List of Veep characters

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Veep is an American political satire comedy television series created by Armando Iannucci. The series stars Julia Louis-Dreyfus as Selina Meyer. The first season premiered on HBO on April 22, 2012. [1]

Contents

Overview

ActorCharacterSeasons
1234567
Main characters
Julia Louis-Dreyfus Selina Meyer Main
Anna Chlumsky Amy BrookheimerMain
Tony Hale Gary WalshMain
Reid Scott Dan EganMain
Timothy Simons Jonah RyanMain
Matt Walsh Mike McLintockMain
Sufe Bradshaw Sue WilsonMainGuest
Kevin Dunn Ben Cafferty Recurring Main
Gary Cole Kent DavisonRecurringMain
Sam Richardson Richard SplettRecurringMain
Sarah Sutherland Catherine MeyerGuestRecurringMain
Clea DuVall Marjorie PalmiottiRecurringMain

Main characters

Julia Louis-Dreyfus, who portrays Selina Meyer Julia Louis-Dreyfus by Gage Skidmore.jpg
Julia Louis-Dreyfus, who portrays Selina Meyer
Tony Hale, who portrays Gary Walsh Tony Hale at the 2010 Streamy Awards (cropped).jpg
Tony Hale, who portrays Gary Walsh
Reid Scott, who portrays Dan Egan Reid Scott 2014.jpg
Reid Scott, who portrays Dan Egan
Timothy Simons, who portrays Jonah Ryan Timothy Simons 2014.jpg
Timothy Simons, who portrays Jonah Ryan
Matt Walsh, who portrays Mike McLintock Matt Walsh 2014.jpg
Matt Walsh, who portrays Mike McLintock
Sufe Bradshaw, who portrays Sue Wilson Sufe Bradshaw 2014.jpg
Sufe Bradshaw, who portrays Sue Wilson
Kevin Dunn, who portrays Ben Cafferty Kevin Dunn 2014.jpg
Kevin Dunn, who portrays Ben Cafferty
Gary Cole, who portrays Kent Davison Gary Cole 2011 Shankbone.JPG
Gary Cole, who portrays Kent Davison

Recurring characters

Personal characters

Politicians

House of Representatives

  • Dan Bakkedahl as Congressman Roger Furlong: an ambitious Ohio Congressman and ranking member of a congressional oversight committee. Ill-mannered and foul-mouthed, he constantly hounds the vice president's office and threatens investigations, even after he loses his campaign to be Governor of Ohio. Despite this, however, Furlong supports Selina's presidential campaign by helping her prepare for a primary debate and doing post-debate "spin" on her behalf. In Season 6, he becomes the House Minority Leader. In Season 7, he is Chairman of the Party. (Seasons 1–7)
  • Nelson Franklin as Will: Congressman Furlong's aide. He is often subjected to vulgar verbal abuse from Furlong. The Congressman often makes him say demeaning things for his own amusement. Although he never says anything resembling a kind word to him, Furlong is seen to treat Will and his wife to an expensive dinner in Season 5 (albeit by stealing Mike McLintock's dinner reservation) and have them over to his house in Season 6, suggesting heavily veiled appreciation for his aide. In contrast to being the subject of Furlong's verbal abuse, Will is shown to be on amiable terms with anyone that Furlong happens to be talking with at the time. Will mentioned that he has assisted Furlong since he was fifteen. (Season 1–7)
  • David Rasche as Speaker Jim Marwood: Marwood serves as the Speaker of the House of Representatives, who ends up in league with Tom James and attempts to deliver him the presidency by refusing to hold another House vote, though their actions inadvertently lead Laura Montez to be elected. (Seasons 2; 4–6). Rasche also appeared in In the Loop as an American official.
  • Paul Fitzgerald as Congressman Owen Pierce: a socially awkward congressman and previously one of Selina's rivals for the presidential nomination. He is described as completely incompetent. He holds great respect for President Meyer, and helps her swing a vote against his own wishes to protect her, possibly in exchange for an ambassadorship (likely to an Anglophonic nation, although he personally wishes to be posted to France). (Seasons 3–4)

