Who plays ian on shameless

Showtime’s critically acclaimed series, Shameless, is in it’s 11th and final season. The most anticipated couple to be reuniting on-screen again this season is Ian Gallagher (Cameron Monaghan) and Mickey Milkovich (Noel Fisher). The couple who fans call, “#Gallavich,” reunited in prison in season 9, and then tied the knot in the season 10 finale. However, many fans are shocked to find that the couple is not together off-screen. Let’s take a look at the couple’s relationship status in real life.

Fans have wondered: Is Cameron Monaghan gay? 

Ian Gallagher actor Cameron Monaghan has never dated his on-screen love interest Noel Fisher and is not gay in real life. Monaghan is currently in a relationship with model Lauren Searle, who he reportedly started dating in 2020. 

He previously dated actor and model Peyton R. List. The duo met on the set of Anthem of a Teenage Prophet, which they co-starred in. They went public with their relationship in September of 2017, with a sweet photo of the pair in Disneyland. Their break-up was reported exclusively with E! News in January of 2019. 

Before List, Monaghan dated Shameless co-star, Ruby Modine, from 2016 to 2017. Modine played Lip Gallagher’s (Jeremy Allen White) love interest, Sierra. 

Fisher is happily married to longtime partner

In 2017, Fisher put a ring on it. Fans will be disappointed to hear that it was not on Cameron Monaghan’s hand, unfortunately. Fisher married actor Layla Alizada on July 15, 2017. 

The pair met back in 2005 when they were both in the make-up trailer in the TV series Godiva. They didn’t connect officially until the wrap party of the show. 

The duo married in an intimate, magical wedding with just 60 of their close friends and family members. 

Fisher and Alizada told People, “We always wanted a wedding that was small and intimate. It was a magical day and even more special, having so much of it put together with the help of our loved ones.”

Fisher and Alizada celebrated their second anniversary this summer. Fisher posted a sun-kissed photo of the two in front of a beautiful ocean, with the caption, “Put a ring on this beautiful lady two years ago today! #HappyAnniversary my love!”

Monaghan and Fisher only agreed to come back to the show for #Gallavich

When Monaghan left Shameless in 2018 after over eight seasons of acting, he felt good about the “logical conclusion” the writers took his character in. However, he told producers the only way he would return to the show would be to explore the relationship between Ian and Mickey further. 

“That was something that felt worth going back to,” he told Entertainment Weekly. “There’s still a lot of story to tell. We’ve never really had these characters just together in a somewhat stable environment for very long, so that’s been fun to explore.”

Shameless ran from 2011 to April 11, 2021. 

RELATED: Are the ‘Shameless’ Cast Members Friends in Real Life?

Cameron Monaghan left and returned to Showtime’s Shameless in the span of four months.

To hear the actor tell it, the decision was a mix of wanting to spread his wings creatively and “business,” meaning his contract was up and he likely earned a pay bump to return to Showtime’s highest-rated scripted original at a time when it was losing its leading lady, Emmy Rossum.

“I’ve renewed [my contract] a number of times, and it got to a point where I wanted to step away for creative reasons as well as business, which many other actors had done on the show years earlier,” Monaghan told reporters Wednesday at the Television Critics Association’s winter press tour, where he was supporting his role in the final season of Fox’s Gotham. “I took some time away and talked to showrunner John Wells about possible things we could do with the character in the future, and we go to a place both creatively and financially where I felt comfortable coming back. Much of that had to do with what we are going to do with the story. I’m excited to go back and do that.”

Monaghan has played middle child Ian Gallagher since the start of the Warner Bros. TV-produced dramedy. The actor was written out toward the end of the first half of season nine, when Ian was sentenced to time in prison. What’s more, producers found a way to positively wrap Ian’s story: his cellmate was former flame Mickey (fan favorite Noel Fisher).  

In his October announcement that he was leaving the series, Monaghan said he’d known since 2017 that he was ready to finish up as the openly gay and bipolar Ian. He did, however, leave the door open to return. And in its Jan. 31 season 10 renewal, Showtime announced Monaghan would return. The actor confirmed Wednesday that he has signed a one-year series regular deal and will be returning full-time to Chicago’s South Side as Ian when the William H. Macy series is back in the fall.

Monaghan’s return arrives as leading lady Rossum is exiting in the second half of season nine (currently airing on Showtime). In Ian’s farewell episode, he was able to say proper goodbyes to everyone in the Gallagher family — save for big sister Fiona. Monaghan remained mum on if he would return this season to provide a proper farewell between the two characters. He also remained tight-lipped about how diehard fans should interpret Ian’s return — without Mickey. (Showrunner Wells recently revealed he received death threats after Fisher’s departure from the series.)

