Shameless Guest Star Sammi Hanratty Gives Her Honest Take on Kassidi and Carl

Poor Carl Gallagher. He just wants to go back to military school, but his new wife, Kassidi, won’t let him. She wears a vile of his blood. She cut up his military clothes. She faked a suicide attempt to pressure him into marriage. Simply put, she’s deranged — and a delight to watch.

“The obvious is that she does crave love and she does crave attention,” says Sammi Hanratty, the actress who plays Kassidi. “Just because she comes from a wealthy family, doesn’t necessarily mean that she had happiness or any sort of love in her life. And so her view on a lot of things are extremely warped.” Here, Hanratty — who you might also recognize from guest spots on The Vampire Diaries, How to Get Away With Murder, and The Suite Life of Zack and Cody — talks about her latest role, what it was like to work with the Sprouse twins, and more.

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What’s the fan reaction been like?

It’s definitely been mixed emotions. For the most part I feel like people who watch Shameless love to hate certain characters. So she’s definitely been enjoyable to hate. But there are people who are very protective over Ethan [Cutkosky]’s character, Carl, and so there are a lot of girls who are like, genuinely pissed.

Kassidi has done so many awful things. What stands out to you as the most horrifying?

Definitely the most horrifying was her [pretending to] hang herself to get attention. That was awful. And unfortunately, she gets what she wants when she does that kind of stuff. But reading that part I was like, “Oh my god, that’s crazy!” Every episode I would read something and be like, “I can’t believe we’re doing that.” But that is the fun of it, that her reality is warped. The season finale, she goes to her peak. So you’re gonna have to see what crazy Kassidi does next.

The fact that Carl is so accepting of her says a lot about his character. Like Lip, he’s drawn to women who add to the chaos in his life.

They crave the chaos. I think that the girls do, too. It’s the family dynamic. When things aren’t chaotic, it doesn’t excite them. For Carl’s character, that’s what he was brought up in, that’s who his mother was and he’s kind of continuing that cycle. I call [Kassidi] “Little Monica.” But there’s also hope in the fact that he’s so badly wanting to go back to military school and still so badly wanting to create a good life for himself and for his future.

You’ve worked with many big-name actors — Viola Davis, for example. What advice through the years has stuck with you? Not like the generic advice, but something that has really resonated.

I feel like, instead of words, I’ve learned a lot through people’s actions, their character, [from seeing] when people are humble and have welcomed me onto a set and have treated me like I’ve been there all along. With Viola Davis, we were having conversations about church, having real conversations. She was kind towards me and I was like, “This is somebody I look up to so much.” She created such a kind atmosphere for me, and I want to continue doing that for other people.

And a long, long time ago, I was on That’s So Raven. I was just a guest star on the show and years went by and I was at the Apple Store, and Raven [Symoné] came up to me and was like, “I don’t know if you remember me, but you were on my show.” It was such a moment of like, “Are you serious? Are you crazy? Yes! You’re Raven!” I’ll forever carry that with me. I’m also thankful for the bad experiences, to be like, “I never wanna treat anybody like that; I never want anybody to feel like that.”

What are your memories of working with the Sprouse twins?

Oh my gosh, I remember it like it was yesterday. At that time that was the biggest show for me, that was my favorite show. I was with the boys the whole time, we had the same teacher. Cole played a prank on me. He gave me some jelly beans that had jumping snakes in them or something. And then Dylan was just like, “Come play with me!” He was so sweet to me, extremely kind. I think I was filming over Valentine’s Day and I just remember being like, “This is the best weekend.” These boys are so cool, so nice, and I was also low-key in love with them.

What’s your relationship like with Ethan?

When I started, day one, Ethan and I became really good friends, and while we were filming, I can honestly say he was one of my best friends. I think it has a lot to do with the fact that we both jumped into a job where we had to trust each other and be honest with each other and be vulnerable with each other. Because I don’t think either of us have really worked to this extreme, with how much these two are actively kissing and whatnot, and with that kind of stuff, it’s a bit uncomfortable. I was in a relationship at the time and he had his girlfriend, and so it was one of those thing where we were like, “Okay, nice to meet you! This is my deal, this is your deal.” And we were very honest with each other, which helped.

Are you able to say whether you’re coming back next season?

I’m not able to say because I genuinely don’t know.

Based on where things leave off in the finale, is there hope for Kassidi and Carl?

I think it definitely leaves on a bit of a cliffhanger for their relationship. That’s why I genuinely don’t know. It’s one of those things that could go either way.

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