‘Shameless’: Some Injuries In The Show Were Very Real

ByAllie Johnson
Shameless Season 11

If you’ve watched Shameless since the beginning… You know a character has suffered an injury nearly every season. After all, an injury creates an interesting. Likewise, we know Mickey and Ian just seem to enjoy beating the crap out of each other. That being said, some of the injuries were worked into the story line because they were real. The actor was hurt in real life. And, the writing team had no choice but to work the injury into the story line. Curious which injuries throughout the past 11 seasons were the real deal? Keep reading for the scoop.

Turns out, two injuries in the Shameless series were real

First, let’s think back to Season 3. Kevin Ball (Steve Howey) and Veronica (Shanola Hampton) were engaged in sexcapades. In the bathtub. Kevin ended up getting hurt and breaking his leg. Turns out, this was a real injury. Those who watch the show know the accident was only mentioned previously in the actual series. But, this allowed Steve Howey’s character to where a cast during all of Season 3 without people questioning it.

Now, Steve Howey didn’t actually break his leg. The actor revealed on Twitter he snapped his Achilles tendon. And, anyone who has ever had an injury to that tendon knows it can be extremely painful. Likewise, it takes a while to heal.

Steve Howey went into more detail about his injury during an interview with Men’s Journal.

I used to drink pretty much every day and work out every day too. I can’t do that anymore; it’s just impossible. Even just working out every day is hard because my body can’t recuperate; it hurts. Warming up properly really helps me. That’s how I injured myself recently. I jumped into a basketball game before I was ready and snapped my Achilles tendon. Now I’ve had to have a cast on my leg for the entire third season of Shameless. So that was also a reminder of ‘Hey, you’re getting older. You can’t do that shit.’”

The injury prevented Kevin from being Kevin. So, the writers had to change things up.

So, who was the other cast member that suffered a real injury?

During Season 5 of Shameless, Carl Gallagher (Ethan Cutkosky) broke his leg. Turns out, this was also a real injury.

Emmy Rossum, who played Fiona Gallagher, hosted a Q&A session for fans on Reddit. During the Q&A session, she opened up about Ethan’s injury. She said the actor got injured while dancing at a party. Or, at least, that is what he told his cast mates.

In the series itself, writers developed a skateboarding story. Notably, the actor enjoys skateboarding in real life. But, it can be dangerous if the person boarding isn’t careful.

Does it surprise you to learn some of these injuries were real? Share your thoughts with us in the comments.

[Photo Credit: Paul Sarkis/SHOWTIME]

Allie Johnson
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