William H. Macy on his "delicious" role in Showtime series "Shameless"

Emmy-winning actor William H. Macy is well known for his roles in “Boogie Nights,” “Fargo” and “Room.” But his current role in Showtime’s hit series, “Shameless,” is “delicious,” he said.

“He’s a good guy, he’s fun, he’s hardworking, he’s entrepreneurial, he loves women,” Macy said of his character, Frank Gallagher, on “CBS This Morning” Thursday.

Frank is an addict and troublesome single father. In Sunday’s episode, Frank tries to work his way back into his household, after waking up from a coma and learning that his loved ones had tossed him in the river.

Since the show premiered in 2011, Frank has caused himself and his family a lot of grief, spending the little money they have on drugs and alcohol. Seven seasons in, Macy said “Shameless” still has the power to shock him.

“You know, I’m Lutheran. I grew up in Maryland. I read these scripts and I go, ‘Oh, are you joking!’” Macy said.

The show is also fearless, covering “wrong,” taboo topics. As for sex, there’s a lot of it, which Macy said was “healthy.”

“And it’s sort of matter-of-fact and yeah, I love it,” Macy said. “I’m proud of it. And I’m very proud to be sixty-something years old and carrying the getting-laid flag for all us old altacockers.”  

A father himself, Macy also said there’s a takeaway for parenthood.

“There’s an old phrase: ‘You prepare your children for the road, not the road for your children.’ So I’m introducing them to traumatic experiences early,” Macy joked.

For Macy, the more “wrong” the show, the better, because he said at its core, it’s “a little morality tale.”

“It’s about family values, it’s about this family that is this far from being on the street, and they get each other’s back every week,” Macy said. “Somebody’s got to be the bad guy.”

The 66-year-old actor has become sort of a “sex symbol” for his role, as he often appears only in his underwear on screen. He even recalled a time when he was hit on while filming at a bar in Chicago, when a woman invited him over her place for a cocktail.

When asked how his wife responded, he said, “She said, ‘I’m doing my best to share your joy.’”

“Did you say, ‘I have to call my wife first?’” co-host Charlie Rose joked.

“No. But ‘thank you so much. It feels so good,’” Macy recalled.