On January 13th, 2013 the hit Showtime Series Shameless returns for a third season... We are re-running Iris Berry's great interview with Zach McGowan who portrays Jody Silverman on Shamless.. Enjoy

Hi, Zack, thank you so much for joining me today!

My pleasure!

OK, the fact that you’re on one of the greatest Television shows, I have many questions for you!

Cool. I have a tendency to answer eight questions with one answer sometimes.

Awesome! So let’s just dig right in… how did you get the part on Shameless?

My agent submitted me for 4 episodes, 2 co-stars and 2 guest stars guaranteed.

Four episodes only?

Yeah that was all that was guaranteed, then there was a couple other ones that they considered me for, another 2 of them or something like that. But the audition was just a 4 episode audition.

Were you excited?

I was excited. You know it was one of the first things that I’d gotten to audition for that was a multiple episode character. Most of the time I auditioned for a bad guy on CSI who would then you know, go to jail at the end of the show and you’re done. You’re in jail. Your character is now in jail. Where as with Jody in Shameless, I knew it was a perfect part for me. They were looking for a motorcycle guy with long hair and I’d just grown my hair long. I used to have a shaved head.

A shaved head, theatrical or political?

I used to play soldiers and cops. You know, very different characters because I had a shaved head.

Were you a fan of the show Shameless?

I wasn’t a fan of the show yet. I’d just watched the pilot before the other shows. I actually never even heard of the show. I’d heard of it, like I knew what it was but I didn’t, I wasn’t really present during that time period, I was having a daughter during Season 1. While Shameless was airing I was basically in the middle of becoming a new dad.

Was the delivery with your daughter like the delivery room scene in Shameless?

You know what was so funny, not what was happening exterior wise, but when I was doing that scene I had just delivered my baby, it was unbelievable what the special effects they were able to do. I was like you could probably convince someone they had a baby, it was crazy. I mean take the cameras away and this could be a birth.

Well and your line in there… when you say, “well Karen, you are already pretty stretched out down there.”

They really write such gems for me.

But you’re such a nice guy, I mean you’re really a good man in the show and even as you deliver that line, it’s not an insult. You’re just being you.

Laura Wiggins, who plays Karen is awesome. She’s from Georgia and she’s a really good girl and totally not crazy. She’s not crazy at all. Not at all like the girl she plays on the show.

When you’re say to her “Your father’s dead” and she’s replies, “that doesn’t turn me on anymore.”

Right? They’re such classic lines.

Who writes that stuff?

Nancy M. Pimental, Mike O’Malley, Etan Frankel, Alex Borstein and John Wells.

What about William H. Macy?

Yeah he actually writes at least one episode a season with his writing partner and it’s great to be there, the environment is so creative that a lot of things get people playing around improvising. There are a lot of fun moments that are just found. You know Joan brings so much to set.

Joan Cusack, the two of you together are brilliant.

I’m such a huge fan of Joan Cusack. I knew early on that Jody couldn’t stay with Karen. They had cast Jody to be exactly what Karen wanted at the time, which was completely opposite of what she needed at the time. And what she could deal with at the time kind of thing, and then they cast it that way. But knew that Jody’s days were numbered with Karen. And then when I read that I got kicked out in the tent. I was like literally I’m done, if I’m in this tent and if I don’t find a way back in that house, I am off the show.

And what about how you and Sheila had the signals from the window? Such great humor, it’s brilliant. Brilliant! That whole tent thing, and how your character really embraced it.

The writers on this show come up with these brilliant scenarios. I mean these situations that lend themselves to such amazing humor and drama at the same time because they’re real. I mean you actually have a guy living in a tent under the train. It’s so funny you know?

And you’re so devoted and you’re so optimistic and your character leaves a lot open for so much opportunity for things to happen.

I think I’m in a very lucky position. I don’t know if this is true but I think I’m the first character that’s not in the original series.

I think so.

I believe. Because I think all the characters from season one are all original characters from the English version.

You know I tried watching the English version, I can’t.

I haven’t watched it but I’ve heard…I mean my problem with most English television is that I can’t understand what is being said.

No. I know, I couldn’t understand a word.

Cause it’s a heavy accent its from a blue collar family.

But people say it’s really funny.

Oh it is. I’ve heard it’s equally brilliant. The idea, the essence of what the show is about is the same thing I’ve heard, it’s just the execution that’s a bit different, that’s all. You have to figure they have smart writers and brilliant creative minds just like here. In fact Mark Mylod, who is the director and one of the producers on the show, the director who directed the episode I did where I was nude in front of him, and actually a lot of the episodes, he directs most of the episodes actually. He’s English.

So they stick pretty close to the English version?

I guess,. From what I’ve heard on the show, is that the pilot, Episode 1, Season 1, was pretty much word for word except for the colloquialisms, obviously British words in Chicago terms. Then from there it stays in Season 1, in broad strokes the similar things happen then Shameless in England and then season 2 starts getting pretty far away from it and is not really following it at all. Kinda off track.

