Credit: Chuck Hodes / Showtime

TV Tango: What were your first thoughts when you heard 2.6 million people watched the Season 3 premiere of SHAMELESS last Sunday?

Emma Kenney: I was shocked! We'd never had that many viewers before. That was really, really cool. It's insane that we had that many viewers with the Golden Globes on. I'm still really, really excited about that.

Credit: Showtime

TV Tango: What are some of themes for SHAMELESS in its new season?

Emma Kenney: There's a big drama part in each episode, but there's some laugh moments in the episodes, too. There's a lot of romance for every character. There's really just drama, romance, love and suspense.

TV Tango: What's your favorite scene in Season 3?

Emma Kenney: There's a scene in Episode 5 [entitled "The Sins Of My Caretaker" and scheduled to air on February 17]. I don't want to spoil the surprise, but its a really, really good scene. That Episode 5 is definitely my favorite episode, ever, for Debbie.

TV Tango: Can you tell us which characters you share that scene with?

Credit: Chuck Hodes / Showtime

TV Tango: In the Season 3 premiere episode, Frank returns from Mexico. Why is Debbie the only one happy to see him back?

Emma Kenney: Debbie's still daddy's little girl; she still loves her daddy. I mean, everybody loves Frank, but Debbie actually appreciates having him there. Unlike Monica, Frank is still there. Even though he's out of it all the time, he's still there. He's still her dad.

So she missed him. She was worried about him, and she didn't really know what was going on. She thought maybe he was dead. She was just really happy to see him -- and really relieved.

TV Tango: How much input did you personally have -- not Debbie, but Emma talking to set designers -- into the shrine for Frank that was in the Gallagher's front yard?

Emma Kenney: I didn't. We have really great prop guys, and they just drew little designs on them and little numbers.

TV Tango: What was your favorite part of the shrine?

TV Tango: Will Debbie continue to support Frank or will she also grow tired of his antics, like the rest of her siblings?

Credit: Cliff Lipson / Showtime

TV Tango: As part of growing up as a teenager, I understand that you get your first on-screen kiss. I don't want to know with whom; instead, I want you to confirm or deny Emmy Rossum's comments that that was the first time you had kissed any boy. [BTW: Emmy recently revealed that she also had her first-ever kiss occur on-screen in the Disney movie GENIUS.]

Emma Kenney: [Laughing] I don't know...maybe... [bashfully]

That was a very awkward scene to film.

TV Tango: Again, don't spoil the scene, but describe what it was like to have your first on-screen kiss...besides being awkward.

Emma Kenney: It was really, really, really, really embarrassing.

Even the last take, they called cut and there were a bunch of neighborhood kids watching. I don't know why, but everybody erupted in laughter. I'd never been that bright red in my entire life. I was like, "What? What did I do? What's going on?"

It was a very embarrassing scene. I never had an experience like that before.

TV Tango: Hopefully, it was only one or two takes?

Emma Kenney: Actually, I know that it's really weird that I remember the exact number, but there were nine takes. I'm going to remember it all. I'm going to remember the exact place -- it was on the playground by the Gallagher house. It was like down the road, and everybody could see. It was very awkward, very embarrassing.

Nobody could take away the embarrassing factor, but everybody on set tried to make it some zone of comfort.

Credit: Cliff Lipson / Showtime

TV Tango: Last time you and I spoke, you said you wanted action scenes because you wanted Debbie to be more stressed out. First of all, it sounds like kissing a boy is going to stress out Debbie.

Emma Kenney: I know, I know. I wouldn't say it stressed out Debbie; it kind of relieves Debbie in a way. In that episode, after that actual scene, she's so much more calm and so much more happy. She has a big smile on her face.

TV Tango: Well, do you get any action scenes this season?

Emma Kenney: I do!! -- which I am extremely happy about!! I don't want to ruin it, but I have some pretty amazing action scenes, if I do say so myself. It was really, really fun.

TV Tango: It sounds like you were able to do your own stunts, like you wanted.

Emma Kenney: I did! I did get to do my own stunts. We had one scene where there was somebody else, who I was in the scene with, and that person had a stunt person. It was really fun. They even asked me, "Emma, do you want somebody to do these stunts for you?" And I was like, "No, no, no, no, no! I've been waiting three years for this, I am going to do this." I was really excited.

I was so nervous, though. I didn't think I was going to be nervous, but before the scenes I was freaking out. I didn't want to hurt anybody. 

In one scene where the other person had a stunt person, I was really afraid I was going to hurt her. Luckily, I didn't. It was really fun.

TV Tango: Is that scene closer to the beginning of the season or the end of the season?

Emma Kenney: Actually, one of the stunts is Episode 2 [airing tonight, Jan. 20]. That was amazing. That was a really crazy scene to film.

Then I have another -- I don't remember the number of it, but I think it's in the first six episodes, before the middle cut.

Credit: Chuck Hodes / Showtime

TV Tango: Besides action scenes and an on-screen kiss, what else can we expect from Debbie in Season 3?

Emma Kenney: Debbie's really growing up this season. She's not as much of a baby; she's not as much of a little girl. She leaves behind her little-girl persona, kind of sitting there smiling. She has her own opinion, and she has her own thoughts. She's very opinionated this season.

She has a lot of scenes bonding with Sheila, which was amazing. I loved those scenes, because working with Joan Cusack is really great. She's really amazing.

TV Tango: It sounds like everyone on set loves working with Joan.

