for that potent "Shameless" scene, we'll happily cut her some slack.