Emma Kenney is not the most famous name in the Shameless cast, but she is arguably one of the most talented actors in the series. Kenney plays Debbie Gallagher, an affectionate, passionate, and stubborn girl and one of the many Gallagher offspring, with such a vibrance and believability that it is hard to separate her from her character.
But how did Kenney land the role of Debbie with high-profile actors such as Emmy Rossum, who plays Fiona Gallagher, and William H. Macy, who plays Frank? How has Kenney transformed over the years, and how has her character transformed as well?
Emma Kenney’s Path to Success
Kenney began her path to stardom at just four years old. As a child, she took acting and improv lessons and then went to an acting school. She was spotted by an agent when she was seven years old and went on to book national commercials, voiceover work, and roles in student films.
Kenney continued to make waves in short films such as Lyre, Liar, and A (Not So) Civil Union in 2009. After working on many student films for New York University, Kenney caught the bug for screenwriting. The young actress began writing her own scripts, and since then has written over 50 screenplays. At only eight years old, she became a finalist in the New Jersey International Film Festival at Rutgers University for a four-minute-long film she wrote and directed.
In 2009, after appearing in several television films, Kenney auditioned for the role of Debbie in Shameless. Kenney’s hard work as a child actress had finally paid off; she landed the role of her lifetime.
Emma Kenney’s Career on Shameless
Emma Kenney began her career on Shameless at only 10 years old. She has stuck with the series for a decade and fans have watched her grow up on screen.
Her character Debbie underwent huge transformations as well. In season 1, Debbie was portrayed as the kind-hearted Gallagher, still holding on to some of her innocence. She is affectionate toward Frank, her father, and makes it her job to take baby Liam with her to school. However, Debbie is affectionate to a fault. In one episode, she steals a little boy in order to play with him and is forced by the Gallagher clan to secretly return him.
The sense of innocence that envelops Debbie in Season 1 begins to wane in Season 2. She begins running a daycare out of the Gallagher home. She also begins experimenting with makeup and borrowing her sister Fiona’s clothes. By Season 5, Debbie’s innocence is completely gone—she gets pregnant and refuses to have an abortion, despite Fiona’s pleadings. She eventually gives birth to Franny and from there, her life continues down the road of Gallagher chaos.
Debbie’s final transformation begins in Season 9 when she begins to take over for Fiona as the head of the Gallagher household. It is here that the audience sees Debbie become a full-fledged woman and the new Gallagher leader. Fiona leaves for good (Emmy Rossum quit after Season 9) and Debbie is left to take control.
Kenney has been praised for her work on Shameless ever since the first season. Since she was a young girl on the award-winning series, she has used her dynamic talent to portray an innocent and affectionate girl who undergoes a gigantic change in her coming-of-age years.
Emma Received Treatment for Substance Abuse
To the surprise of many Shameless fans, Emma Kenney took a break from social media in 2018 to focus on treatment for substance abuse. Kenney, who was only 18 years old at the time and was working on the sitcom revival Roseanne when she made the announcement via Twitter.
“I was running with a really fast crowd,” she said through a spokesperson. “I was being naïve and very immature, and I was doing things I should not be doing because it was illegal and I'm not 21. It wasn’t healthy, and it was making me feel even worse – anxious and depressed. It was just a slippery slope that I did not want to go down. And I knew that I needed to stop it.”
Kenney’s Roseanne castmates were very supportive of the decision. Namely, Sara Gilbert, who starred as Darlene Conner, told Kenney that she was very proud of her on an episode of The Talk.
“I just first want to say, Emma, I’m so proud of you,” she began. “I know that the whole cast and crew are so proud of you. And it takes a lot of courage to – we all have demons – it takes a lot of courage to face them, particularly at eighteen. I envy you. If I could go back to being eighteen and start doing things to better myself at the pace you’re doing, I would be at a better person today. So, I commend you, I love you and I know you will come out the other side.”
Fortunately, the treatment seems to have helped Kenney immensely. Two months after her Twitter announcement, she explained in an interview with Us Weekly that she was in high spirits.
“I’m feeling so good! I’ve actually never felt this before,” she said. “You know, everything has been so positive and happy and I’m so excited to be back to filming and back to the old routine … I think I was in a spot where I wasn’t very comfortable with myself and I just really figured out how to slow down and do what I need to do for myself,” she explained. “And I think that’s really important for everyone to do.”
As a result, Emma Kenney has transformed not just from a childhood actress into an adult star, but into an accomplished and inspiring woman.
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