What Happened To Cameron Monaghan After Shameless?

The American remake of "Shameless" that aired on Showtime from 2011 to 2021 starred a number of child and teenage actors who went on to do great things after the show ended. One of those is Cameron Monaghan, who played the third-oldest Gallagher child, Ian. Monaghan was 17 when "Shameless" started and 27 by the time it was over — the perfect age at which to distance himself from Ian and forge his own way as an adult actor.

In fact, Monaghan had already carved out a non-"Shameless" breakout role for himself concurrent with his time on that show. He played the dual role of brothers Jerome and Jeremiah Valeska on "Gotham," who served as the show's version of Joker. We even once made the case that "Gotham's" Joker is the best, some of which is for story and lore reasons, but much of which is due to Monaghan's unsettling portrayal.

But what has Monaghan been up to since the ending of "Shameless" and "Gotham?" Quite a bit, actually, with the actor already adding a few other massive franchises to his portfolio as well as beefing up his experience with smaller, more character-driven work.  

While he technically made his debut as Cal Kestis in the video game "Star Wars Jedi: Fallen Order" before "Shameless" actually ended, the bulk of Cameron Monaghan's time playing the role has taken place after the fact. The actor not only voiced the character but also did motion capture and provided his likeness — and thanks to the wonders of modern technology, Cal's in-game character model is the spitting image of Monaghan.

Both "Jedi: Fallen Order" and its sequel, "Jedi: Survivor," take place after the movie "Star Wars: Episode III" and eventually run around the same time as the events of the "Star Wars: Obi-Wan" Disney+ miniseries. The games have been well received, and both are considered some of the best "Star Wars" games ever made. Cal has also proven popular enough to make the jump to other media, appearing in the TV series "Lego Star Wars: Rebuild the Galaxy" — voiced by Monaghan — as well as a "Star Wars" novel.

Monaghan has said he'd play a live-action Cal Kestis, but under one important condition: that the character's inclusion in the project feels creatively justified and isn't just a fan-service cameo. It remains to be seen what the future holds for the character and Monaghan's involvement with him, but we suspect the actor isn't done with his "Star Wars" journey just yet. 

Cameron Monaghan had been splitting his time between TV and movies from the very start of his career. Early film roles like "Click," "The Santa Claus 3," and "Dog Gone" are balanced out by recurring roles on "Malcolm in the Middle" and "Ned's Declassified School Survival Guide" to fill out his output in the 2000s. And while he made a number of movies during his time on "Shameless," he was definitely far less prolific on the big screen, with several stretches of two to three years without a single film role.

After "Shameless" ended in 2021, it felt as though Monaghan was keen to take advantage of how much more time he had to make movies. The very next year, he appeared in three films — "Shattered," "Paradise Highway," and "My Love Affair with Marriage" — his busiest movie year since 2014. It wouldn't be until 2025's "Lego Star Wars: Rebuild the Galaxy" that he would add any post-"Shameless" TV credits to his filmography, indicating that he was indeed trying to make a pronounced switch to movies in those first few years after retiring Ian Gallagher. 

When talking about the movies Cameron Monaghan has made since he wrapped up "Shameless," we deliberately left off a big one — "Tron: Ares." Given all that went down with that movie's production, and it subsequently being a nine-figure flop for Disney, it seemed appropriate to give it its own entry. It is generally believed that Disney actually wanted to axe the third "Tron" film years ago, but Jared Leto championed it and used his influence to not only get it made, but rework the story to make his character the star. Well, the movie's box office failure speaks for itself and seems to represent Leto using up what little clout he had left.

In fact, one of the worst moments in "Tron: Ares" is the direct result of how under-baked Caius, the character played by Monaghan, was in the story. It's easy to assume he had a much bigger role in earlier versions of the script, and that his role was reduced when Leto's role was expanded. It led to fans wondering why Monaghan was barely in the movie, speaking only a single line of dialogue and spending the majority of his already limited screen time behind a mask. 

Many people pointed out how Monaghan is a known "Tron" fan — having been at the premiere of "Tron: Legacy" and displaying deep knowledge of franchise lore in interviews on the red carpet. It's been noted that he not only should've had a bigger part but deserved to be the lead. 

Between playing a version of the Joker, originating his own "Star Wars" character, and appearing in a "Tron" movie, Cameron Monaghan brings a lot of geek cred to the table. So it's not a huge surprise that he is a frequent fixture at cons, discussing the aforementioned projects and more. On top of appearing at the big events like San Diego Comic-Con as part of the official panels for his various films and TV shows, Monaghan also makes the rounds at smaller fan cons all over the world to meet fans, sign autographs, and take pictures.

Monaghan has spoken about having already been a fan of the various IPs he's joined — Batman in particular — and when actors begin as fans, they are often much more willing to interact with and appreciate their own fans once they have them. He's also young enough to be familiar with how rabid fandoms of such IP can be, and he surely knew what he was getting into by joining some of the most passionate and outspoken fandoms around. That he is willing to go to cons and chat with fans definitely speaks to his embrace of what it means to take on such responsibilities.