On their own.

Yeah. Then they’re on their own track, I mean I didn’t even exist, so you know that whole part of the story line is certainly changed..

And your character is such a great addition.

I feel so happy to be an addition to the show.

You’re a great addition to the show because the whole thing with you and Sheel’s, I mean, come on…on the motorcycle with the baby?

Right? You know what was so great about that too is that the day we were shooting that we had a stunt double for Joan and no one knew if Joan was going to get on the back of a motorcycle. And she’s usually down for that stuff, but you never know and it’s a tough shot and Shameless is a pretty big show and we did not have control of that street where we pulled out.

It was so comical. You both with little things flapping on your winter hats, driving off on a Harley, stealing the baby from the Hospital.

And she’s agoraphobic and she’s on the back of the motorcycle with a baby. And it’s li funny. People always ask me to justify, I always think it’s so justified. I mean her daughter’s having a baby and her mother’s instinct overtook her personal fears at the moment and then when she got home they came back because she was like “wait a second, that was crazy. I’m never doing that again.”

Yeah it’s like when someone lifts a truck off of their child.

Exactly.

What was it like working with Louise Fletcher?

It was learning experience. And working with most of the cast it’s been like going back to acting school you know what I mean? Everyone is so talented that I think you can learn from everyone on the show. Louise, specifically, it’s not every day that you’re doing a scene with an Oscar winner.

Nurse Ratched?

Such a prolific character like that and somebody who I hadn’t seen her work in a long time and she just blew me away on set. She was at the reading, and when she walked in we were all like, “oh my God!” And her character Grammy is so raw, she just nailed it.

: She added to the show, the show is already so brilliant obviously, but when she was on screen, she owned it.

I was saying that. Sadly, and obviously she’s dead so you can’t do a spin-off show with her.

I know! Twin sister? We’re all hoping.

It’s like do spin-off show, Grammy goes to heaven and takes the place over.

Haha, and makes a methlab.

I just love that character. She really is just so fantastic. She was so great on set. Because I wasn’t around when she won the Oscar I was young, not even born yet. On set, I was just doing a scene with her and I came out and someone had their iPad and they said, hey, “check this out,” they were playing her Oscar acceptance speech which if you haven’t watched it, you have to watch it. Unbelievable. She’s this gorgeous young woman in this beautiful gown and I didn’t know this, but her parents were deaf so she uses sign language to speak to them and thank them. I talked to her about it and it turned out that by her doing that for her parents, was instrumental in closed captioning becoming part of television. She had a podium and made the statement, “people who are deaf can’t watch this by the way, they don’t know what’s going on.” Not by saying it, just by using sign language for her parents and others who are hearing impaired. It’s really cool. It was cool to see. She’s a wonderful woman.

She changed, actually changed, the face of television for the handicapped.

Yeah I mean she put a spotlight on it. I think she said it was within a year of that they got closed captioning on television which is obviously so important because if you can’t hear you have no idea what is happening.

Exactly, that’s incredible. I mean I’ve often accidentally turned it on and I’m like “how do I turn this off”

You normally think of it that way but in reality it’s very much the opposite. I mean no matter if you can’t hear you’ll know what’s happening.

How do you like working with Director John Wells?

Yes, John Wells he’s incredible to work with. A lot of shows or films for that matter that are heavily dramatic, will beat you over the head with the heavy drama all day long to the point where you’re like, “I can’t even take it.” What I love about working with John Wells, and everyone else on Shameless, it’s this heavy drama to it, but it really it comes after we’ve made you laugh for a long time. You know, first you make ‘em laugh, then you make them cry and that can really change things, it works out really well. Everyone has the darkness and the light.

I often wish the way they celebrate the Gallagher family and their loyalty to each other, I wish it was more like that in real life.

It’s unbelievable. They really hold together those Gallagher's. Through a lot of crap.

That’s what’s attractive about that show is that they really band together. Let me ask you. Let me ask you, you used to do Off Broadway. How was that for you?

I loved it. I love theater to this day. I will always love theater. I hope to do another play some day.

Why do you love it so much? Because the audience is right there?

I think plays are inherently an actor’s medium. Like, Shameless happens to be a very actor friendly show but there’s a lot of shows that actors get stuck. I have friends who play a lab tech on a crime investigation show and every episode they come in and say, “the blood spatter analysis review blah blah blah,” and then it’s the end. And so while it’s fantastic they have a job they can get a little crazed as an actor. For me, Shameless is not like that at all.

What about that scene with the dying crack addict?

Yeah. They were like, “do you speak sign language by any chance?” And I say no and they say, “We have this really funny idea. Do you think you could learn?” and I said, “Sure, how long do I have?” And they said, “maybe like 36 hours?”

It was so great when you were signing to the dying crack addict and then in mid signing you stop and say, “don’t talk to her like that, she’s a lady.” Was that your idea?

