Can we remember a day when we didn't have the hilarious show that is Shameless? No, we can't because it feels like we've had the Gallaghers in our lives forever, wreaking havoc along the way.
Even though the characters are truly shameless in everything they do, we still admire them and sometimes aspire to be like them. But now that the show is coming to an end, it would be great if we could pick their brains about what's to come in the last season.
Much of the cast grew up on set, so all they really know is Shameless. But Jeremy Allen White already had an impressive acting career before stepping into Lip. Here's what he was doing before he was cast as one of the oldest Gallagher siblings.
He Was Born A Performer
From an early age, in elementary school, White's extracurricular activities involved jazz, ballet, and tap dancing. But he moved on to bigger and better things in middle school, when he decided to head into acting.
He was already used to performing by then so a little acting probably wasn't a struggle for him, and was just another tick on the list of mastering showbiz. It is the family business after all.
Quickly after White decided to be an actor, he was picking up his first acting gigs. Leading up to his casting in Shameless, he got his first two roles in the same year, when he was just fifteen. First was a series called Conviction, and then the film Beautiful Ohio.
A year later, he scored two more roles, one in a short called Aquarium, and another in The Speed of Life. He went on to appear in a couple of episodes of Law & Order, then Afterschool, and a couple of shorts called The Fourth and Gloria & Eric.
In 2010, he appeared on Law & Order again and in a film called Twelve. The next year he got Lip and his life changed forever.
Two Years Out Of High School He Got Lip
Like much of the cast of Shameless, White was pretty young when he got his role. He was only twenty.
White has proved to be a pretty private actor so not much is known about how his casting went or how he felt about being cast in what turned out to be his breakthrough role.
Back in 2012, a year into playing Lip, White had a surprise 21st birthday party and told Vulture that he didn't exactly have the same confidence as his character.
"I think there’s a healthy distance between myself and Lip," he said. "I’m kind of envious of him. I’ve always been jealous of what he gets to do. I just don’t have the confidence that Lip has; I don’t have balls quite as big as Lip’s."
White later touched on why he thinks Shameless is special. He told the Chicago Tribune that he thought the show could go on forever.
"I think the show is bigger than any of its characters and that’s why it works. It’s about the place where they grew up — the neighborhood — and all these characters are just a way to let the audience see that. So yeah, I think we can do more — and I think we’re gonna do more."
So it seems that White does have a fondness for the role that made him famous. But that doesn't mean he will ever be used to the thirst tweets he gets from fans or that he wants the James Dean persona they've given him. We can expect great things from him in the future, as he takes on roles that are completely different from the Gallagher way of life.
