William H. Macy gushes over his ‘Shameless’ kids: ‘I miss them’

William H. Macy’s character on Shameless may have been a deadbeat dad, but in real life, he is a proud father of his six on-screen kids.

In fact, the 74-year-old actor admitted that, having seen the young actors grow up in front of him on set, he thinks of them as his own children.

“They’re all doing really well, which is great,” he said during his recent appearance on the Films to Be Buried with Brett Goldstein podcast.

“And I feel that these sort of are my Ersatz kids, so I’m very proud of them,” he added, referring to actors Emmy Rossum (Fiona Gallagher), Jeremy Allen White (Lip Gallagher), Emma Kenney (Debbie Gallagher), Ethan Cutkosky (Carl Gallagher), Christian Isaiah (Liam Gallagher), and Cameron Monaghan (Ian Gallagher).

Macy played father-of-six Frank Gallagher on Showtime’s hit comedy-drama for 11 seasons until his character’s death in the 2021 series finale.

“It was very, very sad, and I do miss them,” he said of the series coming to an end, but noted that it “was time.”

This isn’t the first time Macy has raved over the Shameless kids’ successful careers.

In March, he gushed over White’s Calvin Klein campaign that took the internet by a storm.

“He’s got a huge career. I’m really proud of him. I’m such a fan of The Bear. Now he’s on billboards in his underwear,” he told Entertainment Tonight, further quipping, “I had to speak to him about that. You know, as his father.”