Main Characters (Logan Roy, Kendall Roy, Siobhan "Shiv" Roy, Roman Roy) | Extended Roy Family | Waystar RoyCo | Other Companies | Politics | Other Characters
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Waystar RoyCo
Board of Directors, Executives & Shareholders
Josh
Josh Aaronson
"End of the day, you work for the shareholders. For me."
Portrayed By: Adrien Brody
A billionaire activist investor who is one of Waystar's major shareholders and organizes a meeting between Kendall and Logan at his home in the Hamptons to determine whether their feud can be reconciled.
- Brutal Honesty: Only once does he lose his faux-friendly tone, but he's still pretty brutal in stating directly to Logan that he could become "a punchline".
- Consummate Liar: He lies constantly, from downplaying his connection to Sandy and Stewy to claiming his daughter is ill, only for her to be seen jumping in a pool later, the picture of health.
- False Friend: Kendall seems to think Josh is his buddy and they have a strong bond. Josh clearly doesn't think so but doesn't mind using it to his advantage. He makes Logan and Kendall drive up to his house and doesn't even greet them at the door, but goes to meet Stewy on the jet tarmac personally. He also seems hesitant to attend Kendall's birthday party, wanting to see a guest list before he decides to go.
- Faux Affably Evil: His chummy, seemingly down-to-earth manner is largely sincere, but it's stretched over a very cold and calculating individual. Throughout his entire meeting with Logan and Kendall, he subtly lords his power over them and takes not-so-subtle pleasure in watching them squirm. When he feels like he's being lied to, he shows hints of an even nastier, more insecure side."End of the day, you work for the shareholders. For me. But I think that you think that I'm some dipshit who had a lucky night at the casino, who acts all fancy and then makes you eat fucking rodents for my pleasure. Right? But I have a gun at your head...and I need to know if this is gonna be a functional situation."
- Hidden Depths: At first, he seems like a pretty typical tech-bro type, but he's a lot savvier and more calculating than he seems.
- Jerkass Has a Point: Josh is an inconsiderate and manipulative prick, but as a shareholder in Waystar RoyCo he's completely in the right to demand answers about the Logan-Kendall feud.
- Lack of Empathy: He joins Logan in telling Kendall that he should just shut up and retract everything because whatever he has on cruises can’t be that bad, even though that would bring Kendall completely under Logan’s thumb again, his reputation unsalvageable.
- Manipulative Bastard: He's yet to be seen pulling strings like a mastermind, but his little seaside meeting with Logan and Kendall shows that he's adept at manipulating people. He lies to the pair of them constantly, either straight-up or by implication. Even his long walk back to the house is a piece of manipulation used to judge Logan and Kendall.
- Obfuscating Stupidity: His image as a shallow tech bro who can be easily swayed or intimidated is just an act that he puts on to mislead others. When he drops it, he reveals to himself to be a very smart, calculating person who is not to be underestimated.
- Secret Test of Character: Part of his manipulative nature involves subjecting Logan and Kendall to this; he takes a long walk back to the house, constantly pretending it's a short cut all while Logan is clearly having trouble keeping up due to his ill health...all so he can test Logan's pride, Kendall's concern for his father, and to what extent father and son are unified.
Layton
Philippe Layton
Portrayed By: Angus Wright
A high-profile Waystar shareholder who advises Logan to step down from the company amid the cruise line scandal.
- It's All About Me: In a pretty striking display of selfishness, when he informs Logan that the shareholders want him to take the fall for the Parks & Cruises scandal, he laments that it wasn't an easy call for him to make.
- Mouth of Sauron: For the shareholders.
Paul
Paul Chambers
Portrayed By: David Patrick Kelly
A member of the board loyal to Logan.
- Undying Loyalty: To Logan, whom he enthusiastically supports during Kendall's attempted coup.
Ray
Ray
Portrayed By: Patch Darragh
A Waystar executive present at the corporate retreat.
- The Bully: As much as Logan bullies him, Ray very easily switches to being the bully when there's a new target.
- Dirty Coward: He's pretty happy to sacrifice his dignity to please Logan. When Logan orders Ray to piss in a wine bucket in full view of everyone, he moves to do exactly that.
Joy
Joy Palmer
Portrayed By:Annabeth Gish
A Waystar Studios executive based in Los Angeles.