Emma Kenney: I love Joan; she's so sweet.

She actually lives in Chicago; so whenever we shoot there, she has us all over for game parties. We all hang out and bake cookies. It's really, really fun. .

Credit: Emma's Instagram Account

TV Tango: What traditions does the cast usually have when they get together? I know that one of them is charades at Joan Cusack's. What are some other traditions?

Emma Kenney: Yes, charades. That is the best.

In Chicago, we like to go out for pizza.

We always have a big dinner in the hotel, with all the cast, the directors, producers and everbody, and we do that like everytime we're in Chicago.

When were all in Chicago last, like back in November, all the cast and crew went out to this really yummy Chinese restaurant. That was a blast. That was actually for Justin's birthday.

TV Tango: When you're not in Chicago -- let's say you're in Los Angeles -- what do you guys typically do as a group?

Emma Kenney: Whenever we're filming and we have a big scene with everybody, we'll normally go to the commissary at Warner Bros., where we shoot, and we'll get  lunch there during our breaks.

This year, I went go-karting with a bunch of the cast, which was so much fun. I love go-karting.

TV Tango: Did you make any trips to the beach or mountains with the cast?

Emma Kenney: We went to the beach three times. We went once with Shanola [Hampton], who plays Veronica. We went once with all the cast to Venice Beach. Also, my 13th birthday party this year was a surfing party at the beach in Santa Monica, and all the cast went to that.

But we never went to the mountains.

TV Tango: Did you take surfing lessons or did you already know how to surf?

Emma Kenney: I learned. We had lessons. I really want to do it again. I'm very proud of myself -- I caught my first wave that I tried to do. Then, I took a break, and i started to overthink it. I couldn't get back on the board -- I was so bummed out.

Credit: Cliff Lipson / Showtime

TV Tango: What was the best prank that someone pulled on set while filming Season 3? I would imagine Justine would be a good prankster.

Emma Kenney: Oh, my god, Justin is hilarious. He and Steve Howey, they are so funny.

I'm a big prankster. I remember I tried to do this one elaborate prank, where I'd be hiding out in somebody's trailer. I would put a little thing in their heating vent, and I was trying to make noises like it was a ghost or something. It did not work out.

Emma Kenney: I got kind of freaked out waiting. I was hiding underneath their desk in their trailer, and I was getting kind of freaked out, because it was dark in there. I ran out; I was scared. [Laughing]. It didn't work out.

I was going to do it to Jeremy [Allen White], who plays Lip [shown in the picture]. I told him later, and he was like, "Oh, Emma..." It was funny.

Photo of Emmy Rossum by Emma

Credit: Emmy's Instagram Account

TV Tango: While you're on set, are you picking up photography by hanging out with Emmy Rossum?

Emma Kenney: I am! Emmy's such a good photographer! She has a bunch of different kinds of cameras. She always lets me experiment with them and take pictures whenever we're shooting. It's really fun.

I'm a big Instagrammer; so I'm always taking pictures and Instagramming them.

For Christmas this year, I got an SLR D3100 Nikon camera, and I got a Polaroid camera. And I got another camera, a 360 camera. I got a bunch of cameras.

TV Tango: Did you get an olf-fashioned Polaroid camera?

Credit: Cliff Lipson / Showtime

TV Tango: Do you have a fear of flying?

Emma Kenney: I don't have a fear of flying. I don't like to fly. I'm kind of a control freak, and I'm kind of freaked out by heights, too. I try not to look out. I guess, now that I'm thinking about it, I do [have a fear of flying]. It's not a big fear. Also, if I think about it, I get claustrophobic, too.

I hate turbulence. I freak out.

TV Tango: So it sounds like you don't like much about flying except when you get to your destination.

Emma Kenney: I guess, you're right. I don't. One thing I do like about it [flying] is landing. I like the bumps when you're on the ground. Those are the only things I like. I don't like turbulence and bumps in the air, but I don't mind them on the ground. I'm like, "Come at me, we're all good." [Laughing]

Credit: Ron Jaffe / Showtime

TV Tango: Tell me about your upcoming trip to Paris.

Emma Kenney: I went to Paris once when I was seven, but I'm actually going back to Paris this Spring Break with my friend. I'm so excited for that.

TV Tango: What are you looking forward to doing in Paris?

Emma Kenney: We're going to stay in a hotel near the Eiffel Tower; so I'm unbelievably excited for that. We're going to go to the Eiffel Tower...and I don't even know. We literally just found out about two or three weeks ago; so I'm going to see her this weekend and we're going to plan some things to do.

We're going to go for like 10 days. When you fly home from Paris, you have the option of having a layover in Iceland. I actually did that; I've been to Iceland before. It's so beautiful. Hopefully, we'll do that again.

If we don't do that, then we'll do a daytrip to Switzerland, which will be amazing, because I'm Swiss and I love Swiss chocolate.

TV Tango: Now that you're a celebrity, you have conversations with other Hollywood stars and athletes on Twitter. Who got you most excited when you saw their tweet to you?

Emma Kenney: Let me think about that. Hmm. Harry Styles [pictured] from One Direction is actually following me on Twitter. I literally saw that -- that he started to follow me -- and I started to cry. I was fan-girling like crazy. It was probably the best day of my life.

I still totally fan-girl when I see that.

TV Tango: What would you do if Justin Bieber followed you on Twitter?

Emma Kenney: I don't even know what would happen; I would probably go into an epileptic seizure. God, that would be amazing. I love Justin Bieber.