Senate

  • Phil Reeves as Secretary Andrew Doyle: Vice President under President Meyer, originally a senator and chairman of the Senate Intelligence Committee. While serving as her vice president, he finds himself sidelined in a similar way as she had been by the former president, and Selina continually dismisses using him as an asset during her tenure in office. As vice president, he enlists Jonah as a liaison to the office of the president, asking him to be his "eyes and ears" in the West Wing. When Selina becomes her party's nominee, he declines to be Selina's running mate due to how he'd been treated as vice president, and steps off the ticket, but is forced to cite his reason as "prostate issues". In Season 5, Selina requires favors of Doyle when she is unavailable to appear in front of the press due to an eye-lift, and he strikes a deal to receive the office of the Secretary of State when she is elected, but Selina later promises Michigan Congressman Paul Graves the same position. Doyle hears about this and gets his revenge when he casts a deciding vote in the Senate hearing to determine the presidency. This gifts the Oval Office to Laura Montez instead of Tom James, which would've reinstated Selina as vice president, and in return President Montez appoints Doyle as Secretary of State. (Season 1–7)
  • Patton Oswalt as Teddy Sykes: the Chief of Staff to Vice President Doyle. He sexually harasses Jonah and a number of female White House staff. In season 7, he is a registered sex offender, but has also become Jonah's campaign manager after lying that he underwent chemical castration. He later resigns on principle after Ryan's nativist turn. (Seasons 4–7)
  • Brad Leland as Senator Bill O'Brien: an Arizona senator who is Selina's opponent in her presidential bid. He is described as a right-wing socially and fiscally conservative politician. (Seasons 1–2, 4–5)
  • Hugh Laurie as Senator Tom James: a charming senator and Selina's new running mate after Doyle leaves the ticket. He served as a representative and senator from Connecticut. He is extremely popular with his colleagues and with voters. James is described as socially compassionate and fiscally moderate. Selina was reluctant to pick him as a running mate out of fear that he would remember a time they nearly slept together. He frustrates Meyer at his desire to be involved with the economy, going so far as to request to serve simultaneously as Vice President and Secretary of the Treasury. In the general election, loophole rules in the Constitution dictate that in certain circumstances, James could become the Acting President (and subsequently President), further angering Selina. He offers that, should this occur, he would like her to be his vice president. She later appoints him as her economy czar. He later serves as president from 2025 to 2033, becoming a successful president. Before the fourth season, Armando Iannucci met with Laurie in the UK after learning that he was a fan of Veep. The two began developing the character Tom James alongside the show's writers (also based in the UK). Iannucci describes Tom James as a "normal, but ambitious operator ... this is someone who seems to outdo [Selina Meyer] in his ability." [16] [17] (Seasons 4–7)
  • Andrea Savage as President Laura Montez: Originally a senator from New Mexico, she becomes Senator Bill O'Brien's running mate in the presidential election. When there is a tie in the electoral college, a deadlock in the House of Representatives, and another tie in the Senate, Doyle ultimately votes for her, and she becomes president. President Montez is inaugurated in the season 5 finale, "Inauguration." Montez immediately accepts credit for Selina's efforts to free Tibet, and later comes under harsh criticism when this is revealed later in her presidency. She does not win reelection and is succeeded by Selina as president (although this is the result of Chinese election interference in collusion with the Meyer campaign). Several years later, she makes an appearance at Selina's funeral and her extensive plastic surgery is remarked upon. Even though her maiden name is Cunningham and she was raised in Cleveland, Montez pronounces her first name with a Spanish accent and frequently uses Spanish words in regular conversation, leading Selina to imply that Montez is pretending to be Latina for political reasons. (Season 5–7)
  • Toks Olagundoye as Senator Kemi Talbot, who Selina describes as a protege and considers as a running mate in her third run for the presidency. She ultimately enters the race against Meyer. She later served as president from 2033 to 2041, becoming a successful two-term president, delivering the main eulogy at Meyer’s funeral in 2045. (Season 7)

