What Happened To William H. Macy After Shameless?
William H. Macy already had a stacked resume before he began his "Shameless" journey in 2011, having appeared in independent films and blockbusters such as "Jurassic Park III" alike. His role as Frank Gallagher, however, was his most prominent television undertaking to date, and his ten-year-long tenure provided ample time to dive into TV's most deplorable father figure. For his performance as Frank, Macy earned six Emmy nominations.
Macy hung up his "Shameless" hat in 2021, and since then, he's taken on a handful of projects. In January 2023, Macy delighted "Shameless" fans with a guest-starring role on "The Connors." The performance reunited Macy with Emma Kenney, who played Debbie Gallagher, as well as Katy Sagal, who played Dr. Ingrid Jones in Season 9 of "Shameless."
For his first post-"Shameless" film, Macy left his charming dirtbag persona in the dust to play Sam, a woeful man stuck in a loveless marriage, in "Maybe I Do." Macy co-stars in the rom-com alongside Susan Sarandon, Diane Keaton, and Richard Gere. In her review for RogerEbert.com, Marya E. Gates commended Macy for "finding more humanity in his role than the rest of the cast."
Following "Shameless," it didn't take long for Macy to join the cast of another critically acclaimed series.
Macy played Richard Fuisz on The Dropout
As Frank Gallagher, William H. Macy became well-versed in all manners of fraud and deception. For Hulu's 2022 series "The Dropout," Macy did a moral 180 in his role as Richard Fuisz, the medical patent expert, inventor, and next door neighbor of the Holmses who became hellbent on exposing the crimes of Theranos founder Elizabeth Holmes (Amanda Seyfried).
That's not to say that Fuisz didn't have any ulterior motives. For Macy, part of Fuisz's determination grew out of spite. "When [Elizabeth] dropped out of Stanford and said, 'I'm going to invent this medical device,' he never forgave her for not knocking on his door and asking for advice because that's what he did for a living," Macy told ET. "And he made a fortune doing it. So, he was determined to bring her down."
Macy earned praise as the myopic Fuisz, whose dogged pursuit of Holmes coincided with his own divorce. "William H. Macy is a standout as patent hound and sputtering Holmes nemesis Richard Fuisz," wrote Clint Worthington for RogerEbert.com.
Macy has more projects on the horizon, including Peter Farrelly's "Ricky Stanicky" and "Legend of the Planet of the Apes."