Characters / Boyhood

Mason Evans Jr

Played By: Ellar Coltrane

• Character Development: He starts off as a pretty normal child and grows into a very introspective, smart, and laid-back young man.
• Disappeared Dad: Sort of. When his parents split up, Mason and his sister Samantha spent more time with their mom, Olivia, than their dad.
• The Eeyore: When he becomes a teenager he starts developing this mindset. His girlfriend even calls him out on it when breaking up with him, telling him it will be nice not to have to listen to his constant negativity all the time.
• Expy: He is awfully similar to director Richard Linklater himself.
• Mr. Vice Guy: He's a nice, laid-back kid but his curiosity for life has gotten him into a few not so healthy situations.
• The Quiet One: Compared to other characters, Mason does not talk a lot during the beginning of the movie. While by his earlier teen years he begins to speak much more, he is still more withdrawn than other characters.

Olivia

Played By: Patricia Arquette

Mason Jr. and Samantha's mother.

• Amicable Exes: Not at first, but she does start getting along better with Mason Sr. by the time their children are in high school.
• Horrible Judge of Character: Does not choose the best men to marry or date.
• Mama Bear: Protective of her children.
• Parental Favouritism: Prefers Mason Jr. to Samantha, often picking on and criticising her daughter while having a lot more warm moments with her son. Samantha even calls her on it.
• Women Are Wiser: Not always true with her but she does give an insightful comment to a waiter who, after listening to her, goes to college and would later on run his own restaurant.

Mason Evans Sr

Played By: Ethan Hawke

Olivia's ex-husband and father of Mason Jr. and Samantha

• Amicable Exes: He gets there with Olivia by their children's high school years.
• Character Development: Goes from a fun-loving, reckless, and irresponsible man to become a much more attentive father and mature man. Although there is a sense that he matured too late to really be an "attentive father and mature man" for his older children, and instead has channeled that energy into his new family and baby. Also part of his character development is his political shift from being a liberal to a more straight-laced conservative.
• Happily Married: Second time's the charm for Mason Sr.. Her and Mason Sr.'s marriage continues to last with no sign of friction even after Mason Jr. and Samantha graduate high school.
• Mr. Vice Guy: Although not a bad guy, his impulsive recklessness and occasional irresponsibility makes him far from an ideal parental figure. He does grow out of the irresponsibility, but by then, his children with Olivia have already reached adulthood, so he instead channels it into being a better husband and father to his new family.

Samantha Evans

Played By: Lorelai Linklater

• Calling the Old Man Out: She calls Olivia out on always babying Mason Jr. and sarcastically tells Olivia, "You're right, I am a horrible person" in response to her mother's constant criticism.
• Freudian Excuse: She antagonizes Mason Jr. early on, but it seems to be in response to Olivia seemingly showing Parental Favoritism towards him and constantly criticizing her.
• Jerk with a Heart of Gold: She has always had some form of stubborn-ness throughout her childhood. However she has matured with time and she still cares about her family.

Catherine

Played By: Libby Villari

Olivia's mother and grandmother of Mason Jr. and Samantha

• Character Development: She doesn't seem to trust Mason Sr. that much in the beginning but they seem to get on good terms as the kids got older.
• Good Parents: She is supportive and helpful of her daughter and does care for her grandchildren.

Bill Welbrock

Played By: Marco Perella

Olivia's second husband, who turns out to be a violent alcoholic. Naturally, Olivia ends up divorcing him.

• Abusive Parent: He is extremely violent and demanding. Though this is revealed after Bill and Olivia marry. However, his children later do admit that he's always been verbally abusive, though Mason's presence in particular seems to have caused him to become physically violent.
• The Alcoholic: He drinks so much he does horrible things because of it.
• Bitch in Sheep's Clothing: Seems like a pretty jolly family man at first, but then his alcoholism is revealed and he only gets worse from there.
• What Happened to the Mouse?: It's never known what comes of his kids though its implied they were taken away from him so they can be under much better care.

Annie

Played By: Jenni Tooley

Mason Sr.'s second wife and Mason Jr. and Samantha's step-mother.

• Good Stepmother: She continues to get along fairly well with Mason Jr. and Samantha after she marries Mason Sr.
• Happily Married: Her marriage with Mason Sr. proves to be a stable and loving one.

Mr. Turlington

Played By: Tom McTigue

Mason Jr.'s photography teacher. After being in his class, Mason develops an interest in taking photography.