- Batman Gambit: A failed one. Joy tries to avoid Roman’s questions regarding the Kalipsitron movie’s issues while also putting pressure on him to answer for ATN’s coverage of Mencken. Due to Roman’s interim co-CEO status and her own rank & connections, Joy presumes he will be smart enough not to fire her or push back. She does not factor in Roman’s insecurity and delicate emotional state.
- Everyone Has Standards: She’s a high-ranking executive at a Waystar subsidiary, and yet seems to agree with the sentiment that ATN’s backing of Mencken is a concern, both morally and for business.
- Hypocrite: Joy seems to have concerns about the ‘rightward lean’ of ATN due to the ‘values’ of the Hollywood community; Roman is quick to point out Hollywood is a cutthroat, elitist industry based in a rather notoriously corrupt and morally dubious city. Not to mention Joy is an executive at a studio owned by a deeply unscrupulous and toxic corporation.
- Sacrificial Lion: In-Universe. Roman impulsively fires her for her failure to properly recoup the budget on an upcoming bomb and for not respecting his position as co-CEO by avoiding his questions.
- Smug Snake: Her meeting with Roman is ostensibly polite and cordial but laced with subtle barbs and attempts to circumvent his authority.
Parks & Cruises
Mo
Lester "Uncle Mo" McClintock
Portrayed By: N/A
A former Head of Waystar's parks and cruises division, whose odious legacy hangs over the show's plot.
- Alliterative Name: Mo McClintock. Averted in that his actual name is Lester.
- Creepy Uncle: Not an actual uncle, but his nickname is Uncle Mo and he otherwise fits the description to a T. Connor even mentions that Logan never let his children in the pool with Mo. Kendall in “Hunting” has a particularly noticeable Thousand-Yard Stare when he hears that Mo has finally died.
- Dirty Old Man: A lifelong sexual predator and just as old as Logan by the time of his death.
- The Ghost: He never physically appears but his past actions haunt Waystar.
- Karma Houdini: Mo dies of a horrible illness and is posthumously exposed for the sexual predator he is, but he's never brought to justice within the legal system for his myriad crimes. In short, he got away with a *lot* for a *long* time, and never personally has to face the music.
- Names to Run Away from Really Fast: The "Mo" is for Molester.
- Never Speak Ill of the Dead: Subverted. At his funeral, Willa has to re-write Connor's speech so he's not on record praising a sexual predator. When Logan is first informed of his being The Mole, he reacts with an aggressive insult but is then immediately informed of Mo's death; he's shocked into being solemn for a few minutes and even wants condolences sent to Mo's widow, but the second after that he starts wanting to crack Mo's email.
- Posthumous Character: His name initially crops up as The Mole, and dies before he makes any physical appearance. However, his horrific legacy regarding the cruises scandal means he hovers over the rest of the season and there's nary an episode where he isn't mentioned.
- Punny Name: His given name is Lester. His nickname is Mo. And he is a molester.
- Rape as Drama: He abused his authority as a high-ranking member of Waystar's cruises division to coerce, abuse and rape countless showgirls.
- Serial Rapist: Mo left a trail of broken and abused women in his wake from his time over the cruises division. It's indicated that he was behind a myriad of deaths, as well, possibly upgrading him even further to a straight up Serial Killer.
Bill
Bill Lockhart
Portrayed By: Mark Blum
Tom's predecessor at Parks & Cruises.
- Affably Evil: People like Bill. He's given a fawning send-off for his retirement party and even Roman agrees that he likes Bill, and it isn't hard to see why: he's a disarmingly pleasant older gentleman with an easy smile. He also covered up and enabled horrific crimes on the Waystar cruises for years, and judging from his comments to Logan, may have even participated in them. Easy-going as he might be, he has no actual morals.
- Bald of Evil: A cunning, amoral mind lurks beneath that shiny pate.
- Shame If Something Happened: He turns up at the DC hearings under the guise of giving support, but he's really there to make implicit threats to Logan's face. Fully aware he's a likely scapegoat, Bill makes it clear to Logan that if he goes down, he's taking down everyone, and has the evidence to back it up.Logan: I appreciate your support, Bill.Bill: Are you kidding? So many memories, huh? I should write a book. I could. I've got the diaries. But no time. No time!