Other politicians

  • Randall Park as Minnesota Governor Danny Chung: a young veteran who is not shy about exploiting his military record for political gain. A member of the president's party, he covets the presidency himself and is seen as Selina's chief rival for the nomination after the president leaves office. A running gag is that Chung never appears on television without mentioning his military record. Selina offers him the position of running mate, but he declines. He is subsequently revealed to participate regularly in a Gilbert and Sullivan group along with Richard. (Season 1–6)
  • Isiah Whitlock, Jr. as General George Maddox: the former Secretary of Defense and one of Selina's rivals for the presidential nomination. He appears to bear an unusually high degree of personal animosity towards Selina. He is forced to suspend his campaign after being unable to compete on the debate stage. When she secures her party nomination, she offers him the position of running mate, but rescinds the offer. (Seasons 2–4)
  • Diedrich Bader as Bill Ericsson: a high-profile campaign official, formerly the campaign manager for Joe Thornhill. He later abandons Thornhill, and Selina appoints him her new Director of Communications. When a scandal breaks that the Meyer campaign used stolen confidential medical data to send flyers appealing to bereaved parents of deceased children, the core characters band together to scapegoat him in their place, resulting in his imprisonment. His sentence is later overturned on appeal and he turns against Selina, claiming he is "consumed" by desire to destroy her. He briefly served as a member of Jonah Ryan's presidential campaign team before resigning on principle. (Seasons 3–7)
  • Glenn Wrage as Joe Thornhill: a former Major League Baseball coach and one of Selina's rivals for the presidential nomination. He constantly uses sports analogies to describe politics, something which greatly annoys Selina and her staff. Despite a good early start in the primaries, he later loses momentum in the race. (Season 3)
  • Martin Mull as Bob Bradley: Selina's folksy, out-of-touch political advisor with a long history in politics. Ben Cafferty describes Bradley as his mentor. Selina recruits him to help with the recount in Nevada after the electoral college tie, but it is revealed that Bradley is extremely senile. His nickname is "The Eagle". (Season 5)
  • Peter MacNicol as Jeff Kane: An AARP lobbyist and influential political power broker in New Hampshire, and Jonah Ryan's uncle. He selects Jonah as a candidate for congress and is wholly responsible for getting him elected, remarking he could get "a Muslim AIDS virus" elected in New Hampshire. He frequently berates Jonah and is highly amused by his misfortunes, even laughing hysterically at the funeral for Jonah's father. He is one of the few people to recognize Richard Splett's political talent early on, expressing a desire to make him president (the final episode reveals Splett later became a highly respected two-term president). Another actor appeared as Jeff Kane in an uncredited appearance in the Season 3 finale, "New Hampshire". (Seasons 5–7)
  • Usman Ally as Mohammed bin Nasser bin Khalifa Al Jaffar: The Ambassador of Qatar to the United States. He becomes a love interest for Selina, although their relationship is severed due to their racial differences. After Selina loses the presidency, they reunite and happily pursue a romantic and diplomatic relationship. Selina reluctantly breaks up with him before announcing her presidential campaign after being advised the relationship would hurt her politically. (Seasons 5–6)
  • Matt Oberg as Governor Buddy Calhoun (D-Nevada): Former State Secretary of Nevada and opposing candidate for the presidential nomination. After a brief relationship in Season 5, he announces his engagement to Amy in Season 6, although this ended after he announced his intention to withdraw from the Nevada gubernatorial election to focus on her. He later reappears running for the party nomination for president in 2020, before agreeing to be Selina's Secretary of Education and giving her his delegates in exchange for her promise to ban same-sex marriages. (Season 5-7)

Other characters

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References

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