The Shameless Character You Probably Didn’t Realize Was Played By Five Different Actors – Looper

The Gallagher character played by five different actors was little Liam, the youngest of the rambunctious South Side clan. And if you're wondering why the character was played by so many different actors, it's not because of poor acting or any behind the scenes kerfuffles with producers. Rather, the character was aged-up at different points in the series' run for narrative purposes. This is, of course, a regular occurrence in television, particularly on a long-running series where a character is introduced as an infant or younger.

Such was the case with Liam Gallagherwho, as Vulture explains, was but a toddler of questionable paternity when "Shameless" premiered back in 2011. During the early days of "Shameless," the series' casting team wisely did what many shows have done before with young characters. They gave the gig to twins Brennan Kane Johnson and Blake Alexander Johnson. Those two actors traded turns as Liam for the first two seasons of "Shameless' before ceding the role to another pair of twins in Brenden and Brandon Sims, who would go on to play Liam for the next five seasons of "Shameless."

As any fan can tell you, Liam did some serious growing up in those five seasons too. Apparently not quite enough, as the slightly olderChristian Isiah was brought in to handle Liam's significantly beefed-up role in the show's final four seasons. And yes, kudos are clearly due to the "Shameless" casting team for making those Liam transitions all but unnoticeable even to diehard fans.

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The Shameless Character You Probably Didn't Realize Was Played By Five Different Actors - Looper