- Villain with Good Publicity: He tried to cover up historic sex abuses in the cruise line department, but since he retires at the start of the series, he more-or-less skirts by without much in the way of repercussions. Even prior to that, he was considered a genial man who everyone loved working for. Tom somewhat bitterly remarks that he was the "best boss ever".
ATN
Cyd
Cyd Peach
Portrayed By: Jeannie Berlin
Head of Waystar Royco's news network who butts heads with Tom after his promotion.
- Cool Old Lady: Cyd is a highly competent and savvy older woman with a sharp wit, giving off an air of being utterly in control.
- The Rival: To Tom, who she sees as a fly-by-nighter who she only has to tolerate for so long. Tom considers himself much more of a mainstay and seeks to make his name by eventually ousting Cyd.
- Smug Snake: Has a look of smirking enjoyment on her face when she teases Tom about sausages the morning after “boar on the floor”.
Eva
Eva
Portrayed By: Judy Reyes
An executive producer at ATN, a news channel owned by Waystar RoyCo.
- Chuck Cunningham Syndrome: She initially seems to be part of Waystar's upper executive branch, but after the first few episodes, she's never seen again.
Ravenhead
Mark Ravenhead
Portrayed By: Zack Robidas
An on-air personality at Waystar Royco's news network.
- Bitch in Sheep's Clothing: He's very popular and seems charming enough but is heavily implied to have some extreme views and even be a holocaust denier.
- No Celebrities Were Harmed: Of Tucker Carlson, being a young-ish mainstay on a conservative news network who's known for a frothing-at-the-mouth approach and has ties to white supremacy.
- Politically Incorrect Villain: He (poorly) tries to insist that he's merely interested in World War II from a historical perspective, but it's clear to pretty much everyone that he's a holocaust-denier at best, and at worst, a fascist neo-Nazi with ties to white supremacist organizations.Tom: Uh, and this other one that came up, just to fend this off, have you ever read Mein Kampf?Mark: Um. Yeah, couple of times, I guess.Tom: ...Couple times? Are there Easter eggs in there you didn't get the first time?
- Snub by Omission: A dark example. When asked why he's so interested in the tragedies of WWII, Mark replies "The scale. Europe decimated. 7 million Germans, 20 million Russians, 5 million Poles", conspicuously leaving out the one death toll even non-scholars would be familiar with: the 6 million Jews killed in The Holocaust, implying Mark might be a Holocaust denier.
Kendall's Team
Jess
Jess Jordan
Portrayed By: Juliana Canfield
Kendall's assistant.
- Alliterative Name: Jess Jordan.
- Ascended Extra: In Season 3, Jess starts getting more focus and more lines, turning her into more of a living, breathing character. Additionally, her actress noted that the character's appearances are due to Kendall's actor saying his personal assistant should logically be with him during certain scenes.
- Beleaguered Assistant: Kendall doesn’t treat her badly (Kick the Morality Pet in 3.02 aside), but her job is more babysitting an overgrown child at the end of it (while also reporting to Waystar about what he gets up to), and she sources him coke.
- Played straight by the end of the series, especially in the penultimate episode when Kendall shouts at her and calls her stupid for wanting to quit her job when she has valid reasons for wanting to do so.
- Girl Friday: She serves as this to Kendall, whom she's always around and running errands for.
- The Mole: Jess is ostensibly Kendall's assistant, but she's employed by Waystar and as such, she reports on Kendall's comings-and-goings to more responsible adults like Gerri.
- O.O.C. Is Serious Business: When Greg tells her that Mencken won the election, she looks lost and frightened. Justified since, as a black woman, she's especially endangered by his fascist ideology.
- The Quiet One: Jess, perhaps wisely, doesn't really speak unless spoken to. Although she gets more lines in Season 3, she still knows when to keep her mouth shut around big, erratic personalities like the Roys.
- Screw This, I'm Out of Here!: Downplayed, but Kendall forces her to tell him prematurely that she wants to quit, likely due to the Roys' connection to dangerous political ideology.
Lisa
Lisa Arthur
Portrayed By: Sanaa Lathan
A high-profile lawyer courted by both Kendall and Logan's sides.
- Ambiguously Gay: It’s never explicitly stated that they were together, but she and Shiv have a history, and are both awkward about the exact nature of their relationship.
- Crusading Lawyer: A professional and respected lawyer who represents Kendall as he tries to take down his father and hold Waystar accountable for its immoral actions.