No that scene left very little room for improv. I had to learn, it was hard actually to learn sign language and then the lines. It’s actually been a really fun time. They’ve had me do all kinds of things I never thought I would do. They just throw those songs at me totally out of my register. Cyndi Lauper. So out of my register.

Oh yeah! What about the song that you sing when you’re having sex?

Seal?

Yes! Yes.

I couldn’t have a deeper voice and Seal could not have a higher voice.

That’s genius. I mean it’s so genius.

Oh it’s great. Those episodes were some of the most fun I’ve had. Especially David Nutter that directed that, he’s really an amazing director. He directs every television show. His credits are unbelievable. He was so fun to work with. It’s amazing when you work with people who’ve had such success and are everywhere, but yet it’s just like they love it so much that they’re like a kid in a candy shop and he’s having so much fun on set. Working with Joan and everyone on the whole show, is like that and it’s refreshing because I’ve been on sets where it’s certainly not like that. Where people are like “I can’t believe this. Can you believe what they’re doing?” and complaining about everything whereas Shameless people are cool.

That’s incredible and I think it transcends on to the show.

Everyone on the show is really cool. Bill had us all up to his house to watch the first episode. The end of the season, you know, we all got together and it was really fun. Especially because we go to Chicago for the exterior. We shoot indoors here in LA, but we shoot the outside stuff in Chicago and we all stay in a hotel and those become wild.

Oh my God. Are you all on the same floor?

Yeah its nuts.

That must be pretty loud.

It gets pretty crazy.

You know that Shameless Christmas song?

Yes.

Why were you not there?

When they were shooting that, I was still weekly being hired as a guest star because I was only supposed to do 4 episodes and every week they would call me up and be like “are you available to come in and do the next one?” And I’d be like, “of course.” Thank God! You know what I mean. The whole time. You know I always tell people Jody was out in tent. I really was in the tent. I didn’t know if I was coming back inside.

That’s really funny. You were in the doghouse. and got back in. literally

I was in the doghouse. The whole season.

And you got back in. Literally.

I worked myself back in.

That’s brilliant.

Yeah it was really fun. It was a fun experience in fact I think in some ways I had it harder that way getting on the show, now I’m a series regular and I’m on the show now like everyone else. But also the other people did it the other way they had to go through the network testing and all those processes, which can also be very nerve wracking. So either way when you get on a TV show and you’re not just offered a television show, which only happens to a select few, hopefully one day I’ll be one of those.

Like William H. Macy.

Yeah he’s the reason the show got happened. They need someone like him to get the money behind it.

In that Christmas song he seems very fatherly in that song which he obviously isn’t a great father figure on the show.

On the show he’s kind of like the father of everyone. He’s very nice, always giving everyone kind fatherly advice but he’s a sage actor. I mean look at him. He’s had such a prolific career. He struggled for years in the early part of his career. He didn’t really have greater successes until later on.

Fargo is the first time I remember seeing him.

He was in his forties already at that point. He’s got a lot to teach. I think he actually used to teach masters classes in theater at NYU. So he has a very sharp brain.

Obviously he’s got a career that has the lineage that’ll go on forever. He probably never expected this.

He’s played every part you can imagine.

Yeah he’s played some weird parts too.

He’s played parts that would normally be very forgettable on a movie. He came through like that. He was a character actor playing smaller parts. He’s really done so well and he’s awesome to work with.

And it’s amazing because he has played these odd characters and there’s something very charismatic and charming about him as Frank. And I never thought I would say that about William H. Macy but I don’t know he’s not a sort of good looking person like your character is. Like the minute you saw your character, you’re like “Whoa. This guy is hot.”

Thank you.

: You’re welcome. But with Macy, he just becomes more and more attractive.

Which is actually really scary how good he is at playing Frank. He’s amazing.

And he’s so fast on his feet. Like the minute he sees that you and Sheila are together. he says “I’m so depressed because of this, I need something, gimme something.” And it’s really for Monica, his wife. He’s character is really quick on his feet with the hustle.

He’s so good at it. I think that he’s so humble. He’s really a humble guy as a person that he’s willing to do everything that you need to do as an actor to play Frank and a lot of actors wouldn’t be necessarily willing to go there and to do that.

Were you there in the scene when they’re in the living room having a party and making a toast to Grammy who just passed away, Frank’s mother, and their celebrating her life, and he sits down against the wall and slides down to the floor and starts to cry?

I was shooting that day but I wasn’t there in the room at the time.

He comes off as a sociopath but he does care. He cares about Moni??? He really cared about his mom.

He does have a heart but he’s also an alcoholic and drug addict.

Yeah, it’s amazing how well he plays that part.

It’s like he would make sure you were all right, and then steal your money.

What were you doing prior to the show?

Prior to the show I was pretty much focusing all on voice-over work. I’d made my living doing voice-over work for 7 years. .

Congratulations. You have a great voice.

We agree with Iris. Zach has a great voice and we are looking forward to season three of Shameless...