Emmy Rossum on Directing, Equal Pay and Auditioning in a Bikini | ‘Shameless’ | Comedy Actress Roundtable

“My character on Shameless — ’cause it has been so many seasons now — has gone through so much. I went to jail for cocaine and overdosed a toddler and still found the humanity in that. I guess there was a moment where I thought, “Oh, God, is everyone going to hate me?” And then I felt like, “Who cares?” Whatever anybody takes away from it is a reflection on them, not you,” Emmy Rossum told The Hollywood Reporter during the Comedy Actress Roundtable.

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Rossum has taken on a directing role on Shameless, saying “I kind of quasi-asked for a while. It was like, “Oh, I think I’d like to do that. Pick me.” And then I actually went to NYU and got a teacher and learned a little bit about cinematography and felt like I knew more of what I was talking about and then said legitimately that that was something I wanted to do. And then I didn’t totally f— it up, so I got another opportunity to do it.”

She opened up about her high profile salary negotiation saying, “I’ll tell you the person who supported me the most was William H. Macy. To have the man counterpart on my show be like, “Yes, she does deserve this and more” was so validating. And after it became public, it was a quick resolution.”

More roundtables featuring comedy and drama actresses, actors, showrunners and reality creators will continue through July in print and online. Tune in to new episodes of Close Up With The Hollywood Reporter starting May 25 on Sundance TV, and look for clips at THR.com/topic/roundtables with full episodes on THR.com after broadcast.