If you think your family has problems, then it might be time for you to meet the Gallaghers. Spending even one season with them while bingeing Shameless — the first ten seasons of which are available on Netflix — is enough to show you what a truly dysfunctional family looks like. Offering a gritty look at life on the South Side of Chicago, Shameless follows patriarch Frank Gallagher (William H. Macy) and the lives of his six children as they learn how to navigate life’s unceasing curveballs.
Minus Emmy Rossum, who led the show for most of the show’s eleven seasons, the actors who comprise the Gallagher children were complete unknowns when they were first cast. Cameron Monaghan would go on to play Joker-esque twins Jerome and Jeremiah Valeska on Gotham and Emma Kenney joined the cast of The Conners around the same time that Roseanne Barr was banned from television, but no one knew who they were at first. Another Shameless actor was in the same boat: Jeremy Allen White, who portrayed the second-oldest Gallagher child, Lip. White only had a few acting credits under his belt when he signed on to play the role, but it wouldn’t take long for audiences to recognize his talent.
As Lip, White painted with a versatile brush, showcasing his character’s sexual frustrations and stunning intelligence with the ease of an actor well beyond his years. Perhaps because he wasn’t already a known actor, or maybe because he’s just that good, it’s not White you see experience new love and heartbreak and quarrels with alcoholic professors when you watch the show, but Lip himself. His performance has been praised for its raw authenticity and in 2014, he was nominated for a Critic’s Choice Award for Best Supporting Actor. His breakout performance led him to be cast in other notable projects like Homecoming with Julia Roberts and the star-studded Movie 43.
The last episode of Shameless aired this year after an impressive 11-season run, giving White and his cast mates the chance to branch out and explore new projects. Their time as the Gallaghers might be over, but their careers as actors are just beginning, and for an actor as versatile as White, the sky is very much the limit.
What is Jeremy Allen White’s Net Worth?
Thanks to Shameless’s massive success, White has a net worth of $8 million. He’s ahead of costar Monaghan, who has $5 million, and is just south of Rossum, who has $12 million. None of the Gallaghers are close to catching Macy, who is worth $45 million after his successful career in both television and film. Still, White’s bank account is plenty impressive for a 30-year-old actor with the rest of his career ahead of him.
He has two children with his wife Addison Timlin and is set to star in FX’s upcoming comedy The Bear. He also appeared in this year’s drama The Birthday Cake alongside stars Evan McGregor, Val Kilmer, and Penn Badgley.