List of Everybody Hates Chris characters

This is a list of the main characters in the Emmy-nominated TV series Everybody Hates Chris. The fictional family is loosely based on that of the real-life Chris Rock.

Main characters

Note: While the protagonist is clearly based upon Chris Rock, the surname "Rock" is never used when referring to the character Chris or any member of his family.

Chris

Tyler James Williams as Chris, the ambitious, normal, responsible, kind-hearted, but unlucky, unpopular, untalented, nonathletic, hapless, awkward, nerdy, vulnerable eldest child and main protagonist of the series. He wishes he was more like his younger brother, Drew. Regardless of whether Chris possesses any of these traits, he's certainly never treated as if he does.(being disliked by the opposite gender, unlike his siblings) He tries hard to be well liked by his peers, but often finds himself a victim of circumstance. Chris is bullied at school (with little help from teachers or faculty members), tortured by his sister, shown up by his brother, victimized by the racist teaching staff, gets his money stolen by neighborhood thugs, underpaid at work, receives tough love from his mother, and distressing treatment from his father. As the eldest child, he is often put in charge of his younger siblings, but they usually disobey him. Next to all this, Chris is always the butt of the last jokes on each show. People just seem to hate him for inexplicable reasons. One of his talents is playing Asteroids and the other is calling basketball games. As he gets older, Chris becomes interested in stand-up comedy and begins telling jokes in school.

Julius

Julius (played by Terry Crews) is Rochelle's cheap, frugal, worrisome, levelheaded husband and the father of Chris, Tonya, and Drew. He is known for his extreme cheapness and taking the easy way out when it comes to purchasing essential items for his family (such as by using food-stamps and buying store-brands). Julius' cheapness is also exhibited by how he uses duct tape to fix everything and anything broken in the house. He even has been shown to memorize the price of nearly every object in his family's possession and shouting it out loud when such an item has been wasted or ruined, and one of his most famous character attributes is bargaining his way out of having to pay the full price for something. He coddles Tonya and is more likely than his wife to give her what she wants, and will react with a lecture every time one of his children considers quitting or asks him about receiving money, such lectures having been known to last for hours on end and encouraging his kids to avoid bringing up such subjects around him. It is implied that Julius can understand Chinese but could not speak it due to the fact when he communicates with Mr. Fong who speaks Chinese towards him, he is able to respond back. Whenever Chris has a problem, he goes to Julius, who gives him advice in a confusing manner (once Chris remarked that even though he didn't understand what his father said, however, it made him feel better anyway).

Rochelle

Rochelle (played by Tichina Arnold) is Julius' strict, humorously sassy wife and is the mother of Chris, Tonya, and Drew. She is a loudmouthed woman who frequently becomes paranoid over things that often have nothing to do with the current subject matter (such as Tonya becoming pregnant or her kids selling drugs). She is noted for the saucy comebacks that she uses to put a stop to any complaints that her children might have or to ensure that they do not attempt to perform a crime or great misdeed of some sort, and fears that they may wind up as street criminals. In spite of her frank behavior, she does share loving moments with her children, showing that her true intentions for her ways are sincerely because she cares for her children. She also has a passion for chocolate Turtles, which often pacify her, and experiences symptoms of withdrawal whenever she must sacrifice them for whatever reason. She is also noted for having to get jobs, and then quitting her job whenever she has a problem with it, then saying her catchphrase "I don't need this, my man has 2 jobs!", which expresses her using Julius' having two jobs as an excuse to quit her job and be comfortable at home. In the final season of the series, Rochelle worked as a beautician at 'Nessa's Beauty Salon, where in earlier seasons she often went to get her hair done, as well as share gossip with her friend and owner of the salon, Vanessa (Jackee Harry), and other workers of the salon.

Drew

Drew (played by Tequan Richmond) is Chris's popular, lucky, talented, athletic, handsome younger brother. As opposed to the malicious rejection and harassment Chris receives from his peers, Drew is idolized above all of his classmates, and his supreme charm has earned him a multitude of girlfriends in the past. Secretly, Chris envies the limitless amount of luck and talent possessed by his younger brother, who appears slightly older than he does, and so Drew's height as opposed to that of Chris provides his elder brother with a number of disadvantages. Ironically, Drew himself looks up to Chris and envies all the responsibility and trust their parents give him. Highly athletic, Drew loves hockey and idolizes Wayne Gretzky. He is also shown to be interested in magic and karate. Drew also has the talent of copying things he sees off of television, especially karate movies. "Wasn't Me" Is a familiar catchphrase of his, often to get himself out of any possible trouble he is sure he had nothing to do with. This was first introduced in the Pilot episode.

