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"I fell In love wIth the busIness all over agaIn." —william h. macy Rudderless has gotten rave reviews. Was there anything that surprised you about the directing process, or some- thing that you found particularly satisfying? I love doing something that I've never done before on that scale, with that kind of visibility. For those who don't know, directing a film is a monumental amount of work, as is producing a film, but directing a film really is the eye of the hurricane. The long and the short of it is this: I had this view of the beautiful machine that we build to make these films and tell these stories—the cast and crew and all the equipment and everything—that I'd never had before. I fell in love with the business all over again. I was like a schoolboy at the fair. Season five of Shameless kicks off in January. What do you credit for the show's longevity? It's about a family that works in a weird bunch of ways, and they're all winning characters. It's a beautifully conceived family, and that makes it universal. There are archetypes in it, but it's a new, fresh look at these archetypes—and at the base of everything, they love each other, and they help each other. It's all about family. Family's thicker than anything. What's your favorite thing about playing Shameless's Frank Gallagher? I like it when he says what is true and what is obviously true. When he speaks the unspeakable. "Who farted?" "Good Lord, you're fat." I like it when he just says it like a lot of people think it really is, and perhaps that's how he thinks it is. I love his candor, and then I love his rascallyness. And this season I'm having the time of my life because Frank is largely sober. He's high as a kite on other things a lot of the time, but he's sober—and you must appreciate that for an actor; it's been an interesting ride. I did it for four years where, pretty much when he wasn't drunk, he was hungover, there was just no time in between. So, sober has been very interesting. You made quite an impression in your 20s in the Chicago theater scene. What were those days like for you? I had just graduated college; I was young and vigorous, dumb as a bag of hair, with just boundless energy—as were my mates Stephen Schacter, Patricia Cox, and David Mamet, and we all ended up in Chicago after college in Vermont and started the [St. Nicholas Theatre] Company. It was a bit of insanity—the inmates had taken over the asylum—we were so young and we were running this huge organization, and we did a pretty good job. We did some really good work and, boy, did I have a good time. I had the keys to the theater, literally. How did you envision your career back then? For the longest time, my goal really was to get to the next show— to just keep working in the business and make enough to pay the rent. Although, in Chicago, I actually did pretty well. I started doing commercials, and we taught classes, and that was an easy way to make money. And then we got a grant, so we actually made a little bit of money for working at the theater. And then I got paid to act— not much, but a little bit. I bought a car, and we bought a three-f lat across from Wrigley Field. Speaking of David Mamet, you and he have had a long-standing profes- sional relationship. Why do you think you connect so well? We met at really formative times of our lives, when we were just putting it all together, and we were passionate and dramatic, and a couple twists of fate kept us together. Secondly is that Dave was always a writer, but he was also a director and loved working with his friends, so he would cast all of us repeat- edly. He gave me my career, and we followed each other to the cities. So our careers grew up at the same time. But also, I totally get his sense of humor—there's nobody else I know whom I totally get like him. I'm in awe of him. And on occasion I've made him laugh. I think he's one of the great writers of a couple of generations; I can't say enough about his writing. He's a bea- con for me. He's not afraid to say anything—he'll always tell the truth. He's the only guy I've ever met who is incorruptible. Shameless brought you back to Chicago. What has it been like to return to the city and be working again? Macy's Parade From the upcoming season-Five premiere oF his chicago-set showtime hit ShameleSS to oscar buzz surrounding his directorial debut, RuddeRleSS, William H. macy is enjoying one success aFter another. in an exclusive interview with michigan avenue, the award-winning actor reminisces about his windy city theater days, dishes about being a director, and explains why wiFe Felicity huFFman is his Favorite on-screen costar. by j.p. anderson photography by tony duran styling by douglas vanlaningham 108 michiganavemag.com