Ten years on the same job is a long time—just ask Jeremy Allen White.
The actor, who played Philip "Lip" Gallagher on all 11 seasons of Showtime's Shameless, which ran from 2001 to 2011, now admits that the experience took a toll on him.
"I love Shameless so much. I love everybody that was a part of it, and the experience was incredible," he told GQ July 11. "But I'm not sure if shows are meant to go that long."
Outside of the show's grueling schedule, White said he started to have existential crises about his place in the industry.
"There was a period where I stopped feeling like an actor and I started feeling like I was just here to do this show," he revealed. "It was an upsetting head space to be in. When it was going to end, I was questioning: Maybe I do just exist on this show. What else is there? Am I an actor? I was definitely having a lot of doubt when I was finishing Shameless."
White managed to turn that identity crisis into creative fuel for his new role on FX on Hulu's The Bear, where he plays Carmen "Carmy" Berzatto, a young chef who takes over his family's Italian beef restaurant in Chicago after his older brother dies by suicide.
"I think that was something Carmy was really struggling with, too," he said. "We kind of found each other at a similar place. He knew he's really gifted at this thing, but he could be painfully insecure about his abilities as well. I was feeling a little insecure at the end, too."
Despite his feelings that Shameless ran for too long, White said he's jumping at the chance for a season two of The Bear, as he revealed, "To me, the whole first season feels almost like a prelude to what the show actually is."
Maybe just call things quits before season 11 this time.
All eight episodes of The Bear are available to stream on FX on Hulu.