'Shameless' Questions: Did Macy Babysit Cusack? What's T-Bag Doing in Chicago?

A recent visit to the set of 'Shameless,' the Chicago-set drama that premieres Jan. 9 on Showtime, held a few surprises.

William H. Macy, Joan Cusack and Emmy Rossum and the rest of the show's cast spent last week on Chicago's West Side, filming exterior season for the first season of the show, which is mostly shot in Los Angeles. On the drama, which is an adaptation of a well-regarded U.K. TV series, Macy plays Frank, the sozzled patriarch of the Gallagher clan, Rossum plays his eldest daughter, Fiona, and Cusack plays their agoraphobic neighbor, Sheila.

The cast was in fine form and there was no drama except when the cameras were rolling. No surprises there.

The biggest 'Shameless' shock? The fact that it was about 70 degrees and sunny all week long as the cast and crew filmed scenes set in the depths of a Chicago winter. The guy in charge of fake-snow replenishment was kept very busy tossing the white stuff on the streets and sidewalks between takes.

Another surprise? Running into Robert Knepper, a.k.a. T-Bag from 'Prison Break' on the 'Shameless' set. He's guesting in a couple of episodes as a goon sent to get money from Frank. That's Macy, with Knepper on foot in the background, in the photo at right.

When he read the 'Shameless' scripts, he said his reaction was "I can't believe they're going to get away with it. It's merciless. Sacrilegious."

It is indeed one of the more intriguing new shows for 2011; the rollicking, blackly comic pilot is an excellent showcase for the entire cast. It's no surprise that Rossum, Macy and Cusack are excellent in 'Shameless,' but the whole cast is strong, including the skilled young actors playing the younger Gallaghers.

As for the wobbly, often unconscious patriarch, Macy said he's having a good time playing the "contrarian" Frank.

So is it fun to play a drunk?

"Dear God! It's so much fun," Macy said. "It's a poetic license to kill."

Rossum, for her part, said she was thrilled not to have a "princessy" part for once.

"It's not princessy at all," she said as she perched on a golf cart next to a Chicago school where the cast and crew ate lunch. She sounded thrilled to be able to roll on to the set and not have extensive hair and makeup sessions.

"You want to have a good vomit session before you come to work," she joked.

Come early January, I'll have much more from Rossum, Macy, Cusack and from executive producer John Wells, who is the executive producer of the U.S. adaptation of Paul Abbott's 'Shameless' (Abbott is involved in the Showtime version as well). 'Shameless' is one of the more promising mid-season pilots, and I'll have more from the cast in a few weeks; they talked at length about their characters and about whether they think U.S. audiences are ready for a comedy about a very dysfunctional, irreverent working-class family.

But during my set visit last Thursday, I had to ask about a story that surfaced in recent weeks: Did Macy really babysit for Joan Cusack back in the day?

"I don't totally remember that, but I think he did," said Cusack. "I know for sure that he made the cubbyholes in my parents' house, by their back door. My mom, every single time there would be a Bill Macy movie on, she'd be like, 'He made the cubbyholes!' And they're still there! They are rock solid."

She does think that, when he was starting out in Chicago theater, Macy was in a play that her father wrote. "I remember hearing about that stuff," Cusack said.

So does Macy remember babysitting Cusack?

"I'm pretty sure that's true," Macy said. (Note to self: In future, do not interview Macy underneath El train tracks.)

"Joan and the Cusacks lived across the street from the Pivens, and Byrne Piven was one of the stalwart Chicago actors," Macy said between trains. Piven, a Chicago theater actor/director and the father of Jeremy Piven, "was sort of my benefactor... He and Dick Cusack would ask me up to Evanston to do light carpentry. And even I realized at the time, half the time they were calling me not because they needed something made, it was because I needed to make the rent."

About those cubbyholes he made for the Cusacks? "I'm very pleased they're still there!" Macy said.


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