William H. Macy Says He's 'Very Proud' of His Former Shameless Kids' Post-Show Success: I 'Miss Them' 

William H. Macy will always hold a special place in his heart for his kids on Shameless.

Even though the show came to an end in 2021 after 11 seasons, the actor, 74, revealed on the latest episode of the Films to Be Buried with Brett Goldstein podcast that he still keeps up with them.

"They're all doing really well, which is great. And I feel that these sort of are my Ersatz kids, so I'm very proud of them," said Macy, who played father-of-six Frank Gallagher.

Although it became Showtime's longest-running original series, Macy noted that it "was time" for Shameless to come to an end.

"It was very, very sad, and I do miss them," said Macy of Emmy Rossum (Fiona Gallagher), Jeremy Allen White (Lip Gallagher), Emma Kenney (Debbie Gallagher), Ethan Cutkosky (Carl Gallagher), Christian Isaiah (Liam Gallagher), and Cameron Monaghan (Ian Gallagher).

Macy recalled his time on the show as something he "loved."

"I loved it. I got to go to work every day. And at first, I brought my old habits into it, which is struggling with all the scenes and wanting rewrites and quizzing everything, and I carried it so heavily," he said. "But just the fact that we did it for so long, I finally calmed down, and boy, did my acting improve, and, boy, did people like me better."

The actor echoed similar sentiments in March when he shared his opinion on White’s headline-making underwear campaign for Calvin Klein.

“He’s got a huge career. I’m really proud of him. I’m such a fan of The Bear. Now he’s on billboards in his underwear,"  he shared while speaking to Entertainment Tonight.

“I had to speak to him about that. You know, as his father,” he quipped, noting that he told White to “put your pants on.”

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White, 33, — who picked up his first Emmy at the 2023 honors for outstanding lead actor in a comedy series for his work on The Bear, revealed to PEOPLE in January that his secret to staying "grounded is all about being humble."

 "I'm humbled. I’m humbled all the time by my life," he told PEOPLE.