This list provides descriptions of characters on the NBC situation comedy Will & Grace.
Main characters
Eric McCormack as Will Truman: Will is a gay man working as a corporate lawyer. He studied at Columbia University in New York City, which is where he met his best friend, Grace. Will's personality seems uptight and obsessive. Especially when it comes to cleaning, dressing, and decorating. However, Will sometimes displays a very patient and compassionate nature towards those close to him, often to a fault. Other times, he may appear to be insecure. Debra Messing as Grace Adler: Grace is a friendly, out-going woman who owns her own interior design business. Grace has a personality that largely tends to center on herself. She's fond of eating all the time. Grace has been Will's best friend since college, and they have been roommates on the show, although there are times where they've each had their own apartments. Grace is Jewish but does not practice her religion staunchly. She tends to rely on Will for emotional support at times, and her characteristics balance well with Will's uptight nature. Megan Mullally as Karen Walker: Karen is Grace's assistant and friend at Grace's interior design business. Karen has, on a few occasions, help Grace score or potentially score some high-profile design jobs. Karen is married to the wealthy (but mostly unseen) Stanley Walker. Because of her husband's wealth, Karen does not actually need a job and she hadn't been cashing her paychecks from work, preferring to "collect" them instead. She mentions at one point that she only took a job to get herself away during the week "from Stan and the kids". Karen is also known for loving alcohol and drugs of any kind, though it is usually played as comedy. She adores Grace and is very close to Jack. She and Will only had a lukewarm relationship for several years, but eventually warmed up to each other during the show's run. Even though she is devoid of manners and seems clueless at times to events happening around her, like her friend Jack, Karen has shown many moments of sharpness. She also has a street-sense sensibility. She is often rude and thoughtless towards the working class or poor people, often criticizing and mocking what she fails to understand. Sean Hayes as Jack McFarland: Will's close friend from the time Will was in college. Jack met Will when Jack crashed a college party (as Jack is a few years younger than both Will and Grace) and hid in the closest all night as he was still in high school. Jack is flamboyantly gay, confident, free-spirited, and self-centered. He drifts from man to man, rarely works a job, and when he does work, finds himself changing jobs after a short period of time. He has tried working as an actor, an acting instructor, a backup dancer, a sales associate at Banana Republic and Barneys New York, a cater-waiter, a student nurse, a Junior VP for a network called Out TV, and a host of his own Out TV talk show, called Jack Talk. He has also attempted to be a magician. In addition, he attempted four one-man stage shows in small bars and clubs (called Just Jack, Jack 2000, Jack 2001, and Jack 2002) to showcase his singing/dancing/acting abilities; all having only marginal success. He is close to Will and Grace and is very close to Karen. Jack typically relies on Will, Karen, and his parents for financial support. Gary Grubbs as Harlin Polk (season 1; guest season 2): A major client of Will's in season one who ultimately fires Will. Shelley Morrison as Rosario Salazar (seasons 3–8; recurring seasons 1–2): Karen's maid, who Karen fights with all the time. The two, however, are very close. For a short time, Rosario was married to Jack, who is gay. Karen arranged this union so Rosario would get a green card and be allowed to stay in the United States. Rosario and Jack later split. Morrison was invited to reprise her role of Rosario during the show's second run but declined as she had retired from acting. Michael Angarano as Elliot (season 4; recurring seasons 3, 5–6, 8; special guest season 9): Jack's son. Shortly after Jack learns of the death of his own biological father, whom he never met, Jack finds out he has a child, Elliot, his biological son created from sperm that Jack sold for money years ago to a clinic.
Supporting characters Actor Character Seasons 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 Gary Grubbs Harlin PolkPresent Leigh-Allyn Baker EllenPresentPresent Tom Gallop RobPresentPresent Steve Paymer StevePresentPresent Debbie Reynolds Bobbi AdlerPresent Molly Shannon Val BassettPresentPresentPresent Gregory Hines Ben DoucettePresent Laura Kightlinger Nurse SheilaPresentPresentPresent Marshall Manesh Mr. ZamirPresent Sydney Pollack George TrumanPresentPresent Michael Angarano ElliottPresentPresent Tim Bagley LarryPresent Woody Harrelson NathanPresent Leslie Jordan Beverley LesliePresent Jerry Levine JoePresentPresent Sara Rue Joyce AdlerPresentPresent Lesley Ann Warren TinaPresentPresentPresent Blythe Danner Marilyn TrumanPresentPresent Eileen Brennan ZandraPresentPresent Charles C. Stevenson Jr. SmittyPresentPresent Rip Torn Lionel BanksPresent Harry Connick, Jr. Dr. Marvin 'Leo' MarkusPresent Minnie Driver Lorraine FinsterPresentPresent Jamie Kaler GaryPresentPresent Emily Rutherfurd JoannePresent Jon Fleming RussellPresent Bobby Cannavale Vince D'AngeloPresent Alec Baldwin Malcolm WidmarkPresent Mathew Botuchis DavePresent Bernadette Peters GinPresent Brian Jordan Alvarez Estefan GloriaPresent David Schwimmer Noah BroaderPresent David Douglas EdwardPresent Matt Bomer McCoy WhitmanPresent
Family members
