As a new season of 
Shameless premieres, we look back with actor Cameron Monaghan on three seasons in the love life of one of television’s most fascinating gay characters and the film roles that are shaking up his career.
Cameron Monaghan must know something about love to play Ian Gallagher onShameless. The character has had an affair with his boss (an older, married Muslim man named Kash); shared a difficult-to-define relationship with a deeply closeted, kissing-averse bruiser named Mickey; and even ended up dating Lloyd (memorably played by Harry Hamlin), the father of his sister’s boyfriend.
Monaghan took a break from filming The Giver — a film adaptation of the award-winning book of the same title starring Alexander Skarsgård, Taylor Swift, Katie Holmes and Meryl Streep — to talk to us about his upcoming films and what acting has taught him about love.
Metrosource: Since this is our “Love Issue,” I wanted to start by asking: How do you define love and what does a loving relationship look like to you?
Cameron Monaghan: I think a relationship is truly loving when it moves past that infatuation period where you’re constantly thinking, “I’m so in love with this person! How amazing is that?” and instead it becomes … genuinely comfortable and happy.
When you’re creating a character’s inner emotional life, are there any particular people in your own life you look to as sources of inspiration for portraying love and relationships?
Oh, I steal from everyone. All my friends, my family and pretty much everyone I have ever met. I use their mannerisms and behavior, as well as my relationships with them, to inform my characters and their relationships. Some of that is intentional, and sometimes I’m not even aware of it. I think there’s an unsaid understanding that if you would like to become close to an artist, you will become a part of their art in one way or another.
Despite the various kinds of drama that cause friction within the Gallagher family on Shameless, would you say that they share a familial love that binds them together? Do you think the fact that Ian has a different biological father changes that?
I don’t think it changes anything for Ian, nor do I think it changes anything for his siblings. Whether or not he’s their half brother, he’s still their brother, and that’s what’s really important. Blood is blood. The Gallaghers may fight sometimes, and there might be friction, but that comes from their love for each other. With great love comes great passion.
I want to take a tour through some of Ian’s love interests and get your take on them. So, first there’s Kash. Do you think there was any love there? How do you think being confronted with the reality of Kash’s family affected Ian?
I think Ian certainly thought he loved Kash, and for that reason, perhaps you could say he did. But it was his first real romantic relationship, and he didn’t have the perspective to know how mismatched, unavailable and incompatible they were for each other. They were doomed from the start, and Kash’s family was certainly a contributing factor to that.
To me, Ian and Mickey have a kind of epic romance: Mickey resists the emotional side of things at first, and outside forces and people try to keep them apart, sometimes violently. But they keep finding ways to come back together. Do you think it could be called a “great love”?
Isn’t all love great? Ha! I’m not sure I can really answer the last part of that question, simply because their relationship is still progressing and developing, and I don’t yet have objective hindsight on the whole arc. But, yes, for better or worse Ian and Mickey can’t keep away from each other, and it doesn’t seem anyone or anything can keep them apart either.
What about Lloyd? How would you contrast how Ian regards him as opposed to Kash and Mickey? Was there ever really a possibility of a deeper emotional connection for Ian and Lloyd?
I think there was always an understanding of casualness between them. From the start, neither wanted more than that, and so nothing more was ever going to come out of it.
On the subject of women, Ian doesn’t seem like your “Let’s go shopping, girlfriend!” kind of gay. How do you think he sees the female elements in his life? In the British Shameless, Ian takes a sharp turn towards bisexuality after the third season. Based on your conception of the character, do you see that making sense for your Ian?
Well, adolescent sexuality can be pretty confusing, and sometimes people experiment and try different things they never expected. So, it wouldn’t be unheard of for Ian to try things with a woman. And this show is always throwing unexpected stuff at me, so who knows? However, from all we’ve seen, he’s been quite confident with his attraction solely to men, and we’ve had scenes in the past where he shows complete lack of sexual attraction to girls. … So, I don’t think that will become a plot point in the foreseeable future.
Moving on to your film work, I wanted to start with The Giver, which is set in a dystopian world that redefines the idea of families and reproduction. Some critics called the book too dark for kids — though it won the Newbery. How does the universe of the film feel to you?
[There’s a] truly frightening question that drives this story: “What price does peace come at? Do the ends justify the means?” I won’t spoil it, but if you’ve read the book, you know what those means are, and I can assure you, the film retains that mature edge. It’s a great story because it can appeal to a young audience, but it gets even richer and more interesting the older you get.