- Famed In-Story: Implied; Gerri mentions a previous case of hers representing sex-trafficking victims as an example of her credibility.
- High-Powered Career Woman: She's considered to be quite high-profile, and both Logan and Kendall seek her legal council.
- Surrounded by Idiots: Although she's working for Kendall, she doesn't seem to be particularly impressed with his manic energy and is able to swiftly intuit that he hasn't thought through the consequences of his actions nearly as much he should have.
- We Used to Be Friends: Becomes this with Shiv once she learns Lisa is working for Kendall.
Berry
Berry Schneider
Portrayed By: Jihae
A leading public relations consultant hired by Kendall.
- Yes-Man: Berry does try to advise Kendall about the best course of action, albeit gently, but when he's set on something she doesn't bother pushing against it regardless of her opinions.
Comfry
Comfry Pellits
Portrayed By: Dasha Nekrasova
A crisis PR representative working with Berry, who forms a connection with Greg.
- Beleaguered Assistant: She's quite fed up with Kendall's excessive and ever-changing demands. One reason she agrees to go out with Greg is because Ken had explicitly forbidden him from asking her.
- Chuck Cunningham Syndrome: She vanishes without a trace in Season 4, despite being set up as a potential love interest for Greg in the previous season.
- Dating What Daddy Hates: Employer version; Comfry decides to go out with Greg seemingly because Kendall forbade him, and she hates Kendall.
- Informed Attractiveness: She is noted to be way out of Greg's league by Tom, Kendall, and Shiv despite not being notably any more attractive than the other women on the show, including her boss, Berry. On the other hand, Tom is notoriously mean to Greg, Kendall is furious with his betrayal, and Shiv's extremely judgmental, so it's very likely they were just bullying him.
- Punny Name: Her full name is Comfry Pellits... as in comfrey pellets, the fertilizer.
- Yes-Man: Much like her boss, she pretty much adheres to Kendall's wishes without openly complaining.
Other Employees
Kerry
Kerry Castellabate
Portrayed By: Zoe Winters
Logan's secretary.
- Alas, Poor Villain: Kerry may be a smug and self-serving ladder climber who was parlaying sex for status, and in the service of a company as morally dubious as ATN. but seeing her utter breakdown as she is humiliated and thrown out of Logan's wake, left with nothing, is pretty hard to stomach.
- Ascended Extra: Kerry first appears in Season 2 without much in the way of dialogue or screentime, but her importance grows in Season 3.
- Bad "Bad Acting": Her ATN audition is this, although due to her proximity to Logan no-one has the guts to tell her this to her face — aside from Greg, who does so but is visibly nervous about it.
- Girl Friday: To Logan; she's his secretary and tends to stick by his side, ready to carry out his orders.
- Laser-Guided Karma: Throughout Seasons 3 and 4, Kerry constantly belittles and snipes at the Roy siblings and their family due to her being Logan's right-hand woman, even making fun of Marcia when she's not in the room due to being Logan's mistress. This means when Logan unexpectedly dies, she loses practically all her influence in Waystar overnight, and is promptly taunted and/or dismissed by many of the people she looked down upon, including Greg and Marcia herself.
- May–December Romance: Kerry is having an affair with Logan, a man half a century older than her. Considering she's planning to have his baby, her feelings for him seem to be sincere.
- Morality Pet: Logan does treat her with much more kindness than other people, and she seems to be rather fond of him in turn.
- O.O.C. Is Serious Business: Kerry has been shown as nothing but rather cold and competent in her duties as secretary, and even shown to have quite the collected ruthlessness. Her state of utter shock at Logan’s death and her subsequent meltdown at his wake are quite disarming.
- Secret-Keeper: She's the only one in Logan's orbit who's aware of his UTI.
- Sleeping with the Boss: Becomes clear over the course of season 3 that Kerry is sleeping with Logan, and his kids start to acknowledge it openly.
- Smug Smiler: The more obvious it becomes she is sleeping with Logan, she gains screen time and becomes more and more entangled in Logan's inner circle, functioning as his right-hand woman alongside Colin. Her smugness and sniping at his kids gets more apparent as her influence grows.
- Took a Level in Jerkass: As she grows more assured of her position, she becomes smugger and more confident, convinced she's a vital cog in the company as opposed to Logan's secretary whom he's sleeping with. By Logan's birthday in Season 4 she starts bossing around in Logan's manor, now that Marcia is gone.
