Emmy Rossum did not just star on Shameless; she also directed two episodes of the series before deciding to exit the dramedy in 2018. There are many fond memories that Rossum took with her, and among them was a trick she used to direct. Rossum has revealed how she used LEGO to figure out how to direct certain scenes of Shameless.
Yes, LEGO. When you think about it, it makes a ton of sense to utilize the helpful toy. Using them clearly worked out for Emmy Rossum. She has gone onto direct an episode of Amazon’s anthology Modern Love, so directing is clearly something that she remains interested in career-wise. On prepping to direct Shameless, Rossum told The Off Camera Show:
I just went to the LEGO store and got a lot of LEGO people and LEGO accessories, and made kind of blow-up floor plans of the sets, and just started assigning LEGO [people] to different characters. So like, Fiona had an ‘I Love New York’ shirt, and Frank’s character had a little wine bottle that he would hold. And I would just move them around, and I would take pictures of like, ‘This person’s gonna walk to the fridge and she’s gonna get milk, and he’s gonna cross here, and that’s gonna make a good count. So I literally designed almost every scene like an action scene, even when it was just people talking.
It sounds complicated but it evidently helped Emmy Rossum in preparing to direct. I have to think that if Rossum watched The Lego Movie franchise, she did so with a whole different perspective than some of us. Rossum explained some of the ins-and-outs of filming those intricate scenes that populate Shameless. The truth is, there is a lot that goes into making them flow flawlessly.
In case you were wondering, the first Shameless episode that Emmy Rossum brought her directing magic to was Season 7, Episode 4 entitled “I Am A Storm.” In the interview, Rossum pointed out the necessity of blocking the shots with LEGO beforehand because she was in the scene. Ah, the days before Rossum’s Fiona left.
Earlier this year, it was announced that Shameless would be ending after only one season without Emmy Rossum under its belt. The goal is to bring the show to a high-flying conclusion after its considerable run, which will come to an end with Season 11. In a silver lining, it can conclude knowing that Rossum directed two episodes and used the creative trick of LEGO to do so.
Fans are waiting and hoping for Emmy Rossum to make some sort of comeback before Shameless comes to an end. For the on-screen portion, Shameless’ showrunner has sounded uncertain of whether Rossum’s busy schedule would allow for a Fiona redux. She has not been standing around tinkering with LEGO since leaving the Showtime series.
For now, fans have her performance and those two Shameless episodes she directed. Emmy Rossum also directed the Season 8 episode “Frank’s Northern Shuttle Express.” It is worth noting that Rossum also stepped behind the camera (possibly with LEGO) for TNT’s Animal Kingdom back in Season 2. It sounds like directing is something she is pretty enthusiastic about.
Emmy Rossum is currently awaiting the debut of her Peacock series, Angelyne. You can now watch Rossum in past seasons of Shameless on Netflix, alongside lots of new 2020 content. While you wait to see Rossum’s Angelyne to arrive on Peacock, check out this summer’s premieres.
