Roseanne Revival Casts Darlene's Daughter

Shameless star Emma Kenney has been cast as Darlene and David’s daughter Harris in ABC’s Roseanne revival. Newcomer Ames McNamara was previously announced to play Harris’ younger brother Mark. Johnny Galecki, who played David in the original sitcom and now makes big bucks on The Big Bang Theory, has still not officially signed on for the new Roseanne.


A ratings titan in its original incarnation on ABC, Roseanne was a working-class sitcom developed from star Roseanne Barr’s stand-up routine, starring John Goodman as Roseanne’s devoted husband Dan. The exploits of the Conner clan from Illinois had a genuine down-to-earth quality rooted in real working-class experience, at least until later seasons when Roseanne Barr took over more creative control and began steering the show in weird directions. Roseanne aired its last season in 1997 but has enjoyed an enduring popularity and is set to be revived for an 8-episode run on ABC starting in 2018.


TVLine reports that Shameless actress Emma Kenney has been added to the Roseanne revival cast in the role of Harris, Darlene Conner and David Healy’s 14-year-old daughter. An early casting breakdown for the revival described Harris as a “hellion” much like Darlene herself, but speculation is that the character could ultimately be toned down from that early description. Kenney bears a striking facial resemblance to Darlene actress Sara Gilbert which certainly helped her snag the role.


Kenney is best known for playing Debbie, the rebellious fourth Gallagher sibling on the Showtime series Shameless. Her credits also include the 2014 feature film drama Bittersweet, the TV movie Green Apples, the comedy Day Camp, one episode of HBO’s Boardwalk Empire, and the animated films Epic and My Love Affair With Marriage.


In addition to the Roseanne Conner grandchildren to be featured in the revival series, Laurie Metcalf who plays Roseanne’s sister Jackie has teased that Roseanne’s son Jerry and Jackie’s son Andy – both of whom were babies when the show went off the air – will also be popping up. John Goodman’s Dan Conner, who infamously died of a heart attack in the series’ bizarre and controversial final season, will also be around for the revival and not in ghost or zombie form. The plan appears to be to completely ignore the events of season 9, which ended with one of TV history’s most unaccountable and audience-displeasing finales.


In addition to Roseanne Barr, John Goodman, Laurie Metcalf and Sara Gilbert, original Roseanne series cast members Lecy Goranson, Michael Fishman and Sarah Chalke will also be returning.