ameron Riley Monaghan (born August 16, 1993[1]) is an American actor and model.

He is known
for his role as Ian Gallagher on the Showtime comedy-drama series Shameless and as
twins Jerome and Jeremiah Valeska, who serve as origins for the Joker, on the DC Comics-
based TV series Gotham.[2] He also portrayed Cal Kestis in the action-adventure game Star Wars
Jedi: Fallen Order and its sequel Jedi: Survivor. Monaghan began his career as a child model at
the age of three and as a child actor at the age of seven.

Early life[edit]
Monaghan was born in Santa Monica, California, the only child of Diane Monaghan, an insurance
claims specialist and single mother. He and his mother relocated to Boca Raton, Florida, shortly
after his birth. Recognizing that Monaghan was an exceptionally outgoing child, his mother sent
his picture to modeling agencies when he was three. He appeared on the cover of his first
catalogue at the age of five and appeared in his first regional commercial at seven.[3][4]
He attended Addison Mizner Elementary School and began to develop his acting skills by
appearing in the Little Palm Children's Theatre's productions of Stuart Little, Winnie-the-Pooh,
and The Pumpkin King (a theatrical adaptation of The Nightmare Before Christmas), as well as
appearing as Alex in the small independent film The Wishing Stone, which was filmed in the Lake
Worth, Florida area.[3][4]
Monaghan moved to the Los Angeles area when he was approximately 10 years old.[5][6]

Career[edit]
Early career[edit]
Monaghan first came to national attention in 2003 for his role as Winthrop Paroo in
the ABC television adaptation of The Music Man. When recounting the decision to cast the 9-
year-old Monaghan, director and executive producer Jeff Bleckner explained, "There are some
people, when you put them up on film, they sort of pop off the screen at you. That's how it was
with Cameron. From the second we saw him, he was it. We were looking for anybody who had
that wonderful appeal. And Cameron had it."[3]
In 2004, Monaghan began a recurring role as Chad, one of Dewey's classmates on
the Fox comedy series Malcolm in the Middle, which earned him the Young Artist Award as Best
Young Television Actor in a Recurring Role.[7] The following year, he began a recurring role as
Palmer Noid on the Nickelodeon situation comedy Ned's Declassified School Survival Guide.
Subsequent guest-starring television roles followed, including appearances on Criminal
Minds, Numbers, The Mentalist, Monk, Three Rivers, Fringe, The Glades, and Terriers.[8]
In 2005, Monaghan transitioned to theatrical film roles, appearing as Timmy in the independent
western Brothers in Arms. The following year, he appeared as Kevin O'Doyle, the bothersome
next-door neighbor in the fantasy comedy Click. A series of subsequent feature film roles
followed, including appearances in The Santa Clause 3: The Escape Clause, Dog Gone, Safe
Harbor and Another Harvest Moon, as well as portraying the boy detective Bob Andrews in
the Three Investigators film series.[8]
Shameless[edit]
Main article: Ian Gallagher
In April 2010, Monaghan was cast as an ensemble cast member on the Showtime comedy-drama
series Shameless.[9] On the series, which premiered in January 2011, Monaghan portrays Ian
Gallagher, the gay bipolar teenage son of a large dysfunctional Chicago family. Sarah
Hughes of The Independent commended Monaghan's portrayal for providing "one of the more
nuanced depictions of a gay teenager to be seen on US TV."[10] Matthew Gilbert of The Boston
Globe described Monaghan's performance as "extraordinary."[11] The gay-interest media
outlet AfterElton.com cited Monaghan's portrayal of Ian in naming him to its list of "2011's Break-
Out TV Actors".[12] In February 2014, Showtime announced it had renewed the series for a fifth
season, scheduled to begin airing in 2015.[13] For his work in the fifth season, Monaghan received
a Critic's Choice Award nomination for Best Supporting Actor in a Comedy Series. The seventh
season began airing in October 2016. The eighth season, consisting of 12 episodes, went into
production in May 2017; it premiered on November 5, 2017.[14] The series was renewed for a ninth
season which premiered on September 9, 2018.[15] Monaghan announced via Instagram that he
would be leaving the series following the sixth episode of the ninth season.[16] However, Cameron
returned for the tenth season which premiered in late 2019.[17]