People Are Totally Enraged After Seeing This Resurfaced Clip Of Emmy Rossum Talking About Filming This Brutal Nude Scene In "Shameless"

Content Warning: This post mentions sensitive topics about nudity and mental health.

From 2011 to 2019, Emmy Rossum starred as Fiona Gallagher in Showtime's Shameless. The show is about a dysfunctional family where the alcoholic father (played by William H. Macy) leaves his six children to care for themselves — Fiona is the oldest of the siblings.

Well, a resurfaced clip from a 2014 interview Rossum had with HuffPost Live about Shameless is going viral on TikTok. "I had a scene this year in a prison where I was being strip searched — a cavity search scene. I was completely naked for it. And the way they were shooting it, I didn't even have a vanity patch* on. I had a huge panic attack while we were shooting it and it actually ended up in the show," shares Rossum in the clip which has over three million views.

"I had never felt so dehumanized in a weird way. I said to my boss — our showrunner — I really hope that scene is good. I really hope that scene is worth it because you are putting me through hell. I had a huge panic attack," she concludes.

The episode Rossum is referring to is from Season Four, Episode Six. Her character, Fiona, gets arrested after her baby brother accidentally ingests cocaine she left out.

The strip search is a very traumatic scene to watch, and many people were saddened to realize a lot of the distress was real.

There are also many comments from the clip where people are questioning why a vanity patch wasn't used.

It then brought up the topic of why intimacy coordinators are so important.

According the New York Film Academy, intimacy coordinators advocate for the actors and work as liaisons between the actors and production, ensuring performers and other production personnel adhere to safety protocols.

So, had an intimacy coordinator been on set the day of this scene, Rossum's panic attack may have been avoided — or, at the very least, she could have felt more comfortable.

This is especially hard to digest, considering Rossum also made significantly less per episode than co-star William H. Macy during the first seven seasons. In 2016, Emmy spoke out about the pay discrepancies, refusing to continue filming unless she received equal pay. Her efforts paid off, and she continued the show for a couple more seasons before exiting.

So, although this all happened years ago, it still feels necessary to address it today to ensure the safety and well-being of actors on set. You can watch the full interview below:

The National Alliance on Mental Illness helpline is 1-888-950-6264 (NAMI) and provides information and referral services; GoodTherapy.org is an association of mental health professionals from more than 25 countries who support efforts to reduce harm in therapy.