The last time we interviewed Cameron Monaghan, Shameless was fast becoming Showtime's breakout hit, a bold and brave series chronicling a downtrodden, scheming Chicago family with just enough secrets, lies, and hilarity to make it through the day. Now on the heels of a shocking second season (trust us, we've seen it), we had to reach out to the man behind Ian once again: Why is he on the outs with father Frank and brother Lip? What's up with Mickey and Kash? What will make Season 2 sexier than Season 1? Terron R. Moore found out.
So. You’re aware that Shameless is the best show on television, correct?
Well, thank you very much! You know, I’ve heard that from a couple of people but I don’t know if I can make that claim! But I really appreciate it.
If you can’t make that claim, then what show on TV would be better?
I’m biased, I’m biased! I can’t give a valid answer to that question.
What’s it been like, experiencing the fan reaction to the series?
It’s been amazing. The entire duration of the season and then well after, people were still finding the show and still contacting me through Facebook or Twitter and telling me how much they love it. It’s great to see that the hard work paid off!
Our previous interview was right before the season finale, so now that it’s over, what were your thoughts on it and how will it affect Sunday’s Season 2 premiere?
Oh, it was great! Very very interesting stuff happened: Steve leaving, Eddie dying, Lip and Karen’s relationship changing— lots and lots of really big stuff. So the season two premiere is taking place about six months later in the middle of summer, and that alone changes some lives in interesting ways. It’s far enough away that we’re not quite in the melodrama of the aftermath, but we’ll still get some interesting results.
How does shooting in the summer change the show?
Well Chicago in the summer, it’s sweaty and it’s sometimes nasty! Everyone’s outside of the house, kind of doing their own thing so we’re gonna see a lot more of the outside of Chicago for the first half of the season. Overall, you’ll see an active, sweatier, sexier side of Shameless!
Lip and Ian’s relationship is one of the more important ones in the series. Are they still cool this year?
Well, Lip and Ian get into a lot of trouble this year. Lip is starting to do things that Ian doesn’t always agree with and Ian is trying to find his own independence, so he starts to confront Lip more. Their relationship will turn antagonistic at times this season and we’ll see a strain put between the two. I think they’re the two closest characters—probably in the entire series, Lip and Ian—so it’s interesting to see how their relationship changes.
What about Ian and Frank? Last season, we learned that Frank isn’t actually Ian’s dad.
Well, I don’t think they ever had a good relationship, but in the past, Ian has just tried to avoid Frank for the most part and they just kind of kept away from each other. Now, as Ian becomes more independent, he’s going to start confronting Frank about stuff that he doesn’t like. When Frank does things that bother Ian, Ian steps up and that’s going to cause both physical and emotional conflict between the two.
In last season’s finale, Ian coming out to Fiona was a little subdued in regard to everything else that went on, wasn’t it? What did you think of it?
I thought it was great; I thought it was kind of perfect because Fiona sees it as a non-issue, which is awesome. I don’t think that anyone coming out should feel like that’s some sort of big deal, people just make it into a big deal. I think for some of the other family members it might be a much bigger deal but Fiona doesn’t care. She’s going to love her brother anyway.
Speaking of Fiona, she didn’t seem to be affected by anything in the finale.
But the Steve/Jimmy thing… maybe you thought she was saying “I know” to the Steve/Jimmy secret, but she was actually saying, “I know there’s something else about Steve.” That still leaves the door open for a lot of interesting stuff for Fiona and the whole Jimmy/Steve double identity thing. There’s some fun stuff there in the second season.
Like? Spoilers, please!
Sure! Well, Fiona’s gonna branch out and try to find her own boyfriend and stuff— start over quickly, but Steve… may or may not, I can’t spoil too much… come back into play with the family in an interesting way. If that happened, Steve and Fiona would have a lot to work out!
How about your character’s love life?
Ian is still trying to pick between Kash and Mickey, and he’s still trying to sort out what it is that he feels for both of them. He’s still trying to find his own sexual identity and exactly what he wants. Right now he has two pretty terrible partners when you think about it. One is married and one’s a scumbag—obviously, they’re not the two best people for him. So he’s going to try to take control of some relationships and try to fins someone who’s right for him throughout the season.
As an actor, what’s been your favorite part of being involved with Shameless?
Oh, man. You know, there’s so much great stuff [I’ve done] but this is by far my favorite thing I’ve ever worked on. Just being able to think and be these characters for an extended period of time… and the show is so well-written and the great thing about being on a TV series is that you get to explore something for a long time. It’s something great that I got to sink my teeth into.
What’s your Ology?
Am I able to say ActingOlogy?
No, because that one is too obvious.
(Laughs) GuitarOlogy. I love guitar. I play it constantly.
What was your favorite scene to shoot in Season 2?
There’s this really fun scene in the very first episode where we have a very special kind of bon fire, we’re burning something very interesting! And the entire community comes and there’s this huge party while we burn it. It was just a super fun scene to shoot. The whole Chicago community where we shoot was there, it was in the summer so it was really nice— it was at night. Everyone was just dancing, laughing, having a really great time and it was cool to be with the actors, who have become my friends over the course of shooting.
But you have a lot of intimate scenes as well. Which do you prefer?
You know, both are great in their own way, and it’s truly like a family on our show. I mean we all say it in all of our interviews but that’s because it’s true. So I love doing the group scenes with everyone but at the same time, it’s great when I have those scenes with Jeremy Allen White (Lip) or with Noel Fisher (Mickey). They’re just different sides of a coin—but it’s a great coin either way.
Why should we watch Shameless Season 2?
Because if you like the chaos and the insanity that season one supplied, this one triples it. It’s crazy—a lot of drama and a lot of comedy and a lot of fun.
What is the best piece of advice that you’ve ever gotten?
Trust myself. Trust my own instincts. Do what I want to do, and do it passionately.
Seems like there's a bit of than in Ian, as well.
Definitely. I think that all the characters discover that advice one way or another throughout the series. And sometimes they might forget that, but it’s the best advice for any person: just believe in oneself and put yourself completely in whatever you choose to do.
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