You’re also in Vampire Academy, which hits theaters on Valentine’s Day. What’s a bigger acting challenge: having a more age-appropriate hetero teen romance in a really heightened world of vampires, or playing Ian in his, arguably, more “realistic” world?
Well, I guess I approach every role with a certain amount of respect for the character, and so I prepare a lot, and there are plenty of considerations no matter what part I’m playing. At the end of the day, every part comes with its own unique set of challenges, from auditions, to filming, to doing ADR [automated dialogue replacing] during post-production. And I think an actor’s biggest mistake would be underestimating these challenges, which results in a shoddy final product. In other words, it would be hard for me to say any role is really more difficult than another.
Tell me about the relationship between your character, Adam, and Jamie Marks in Jamie Marks Is Dead, which is about to hit the film-festival circuit. What is it like to play friends with a ghost?
My character, Adam McCormick, is the only one who can see the ghost of a recently deceased boy, who was quiet and had been bullied. I had to [create the illusion of] the closest relationship in my career so far. Their friendship becomes incredibly personal, uncomfortably so. They develop into best friends, in many ways brotherly, and also in many ways, they almost merge into one existence. … This was a particularly unique thing to act, and I think people will be quite surprised by how it turned out.
What has acting taught you about love? Conversely, what have you needed to learn about love in order to act, and what more do you hope to learn?
I think the most important thing a person can realize about love is how little they actually know. And I think I’m starting to learn that. That helps when you act, because you realize that the person you are playing probably knows just as little about it as you do. There’s something comforting about that. I mean, … I’d be delusional if I thought I had all the answers. Maybe I will one day when I’m an old and gray grandfather. But, for now, I think it’s better if I enjoy my cluelessness as I attempt to navigate the great big adventures that come with love. You know?
What are your hopes for the future — both personally and professionally?
I hope I get to continue this trend of finding projects that really interest me, and getting to act a diverse range of personalities. I hope I get to work with even more people I deeply admire, and learn from them. I also hope to get involved more behind the camera within the next few years with my own projects. And, most importantly, I hope to leave a positive impact on this world. In the grand scheme of things, I hope by entertaining people, I can do more good than evil.
Shameless premieres, we look back with actor Cameron Monaghan on three seasons in the love life of one of television’s most fascinating gay characters and the film roles that are shaking up his career.Cameron Monaghan must know something about love to play Ian Gallagher onShameless. The character has had an affair with his boss (an older, married Muslim man named Kash); shared a difficult-to-define relationship with a deeply closeted, kissing-averse bruiser named Mickey; and even ended up dating Lloyd (memorably played by Harry Hamlin), the father of his sister’s boyfriend.
Monaghan took a break from filming The Giver — a film adaptation of the award-winning book of the same title starring Alexander Skarsgård, Taylor Swift, Katie Holmes and Meryl Streep — to talk to us about his upcoming films and what acting has taught him about love.
Metrosource: Since this is our “Love Issue,” I wanted to start by asking: How do you define love and what does a loving relationship look like to you?
Cameron Monaghan: I think a relationship is truly loving when it moves past that infatuation period where you’re constantly thinking, “I’m so in love with this person! How amazing is that?” and instead it becomes … genuinely comfortable and happy.
When you’re creating a character’s inner emotional life, are there any particular people in your own life you look to as sources of inspiration for portraying love and relationships?
Oh, I steal from everyone. All my friends, my family and pretty much everyone I have ever met. I use their mannerisms and behavior, as well as my relationships with them, to inform my characters and their relationships. Some of that is intentional, and sometimes I’m not even aware of it. I think there’s an unsaid understanding that if you would like to become close to an artist, you will become a part of their art in one way or another.
Despite the various kinds of drama that cause friction within the Gallagher family on Shameless, would you say that they share a familial love that binds them together? Do you think the fact that Ian has a different biological father changes that?
I don’t think it changes anything for Ian, nor do I think it changes anything for his siblings. Whether or not he’s their half brother, he’s still their brother, and that’s what’s really important. Blood is blood. The Gallaghers may fight sometimes, and there might be friction, but that comes from their love for each other. With great love comes great passion.
I want to take a tour through some of Ian’s love interests and get your take on them. So, first there’s Kash. Do you think there was any love there? How do you think being confronted with the reality of Kash’s family affected Ian?