Grace's family Dr. Marvin "Leo" Markus, portrayed by actor and singer Harry Connick, Jr., is a Jewish doctor and Grace's husband from the fifth season. Leo meets Grace Adler in Central Park while she is on her way to be artificially inseminated with gay best friend Will's baby. After Will finds out that Leo and Grace are dating, they have their biggest fight of the entire series, in which Will tells Grace to move out. Thanks to Jack and Karen's meddling, they forgive each other and Will accepts Grace's relationship. In November 2002, Grace and Leo are married at a spontaneous group ceremony in Central Park, which was supposed to be broadcast on The Today Show. It was later revealed in the storyline that the ceremony was not legal, but the two officially marry at a ceremony soon after. Leo and Grace's relationship was a constant source of tension between Will and Grace, although they eventually achieved a certain accord with each other – Leo even commented to Will at one point that he considered himself essentially married to both of them due to his ability to accept their close relationship. Leo's true first name is Marvin, as revealed by his mother at their wedding reception. According to The Nation Magazine, this was the first time in television history that a Jewish protagonist character had married inside the faith."Grace Expectations". Entertainment Weekly. November 3, 2003. Grace immediately realizes she does not know as much about Leo as she expected. Their marriage fails after less than two years, when Leo reveals that he had a one-night stand while working in Cambodia for Doctors Without Borders. Leo admits his affair to Will first. Will then refuses to help Leo break the news to Grace. After Leo comes clean about his affair, Grace briefly considers continuing their marriage but quickly decides she wants a divorce. Leo reappears during season eight, a little over a year after the divorce in the storyline, in the episode "Love Is in the Airplane." In the episode, he and Grace have a sexual encounter on an airplane after coincidentally ending up on the same flight to London, though Leo was to continue to Thailand. The result is Grace's pregnancy, as discovered in the season eight episode "The Definition of Marriage". A couple of months later Grace meets Leo, with the intention of telling him that she is pregnant with his baby, but he informs her that he is engaged to another woman, Kate. Consequently, Grace decides not to tell Leo about the pregnancy. In the series finale (May 2006) Leo tells a heavily pregnant Grace that he loves her. Leo has a job as a hospital researcher in Rome, and this is where Grace gives birth. After one year in Rome, Leo and Grace moved back to Brooklyn, where they raise their daughter, Lila, together. Eleven years later in season 9 it was revealed that this was part of Karen's dream. Bobbi Adler, Grace's mother, was played by Debbie Reynolds. Bobbi is an actress and singer, although her performances are generally with the Schenectady Players and involve gender-changing roles, in plays such as "Death of a Salesperson", "The Music Person" and "Queen Lear". She has a constant desire to meddle in the love lives of her daughters, is the creator of the Adler family "Told you so" dance, and can always be relied upon to have a song for every occasion. She has, in the past, shown a perfect willingness for Will and Grace to get married. It is mentioned in the Season 9 episode "Rosario's Quinceañera" that she died. Martin Adler, Grace's father, played by Alan Arkin and Robert Klein in Season 9. Portrayed by his family as the stereotypical Jewish patriarch, Martin shows genuine affection for Grace, although remarks he has made suggest Joyce is his favorite. He has been known to pinpoint Grace's flaws without looking up from his Kojak and Baretta reruns. Janet Adler, Grace's older sister, is played by Geena Davis and Mary McCormack in Season 9. Janet lives in a van and designs jewelry. Her nickname for Grace is "Smudge". It is once implied that she has difficulties with her mother. In the episode "Lows in the Mid-Eighties", Will asks if Grace has another sister named Janet, to which Bobbi, Joyce, and Grace quickly answer "No!" Joyce Adler, Grace's younger sister, is played by Sara Rue. It is suggested that Grace and Joyce had a not-too-friendly relationship growing up and that Joyce was formerly a binge eater. She is often hostile to Grace, but one word from Will and she tends to giggle and act girlishly; it appears that she, like Grace before her, has a crush on Will. Lila Markus, Grace and Leo's daughter, is played by Maria Thayer. Lila was conceived by Leo and Grace on an aircraft, during a period when her parents were divorced. She was going to be raised by Will and Grace, but her parents remarried shortly before her birth. She appears on screen only during the series finale. Warren, played by Jesse Fremont Allis, is the imaginary son of Grace and Leo in a dream that Grace has during the last episode of season 8. Grace and Will raise 'their' son together.
Will's family Vince D'Angelo, played by Bobby Cannavale. An Italian-American police officer, Vince first met Will after giving Karen a ticket for speeding and they started dating after the subsequent hearing. Vince was friends with Joe and Larry and began Will's first long-term relationship in the series' run. Vince broke up with Will, requesting time alone after repeatedly losing his job. He re-encountered Will in season 8 and, during the funeral of Will's father, they acknowledged their mutual feelings, thus rekindling their romance. In the finale, Will and Vince are shown raising a son, Ben, together. 11 years later in season 9 it was revealed that this was part of Karen's dream. He also got remarried in season 9 with Will struggling with Vince moving on.