Tonya

Tonya (played by Imani Hakim) is Chris and Drew's younger sister. She is a smart-mouthed, and manipulative little girl who enjoys getting her brothers (mostly Chris) in trouble by whining to her parents about things they never actually did, and Julius and Rochelle always believe her. However, in the third and fourth seasons, she tends to hold a soft spot for Drew and Chris (when Chris got thrown out of the house, she admitted she doesn't want him gone and she and Drew try to rethink Chris's and her mother's decisions) by charging money to keep her mouth shut if they do something wrong (particularly to Chris), and repeatedly sometimes hangs around Drew. Billy Ocean is her favorite entertainer (though later on she adopts a fondness for Danny Glover), and telling by the way Tonya believes that he originally was responsible for the invention of the Moonwalk instead of Michael Jackson, she might not like to believe what she does not want to believe. Julius over-indulges Tonya and is usually the parent apt to give her what she wants, whereas Rochelle is normally not afraid to not provide Tonya with one of her desires if it is for something she is unwilling to give to her daughter, and worries that one mistake in raising her will be linked to her being pregnant one day, and "She ain't raisin' no babies". It seems that she is very attractive, and is usually given nice gifts from the neighborhood kids; for example, James (one of her admirers) bought her a car in one episode.

Greg

Vincent Martella as Gregory "Greg" Wuliger, Chris's weird, nerdy, and anxious best friend. He is the only kid at Corleone Junior High who doesn't hate Chris. He is as unpopular as Chris, if not more so. Chris always comes to Greg for advice, even though Greg is usually terrible at coming up with solutions. Despite being Chris best and only friend, Greg is always quick to abandon Chris when Bullies come in order to save himself. On top of being a good student, Greg also has a series of odd quirks (such as going to bed dressed as different superheroes), but considers himself cool. He has a book about almost everything in his locker. He is an only child and is of Italian and Swedish descent. His mom married his dad because she lost a bet but ran off with his uncle Patrick Wuliger, who later had a gender change. After graduating from Corleone, Greg went to a different high school than Chris in Season 4, but got kicked out due to poor grades when he tried to portray a more tough image. He transferred to the same high school that Chris attends and the two continue their friendship. Even though his father was seen in one episode his mother is never actually seen. Greg's catch phrase is "You're so in there". He was absent from only two episodes in the entire series.

The Narrator

Chris Rock as The Narrator (voice), a sarcastic older Chris looking back at his youth, like that of The Wonder Years. His narration is usually the opposite of what his younger self says, but is actually thinking. The Narrator also mentions his disdain for George W. Bush as he frequently says sarcastic things about him. For instance in one episode the narrator talks how Greg has gone from bad to worse like "America under Bush".