Colin
Colin Stiles
Portrayed By: Scott Nicholson
Logan's body man.
- Ascended Extra: Colin's been around since Season 1, but almost never spoke and functioned largely as an extension of Logan himself, being a glowering henchman. In Season 3, he has more dialogue and character, and more attention is paid to his relationship with Logan. He ends up being the penultimate character we see in the series, as he is Kendall's driver/guard in the final scene.
- The Dragon: To Logan. He follows him everywhere, functioning as his bodyguard, personal assistant, and handling the suppression of any negative incidents to the family.
- The Brute: One of the tallest and most physically imposing characters on the show.
- The Dreaded: Kendall has a habit of losing his confidence whenever Colin approaches him to handle business. When Colin approaches Kendall in the finale of season 1, he freezes in place as he sees Colin approach. When going to confront Logan in the finale of season 3, he tries to play it cool but can't even make eye contact with Colin. However, after Logan's death in Season 4, Colin's grief and loss is recognized by Kendall, and he recruits him back into his service in the same role as he had for Logan.
- Hidden Depths: It's strangely endearing to see how tenderly he interacts with Logan, carefully helping him and later delicately disposing of an imaginary dead cat.
- During a conversation about death, he begins to tell Logan that his father is quite religious, but is cut off.
- He is revealed to be married with a kid during a reception for Logan, and he is uncomfortable when having to escort Kerry out of the apartment.
- It's Personal with the Dragon: Seems to have a particular beef with Kendall in their sparse interactions.
- No Sense of Personal Space: Seems to take from Logan's playbook and will lean in close or deem to shake hands for a little too long so that Kendall, who is very afraid of him, knows that he has no control here.
- O.O.C. Is Serious Business: It's incredibly creepy when he breaks his implacable silence and deference to the Roys to lean in very close to Kendall and whisper, "I know you".
- He is also visibly holding back tears when Logan’s body is wheeled off the plane.
- Overzealous Underling: Almost chokes Greg out when he thinks he’s a danger, and both Kendall and Shiv are anxious around him, Kendall even before Colin is a Secret-Keeper about the accidental murder.
- The Quiet One: Colin knows enough to keep his mouth shut unless he's being given an order.
- Secret-Keeper: Other than Logan, he's the only one who knows about Kendall accidentally killing the waiter at Shiv's wedding.
- Undying Loyalty: To Logan, whom he obeys without question no matter how shady the order. Logan in turn seems to implicitly trust Colin.
Laird
Jamie Laird
Portrayed By: Danny Huston
A banker and financier who advises Logan during the proxy battle against Stewy and Sandy, as well as during his attempted acquisition of rival news giant Pierce Global Media (PGM).
- Affably Evil: An amoral banker working for a tyrannical bully, but also a somewhat suave and charming figure armed with Danny Huston's smile.
- The Bus Came Back: An odd example. He is never seen in Season 3 after being ousted from the inner circle. However Shiv mentions he leaked her info about Logan selling to GoJo after he was brought into the deal and then phased back out again. They also drop his name in the final episode as someone to call for advice, though they never do.
- Casual Danger Dialogue: He's able to stay fairly aloof during a hostage situation.Roman: And can I ask, not to make this all about us, but are they going to shoot us at any point?Jamie: I am also intrigued on that point.
- The Ghost: In Season 3. Shiv mentions she has been called/texted by him.
- Hidden Depths: He’s one of the few people who enjoys Kendall’s rap performance in tribute to Logan. It stands out especially considering he's seen singing along while Frank, Karl, and Hugo all stand stone-faced.
- Honest Advisor: To Logan, with whom he is brutally yet respectfully honest, which Logan in turn seems to appreciate. Laird understands harsh realities, and understands just as well that Logan is guided by emotion more than logic. However, this is later subverted when he tries to push Logan into a bad deal, since his reputation has taken a hit and his firm may push him out unless he brings in a big payday.
- Put on a Bus: Resigns after his deal proposal is rejected due to input from Roman and is entirely absent in Season 3.
- Villainous Breakdown: When Logan rejects the deal that would have saved Laird's hide, he makes no secret of his disdain for such a decision. He tells Logan, Roman and Karl that they're making a huge mistake and takes pleasure in the fact that someone is going to jail for the cruises scandal. Then he storms off the boat, bitter and worried.
