William H. Macy, the star of “Shameless,” has a very surprising idea for a TV show. He talked about it on a podcast called “Films To Be Buried With,” hosted by Brett Goldstein from the show “Ted Lasso.”
Macy’s idea is to make the audience fall in love with a main character over three episodes and then have that character get shot. But here’s the twist: the character doesn’t die!
Instead, every week, the show would show how getting shot changes the character’s life. Viewers would see the character dealing with the injury, how it affects his marriage, how he gets infections, and how he learns to walk or use his hands again. The show would also explore the deep sadness and depression that comes with such an experience.
Macy believes that showing the real effects of violence is important. He thinks that too many movies today have too much violence, and it becomes less meaningful when too many people are killed.
Macy explained, “If you kill one person, it’s very dramatic. But if you kill 18 people, it’s just too much. And the only way to make it more dramatic is to kill even more people, which isn’t good.”
He feels that many movies today are not true to real life. “What offends me is films that aren’t true. Hollywood is doing a lot of damage by showing violence in a way that isn’t real,” Macy said. This belief has cost him some job opportunities, but he stands by it.
Macy is also working on writing a Western movie. He plans to star in it with his daughter, Sophia. Originally, his script had nine people dying by the fourth page. He decided to scale it back because he wanted the movie to be more realistic, like the real Old West. For example, in the famous 1881 shootout at the O.K. Corral, only four men died.
Macy shared that in most scripts, there are too many people getting shot without it being realistic. He joked that sometimes characters get shot multiple times and still have time to give a speech, which is not how things really happen.
Known for his comedy roles, Macy also talked about his favorite funny movies. He told his daughters that “Airplane!” is one of the funniest movies, even though you have to wait for the funny parts. He recently watched “Dumb and Dumber” again and found it hilarious, especially because he used to live near Aspen, where part of the movie is set.