Instead, Monaghan hopes to explore what happens to Ian after he lost everything he worked so hard for, including a healthy relationship and a career as an EMT.

“Now that we’ve torn him down … [and] instead of just looking for a relationship or resolving relationship conflict [it would be interesting] to instead [see him] be working on himself,” he said. “It’s interesting that Ian worked his way up, got his life on track and completely wrecked it. … Seeing him learn to lead the family and take care of himself and be on the straight and narrow … would be an interesting arc for him. I’d like to see something outside of just him searching and being single and hooking up with people.”

As for how Shameless exists without Fiona — who, for the bulk of its run, has served as the caretaker of the family — Monaghan believes the show’s ensemble will step up to fill the void.

“Over the course of the last five to six years, characters have grown up and branched out and the stories have become very separate. It was very rare that I would get the privilege of even acting with Emmy anymore,” he said. “It was just one of those things. We’re going to lose that thread, and that’s a loss for us. That being said, I feel like we have enough other characters and storylines that across the board they can absorb it and it won’t feel like too much of a change to the overall fabric of the show.”

For his part, awards season staple Macy has been open about wanting to do a 10th and maybe 11th season but suggested his time with the series could come to an end after that. Monaghan confessed that there has been final-season conversations every year for the past few years, though he has no insight if 10 is going to be the show’s last.

“A lot of people have signed on for multiple seasons, and I don’t know if it’s going to be the last year or not. I think it depends if people want to keep watching it,” he said, noting that he’s unsure if he would return for more beyond his current one-year pact.

"It's been a long time since we've had a game really fulfill this. It was something that I wanted to see as well, as a fan of the series and someone who plays games. To be able to tell a story that feels not only very at home in this galaxy, but also unique and fresh. Something that feels both epic and somehow still personal, is amazing, and this team has done such a great job." ―Cameron Monaghan on playing Cal Kestis[src]

Cameron Riley Monaghan (born August 16, 1993[1]) is an American actor, model and former child actor best known for his role as Ian Gallagher on the Showtime comedy drama series Shameless and his dual role as twins Jerome and Jeremiah Valeska on the Fox crime series Gotham.

In Celebration Chicago 2019, Monaghan was announced to be playing Cal Kestis in the Star Wars video game Star Wars Jedi: Fallen Order.[2]

Biography[]

Early life[]

Cameron Riley Monaghan was born on August 16, 1993[1] in Santa Monica, California.

Star Wars Jedi: Fallen Order[]

"Oh..it's not a big deal. It's only every kid's freaking dream ever to be a Jedi. It's... I mean.. it's incredible." ―Cameron Monaghan on being cast as Cal Kestis[src]

In 2018, Cameron Monaghan was cast in the lead role of Cal Kestis for Star Wars Jedi: Fallen Order, a Star Wars video game in development by Respawn Entertainment set for release on November 15, 2019. The role of Kestis attracted his attention because he liked the character's optimism in spite of all the difficulties has lived through and he hadn't worked a video game before. During the casting process of Fallen Order, Monaghan was at first unlikely to be cast on the role, as his audition clip was placed in a folder marked "Other" instead of the one marked "Review First". However, when Aaron Contreras saw his audition after all auditions from the "Review First" folder didn't convince him, he knew that Monaghan was right for the role.[2]

Upon getting the role, Cameron was restricted from telling anyone about the role. If his family or friends asked him, he would respond "Yeah, you're not going to see me very often. I can't tell you why". Playing Cal Kestis was a huge experience for Monaghan; it was his first time performing a role in motion capture and while he had seen videos from actors performing with such process, he believed at first to be voice work until fully coming to understand the concept.[3] Cameron enjoyed working on the game as he felt that being able to explore to the limits of imagination in a digital placement was like being a kid playing on a big sandbox. Monaghan's casting was eventually confirmed during Celebration Chicago in 2019.[2]

Personal life[]

"If I told that kid he was gonna swing a lightsaber one day, I think his brain would've exploded." ―Cameron Monaghan[src]

As stated in StarWars.com, Monaghan has been a Star Wars fan since childhood. He grew up watching the Star Wars original trilogy on VHS, often replaying his favorite Darth Vader scenes.[2] He recalled wielding a toy lightsaber for such a long period of time that it became bent and inoperable as well as going to see Star Wars: Episode I The Phantom Menace with his grandfather at age seven in 1999, an experience which was pleasant for both of them. Monaghan also recalled watching Star Wars: The Clone Wars during its initial airing and playing Star Wars video games.[4]

Gameography[]

Sources[]

Notes and references[]

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