Frank Gallagher often found himself in some quite peculiar places in “Shameless,” but one stands out the most to William H. Macy, and probably for the wrong reasons.
LOS ANGELES, CALIFORNIA – AUGUST 15: Actor William H. Macy attends the 2026 Astra TV Awards at the InterContinental Los Angeles Downtown on August 15, 2026 in Los Angeles, California. (Photo by Amanda Edwards/Getty Images)
PauseRewind’s Kevin Zelman chatted with William H. Macy at Televerse26 last weekend, asking Macy, who played Gallagher for 11 seasons, what his favorite scenes as Frank were.
“Where Frank fell in love, real love. That was so great to act. I just loved doing that,” Macy told Zelman.
But one of Frank’s more disgusting antics stands out to him the most: “I hid out in a porta potty once.”
And the kicker here is that this was his idea!
LOS ANGELES, CALIFORNIA – AUGUST 15: (L-R) William H. Macy and Emmy Rossum attend “Still Shameless” during TV Academy’s 2026 Televerse Festival – Day 2 at JW Marriott LA Live on August 15, 2026 in Los Angeles, California. (Photo by Robin L Marshall/Getty Images)
“It was my idea, and John [Wells] went for it. They had to buy a porta potty and then build it in this weird way so I could submerge myself.”
The 76-year-old continued, “I love props on ‘Shameless.’ They came to me, and they said, ‘This is all food grade, the water, everything in it. Those are just Snickers floating around a little toilet paper,’ and I said, ‘Thanks. I won’t eat it, but thank you.’”
Once he was submerged in the blue water we can all imagine the smell of, “some of the crew got nauseous. Just the visual was so disgusting of me being submerged in a porta-potty. They had to leave the set.”
LOS ANGELES, CALIFORNIA – AUGUST 15: Actor William H. Macy attends “Still Shameless” during TV Academy’s 2026 Televerse Festival – Day 2 at JW Marriott LA Live on August 15, 2026 in Los Angeles, California. (Photo by Robin L Marshall/Getty Images)
Macy was present at Telverse26 with his “Shameless” co-star, Emmy Rossum, for a “Shameless Retrospective” panel that reunited them with series producer John Wells.
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