Mickey Maguire (Shameless)

Michael "Micky" Maguire (born 20 June 1985) is a fictional character from the Channel 4 drama Shameless. He is a "paranoid, aggressive, violent, homosexual yet homophobe" who is a member of the Maguire family. He is erratic and obsessively licks the side of his mouth, which could be a tic and/or hint of a behavioral disorder. Despite his aggressive, exaggerated personality, he is mentally weak and often runs away at the first sign of trouble. Although his father Paddy Maguire (Sean Gilder) often shows him disrespect and is violent towards him, Paddy still loves his son. Micky is the most idealistic of his family, and the most loyal to his parents. In spite of Paddy's lack of faith in him, Micky was the only person who tracked down Paddy after he was shot and left for dead. Micky appeared in 84 episodes in total.

Contents

• US version
• Fictional biography
• References

When Micky initiates a brief and casual affair with Ian Gallagher (Gerard Kearns) and falls in love with him, Micky exhibits the fact that he is an eager suitor when he follows Ian around and is very emotionally demanding. Unlike Ian, none of Micky's family are aware of his homosexuality, despite several occasions when Micky has come close to coming out to them, or has daydreams about revealing his homosexuality to his family. In his early appearances, Micky has a dog, Nelson, whom he's been close to for years. Ian is disgusted to learn just how close they had become at one time, and declines to continue a relationship with Micky. By this time, Micky is in love with Ian and wants everyone to know. When Micky is about to tell his family, Ian bursts into the room and tells them about what had happened with Micky and Nelson. Paddy immediately has Nelson put down, deeply upsetting Micky.

The early episodes of the sixth series show Micky attending college to study film. When he reveals to his parents that he wants to pursue further education, Paddy and Mimi (Tina Malone) ridicule him. Later on in the series, Mimi accepts the fact that Micky is going to college and supports her son in his educational endeavours. Unfortunately, Micky struggles with the course and is distracted by an erotic story his professor accidentally slips in with his coursework. Micky decides that his true talents are in erotic writing and gives up his place in the class for his mother, Mimi, who loves films and has always wanted to go to college.

In the seventh series, Micky continues to build a friendship with Ian, with whom he now shares a house. This series has proved that Micky has a sensitive side, as explained through his dialogue with Ian when Ian became involved with Maxine Donnelly (Joanna Higson). Micky tries to warn Ian that Maxine fancies him, not realising that Ian felt the same way about Maxine. Ian then has sex with Micky in an attempt to forget about Maxine, but he and Maxine later have sex, which Micky witnesses. Micky is devastated when Ian insists he loves Maxine and wants to be with her. Micky tells Ian that he felt like a freak before he had Ian to look up to, and now Ian has taken that away from him. Relations between Micky and the new couple remain strained, but eventually Micky decides to stop letting their relationship bother him. He informs Maxine that all he wants is that when she finally realises she cannot be happy with a gay man, that she lets Ian down gently. Micky leaves Chatsworth during ninth series after helping a young woman, Liz, give birth to a baby girl. After Liz dies in childbirth, Micky decides to move away from Chatsworth to raise the baby, whom Liz named Jasmine before she died. When saying goodbye to Mimi, he is on the verge of telling her he is gay. However, she silences him and tells him to keep in contact. Mimi implies that she has guessed Micky is gay.

Ciarán Griffiths who plays Micky confirmed on Twitter and in Attitude magazine that he is to leave Shameless in 2012 during Series 9.