As the oldest of six children, with an alcoholic father who’s barely around and an absentee mother, Fiona took on the responsibilities of caring for her younger siblings, which forced her to leave high school in her junior year.
Fiona has spent most of her life doing everything she could she protect her family, even when her personal problems threatened to get in the way.
While Shameless is an ensemble show focusing on the large (and largely dysfunctional) Gallagher clan on Chicago’s South Side, the main thrust of the series has always been Rossum’s Fiona.
She’s the one who has struggled the most to keep them all together, fed, in school and with a roof over their heads, even when they didn’t appreciate her advice, herculean efforts or sacrifices.