Why Mickey From Shameless Looks So Familiar
For 11 seasons of "Shameless" on Showtime, fans were deeply invested in the Gallagher saga, with the story taking place in the Southside of Chicago. Recently concluding in 2021, the series finally puts Frank Gallagher's (William H. Macy) crimes against his family to rest. Though not everyone has a satisfying ending, there is one thing that viewers can always count on: the relationship between Ian Gallagher (Cameron Monaghan) and Mickey Milkovich (Noel Fisher). The romance between the two is a fan favorite and lasts the entirety of the show (via popculture.com). Such a happy ending is rare for the Gallagher family, and even rarer when you look at the history of the Milkovich family.
Mickey starts out as a borderline criminal who takes out his repressed emotions on Ian. Throughout the decade of knowing each other, Mickey becomes a better person and the two men form a beautiful relationship. Fisher portrays Mickey for 71 episodes and demonstrates impressive character development (via IMDb). Though he may be most recognizable for his work in "Shameless," the talented actor has had a long-standing acting career with many impressive credits.
Fisher was killed at the end of Final Destination 2
Starting his career in the early 2000s, Fisher had many small roles in movies such as "Max Keeble's Big Move" and "A Guy Thing." But in 2003, the actor had the opportunity to die gruesomely in a classic horror film franchise.
"Final Destination" has one of the more inventive mythologies about horror films killing teenagers. The murderer of the films isn't obsessed with horror movie trivia and doesn't have an affinity for hockey masks. Instead, the main antagonist is death itself. First employed in the first "Final Destination," "Final Destination 2" continues this model after Kimberly (A.J. Cook) has a premonition about a highway pileup. After saving the lives of those on the highway, she inadvertently places herself on death's wish list as someone who has escaped her fate of dying.
The film is a race to stop the deaths of those who are on the highway that day. Fisher appears as Brian Gibbons, a boy who is saved by Rory (Jonathan Cherry), one of death's intended victims. It seems that all is well in the end after Kimberly has a near-death experience and stops the course of events. But in actuality, Rory saving Brian only alters the chain. In the final moments of the film, he is blown up by a gas grill in a brutal fashion. This shocking ending puts the sequel up there with one of the better "Final Destination" films.
He was part of a family of travelers in a show gone too soon
On a long list of canceled shows, the departure of FX's "The Riches" is arguably one of the saddest. A truly unique series, the show stars Eddie Izzard and Minnie Driver as the parents of a family of travelers. Raising their children on the fringes of society, Wayne (Izzard) and Dahlia (Driver) are con artists who travel in an RV pulling jobs. The biggest job they pull occurs in the pilot, during which they take a dead family's identity in order to live among a rich community. The show implements humor as well as emotional resonance, especially when dealing with Dahlia's drug dependency after leaving prison.
The series also stars Noel Fisher and Shannon Woodward as the children Cael and Di Di who struggle to assimilate to living in a community so unlike their traveler upbringing. "The Riches" only lasted two seasons and Driver speculates this had to do with the 2007-2008 writers' strike. "We were cancelled in the wake of punitive measures taken against writers who were vocal in the writers strike in 2007. Lunacy. I'd make this show again in a heartbeat," she posted on Twitter. Even as recently as 2019, Fisher commented on his appreciation for the show, stating what a great experience it was. "This was a gem of a show and canceled well before it's time. Loved playing this role and loved this incredible cast."
Fisher demonstrated the brutality of war in The Pacific
Though only appearing in one episode of the acclaimed HBO series, Fisher's contribution to "The Pacific" is significant. The series is considered one of the best miniseries of all time, depicting the harrowing experience of marines during World War II. While its companion series "Band of Brothers" follows events such as D-Day in Normandy, "The Pacific" feels like another war altogether. The marines battle the Japanese on their front and have to overcome extremely different obstacles. Maladies such as malaria are common, but that isn't the only suffering that occurs. Main characters Sledge (Joseph Mazzello) and Snafu (Rami Malek) crop up as Marines struggling to keep their humanity.
Fisher shows up as Pvt. Hamm in the highest-rated episode of the series, "Okinawa" (via IMDb). The episode grapples with sending the Marines to the titular city and the treatment of the civilians there. The subject material is a hard watch, not shying away from the violence and rage of the encounter. Hamm holds onto his sense of right and wrong, objecting when a boy from Okinawa is killed. He represents how senseless war can be and is killed in action, further illuminating Sledge's descent into anger over their situation.
He died for the sins of his family in Hatfields & McCoys
In his many roles, Fisher has demonstrated his ability to play a variety of different characters. This is especially clear in the History miniseries "Hatfields & McCoys." Fans of period Westerns can get a lot out of the series, as it has a stacked cast and a compelling storytelling. Starring Bill Paxton and Kevin Costner, the series follows the real-life exploits of warring clans during the Civil War. The feud between the Hatfield and the McCoy families starts with a stolen pig and graduates to murder on the Kentucky/West Virginia border.
Fisher's character Ellison "Cotton Top" Mounts is integral to the ending of the feud between the families. As the illegitimate son of Hatfield brother Ellison Hatfield (Damian O'Hare), Cotton Top has a rough life. Because his mental capacity is not fully developed, he is easily manipulated by his family, which results in the accidental death of a young girl. Seeing that this is a way to end the feud, "Devil" Anse Hatfield (Costner) allows Cotton Top to be hanged for the murder of the child.
Cotton Top doesn't understand what is happening to him or the gravity of what he has done. In his final moments, he states that the Hatfields used his love for them to get what they wanted. This ends up being true, as his hanging resolves the conflict. Cotton Top is a tragic character who never has a chance, amplified by Fisher's heartbreaking performance.
Who can forget his brief role in The Twilight Saga: Breaking Dawn - Part 2
With all of Fisher's appearances in critically acclaimed works, he has also lent his talents to one of the most popular franchises to come around in a long time. Vampires were extremely popular in the late 2000s and early 2010s, and however fans choose to feel about "Twilight," there is no question about how culturally significant it was when it came out. For five movies, fans watched the love story between Bella (Kristen Stewart) and Edward (Robert Pattinson) unfold. In one of the more wild occurrences of the series, Bella gives birth to a vampire-human hybrid child that they must protect from the ruling class of vampires, the Volturi.
In "The Twilight Saga: Breaking Dawn – Part 2," this comes to a head as the Cullens gather witnesses to support their plan of proving that Bella's daughter Renesmee (Mackenzie Foy) is not a threat. Two of these potential witnesses are Vladimir (Fisher) and Stefan (Guri Weinberg), who are interested in overthrowing the Volturi. This encounter is brief, as the Cullens do not want to challenge the current order, but Fisher's accent work makes this role a joy to watch. He's also not the most well-known actor to appear. Fisher's "The Pacific" costar Rami Malek also has an appearance as Benjamin, an element-wielding vampire. The cast of witnesses is so expansive that it stands to reason that actors of note would be involved.