Gritty Woman

Emmy Rossum’s Fiona Gallagher has always been fierce, but in Season 7 of Shameless, she’s really leaning in

- Michael Logan

ENOUGH ALREADY. THAT audaciously randy, in-your-face Showtime hit Shameless is back after a jaw-dropper season closer last spring in which booze-soaked patriarch Frank Gallagher (William H. Macy) brought the wedding of his daughter Fiona (Emmy Rossum) to a dead halt. Not only did Daddy Dearest bust the groom for being a hardcore drug user, he also had some uncouth things to say about the bride’s well-trafficked vagina. The Gallagher kids furiously retaliated by dumping Frank’s sorry ass into the Chicago River, but the real revenge comes this season when Fiona decides to put herself first and stop playing mom to her hot-mess siblings— alcoholic Lip (Jeremy Allen White), bipolar ex-stripper Ian (Cameron Monaghan), teen mom Debbie (Emma Kenney) and gunrunner Carl (Ethan Cutkosky). You’ll get no complaints about this series shake-up from Rossum. She’s ready to roar.

Season 7 has your character swearing off love. Is she serious? Fiona without a man is a hard concept to grasp. 

And that’s the point. She’s been defined by her relationships for so long and been burned so badly by men—from her boyfriends to her father—that she can’t even acknowledge her pain. Some women would go on a cleanse and start running. Some would go into therapy. But Fiona is acting out and showing her aggression. She gets herself an emotional breakup haircut—some of it dyed blue—and a tattoo that says “Warrior.”