I think Ian certainly thought he loved Kash, and for that reason, perhaps you could say he did. But it was his first real romantic relationship, and he didn’t have the perspective to know how mismatched, unavailable and incompatible they were for each other. They were doomed from the start, and Kash’s family was certainly a contributing factor to that.
To me, Ian and Mickey have a kind of epic romance: Mickey resists the emotional side of things at first, and outside forces and people try to keep them apart, sometimes violently. But they keep finding ways to come back together. Do you think it could be called a “great love”?
Isn’t all love great? Ha! I’m not sure I can really answer the last part of that question, simply because their relationship is still progressing and developing, and I don’t yet have objective hindsight on the whole arc. But, yes, for better or worse Ian and Mickey can’t keep away from each other, and it doesn’t seem anyone or anything can keep them apart either.
What about Lloyd? How would you contrast how Ian regards him as opposed to Kash and Mickey? Was there ever really a possibility of a deeper emotional connection for Ian and Lloyd?
I think there was always an understanding of casualness between them. From the start, neither wanted more than that, and so nothing more was ever going to come out of it.
On the subject of women, Ian doesn’t seem like your “Let’s go shopping, girlfriend!” kind of gay. How do you think he sees the female elements in his life? In the British Shameless, Ian takes a sharp turn towards bisexuality after the third season. Based on your conception of the character, do you see that making sense for your Ian?
Well, adolescent sexuality can be pretty confusing, and sometimes people experiment and try different things they never expected. So, it wouldn’t be unheard of for Ian to try things with a woman. And this show is always throwing unexpected stuff at me, so who knows? However, from all we’ve seen, he’s been quite confident with his attraction solely to men, and we’ve had scenes in the past where he shows complete lack of sexual attraction to girls. … So, I don’t think that will become a plot point in the foreseeable future.
Moving on to your film work, I wanted to start with The Giver, which is set in a dystopian world that redefines the idea of families and reproduction. Some critics called the book too dark for kids — though it won the Newbery. How does the universe of the film feel to you?
[There’s a] truly frightening question that drives this story: “What price does peace come at? Do the ends justify the means?” I won’t spoil it, but if you’ve read the book, you know what those means are, and I can assure you, the film retains that mature edge. It’s a great story because it can appeal to a young audience, but it gets even richer and more interesting the older you get.
You’re also in Vampire Academy, which hits theaters on Valentine’s Day. What’s a bigger acting challenge: having a more age-appropriate hetero teen romance in a really heightened world of vampires, or playing Ian in his, arguably, more “realistic” world?
Well, I guess I approach every role with a certain amount of respect for the character, and so I prepare a lot, and there are plenty of considerations no matter what part I’m playing. At the end of the day, every part comes with its own unique set of challenges, from auditions, to filming, to doing ADR [automated dialogue replacing] during post-production. And I think an actor’s biggest mistake would be underestimating these challenges, which results in a shoddy final product. In other words, it would be hard for me to say any role is really more difficult than another.
Tell me about the relationship between your character, Adam, and Jamie Marks in Jamie Marks Is Dead, which is about to hit the film-festival circuit. What is it like to play friends with a ghost?
My character, Adam McCormick, is the only one who can see the ghost of a recently deceased boy, who was quiet and had been bullied. I had to [create the illusion of] the closest relationship in my career so far. Their friendship becomes incredibly personal, uncomfortably so. They develop into best friends, in many ways brotherly, and also in many ways, they almost merge into one existence. … This was a particularly unique thing to act, and I think people will be quite surprised by how it turned out.
What has acting taught you about love? Conversely, what have you needed to learn about love in order to act, and what more do you hope to learn?
I think the most important thing a person can realize about love is how little they actually know. And I think I’m starting to learn that. That helps when you act, because you realize that the person you are playing probably knows just as little about it as you do. There’s something comforting about that. I mean, … I’d be delusional if I thought I had all the answers. Maybe I will one day when I’m an old and gray grandfather. But, for now, I think it’s better if I enjoy my cluelessness as I attempt to navigate the great big adventures that come with love. You know?
What are your hopes for the future — both personally and professionally?
I hope I get to continue this trend of finding projects that really interest me, and getting to act a diverse range of personalities. I hope I get to work with even more people I deeply admire, and learn from them. I also hope to get involved more behind the camera within the next few years with my own projects. And, most importantly, I hope to leave a positive impact on this world. In the grand scheme of things, I hope by entertaining people, I can do more good than evil.
source: metrosource
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