Recurring characters

Bed-Stuy Residents

• Mike Estime as Risky, a street dealer who sells items that are always faulty or stolen. His real name is Richard. Whenever he appears, a chorus of people whispering "Risky!" is heard in the background in the early episodes. He later works at Manny's barbershop. He also tried working with Julius for a night, but found the job not be as exciting as he hoped for, and then quit working with Julius.
• Antonio Fargas as Doc Harris, the local grocery store owner. Chris later works for Doc. He is kind to Chris and gives him advice. When Chris is unable to work, Drew fills in for him. In addition to Doc, Fargas also played Mr. Harris, a butcher who, on Halloween, dresses as a pimp named "Sweet Tooth" and takes children's candy.
• Todd Bridges as "Monk", Doc's nephew and former US armed forces member who manages the store when his uncle is away. Monk is a severely paranoid Vietnam veteran suffering from post-traumatic stress disorder. Monk always wears a beret and surplus military clothing, and is married to a Korean-American woman who works at the neighborhood beauty salon. In Episode 14 of Season 2, the Narrator told that Monk's real name is called "Jimmy".
• Kevontay Jackson as Jerome, Chris' only friend aside from Greg. A dimwitted, older teenager in the neighborhood who takes money from smaller kids by saying "Lemme hold a dollar". Sometimes, he'll ask for a dollar just out of boredom. He nicknames Chris "lil' dude from across the street", or simply "Lil' Dude". In Jerome's first appearances on the series, he was a predatory, minor antagonist. Chris soon finds him becoming an unlikely friend, although Jerome still begs for a dollar when they run into each other. On occasion, Chris will go to him when in need of some useful teenage advice. The family once caught him breaking into their apartment with a credit card. Despite all of this, he does display genuine concern for Chris when he needs him.
• Ernest Lee Thomas as Mr. Omar, a funeral director, who rents an upstairs room in the family's building. He is seen with a different newly widowed woman for almost every appearance he makes. He claims just to be consoling these attractive women in their time of grief. He frequently says "Tragic! TRAGIC!" He also frequently requests to "borrow" things and takes advantage of Rochelle's need to keep up appearances to the chagrin of Julius. For example, he uses their phone and racks up a huge phone bill, invites himself to dinner, and even borrows his way into a Thanksgiving dinner invitation. He seems to have something wrong with his right eye.
• Jeris Lee Poindexter as "Kill Moves", an insane, senile homeless man who practices martial arts and once taught Drew some karate moves. His real name is Edgar Devereaux. Kill Moves' mother is actually a millionaire, but he prefers to live freely on the streets. After being laid off by Ronald Reagan (He was in the Air force, and got fired when Reagan introduced budget cuts) and despite having a breakdown he sometimes reveals himself to be highly intelligent and cultured. In his first appearance, he is named Mr. Jackson. He occasionally gives Chris a hard time, for example when Chris is collecting empty cans for a school project, Kill Moves appears in trash bins before Chris can even run to them and leaves no cans for Chris.
• Blake Hightower as James, a 12-year-old neighborhood kid. James is flirty towards Tonya and wishes to have a relationship with her. He hangs alongside with the other supporting male characters at Manny's barbershop. The adult males treat James like he is their equal although he is a child. Another time, Chris volunteered to be a "Brother from Another Mother" for the sake of the school, and the child he mentors turns out to be James. Chris learns that James' real name is Cleavon Barris.
• Aree Davis as Keisha Ridenhour, the girl next door and Chris's dream girl, who unfortunately fancies Chris' younger brother Drew. In Season 2, Keisha moved away to Compton, ironically believing it to be a crime-free city.
• Keesha Sharp as Sheila Ridenhour, Keisha's mother and a good friend of Rochelle's. Julius usually feels uncomfortable around her because she's an attractive woman. Sharp however left after nine episodes to play the role of Monica on Girlfriends.
• Paige Hurd as Tasha Clarkson, the girl who moves in next door in season 2. Chris is in love with her but she wants to keep their relationship platonic. She dated and dumped him near the end of Season 4. According to Chris, she is the only girl who doesn't hate him. She seems to have a slightly promiscuous side to her, and has also expressed attraction to bad boy types - something Chris is not.
• Whoopi Goldberg as Louise Clarkson, the evil and nosy next door neighbor and Tasha's maternal grandmother. She insults Chris and infuriates Rochelle. She only appears in two season 2 episodes.
• Tisha Campbell-Martin as Peaches Clarkson, Louise's daughter and Tasha's mother. Peaches is very loud, ignorant and eccentric. She is an ex-con who befriends Rochelle in her first appearance. She also dates Malvo during her later appearances. She is also a kindhearted person despite her bad past.
• Jackée Harry as Vanessa, Rochelle's bubbly, wise-cracking girlfriend and the gossipy owner of the local beauty salon after winning the lottery and buying it from Pam. She has dated Kill Moves and Rochelle's brother, Michael.
• Tasia Sherel as Pam, co-owner of the beauty salon. In season 4, it is stated that Pam sold her share of the salon to Vanessa. Rochelle takes Pam's place as the salon's manager.
• JB Smoove as Manny, the local owner of the barbershop who appeared in Season 3. He is always shown giving helpful advice and joking around. He says that his real name is Lester but he changed his name to Manny so he didn't have to change the sign on the shop. In the fourth season, it is said that Manny moved away to Detroit. Smoove left to join the cast of 'Til Death.
• Jazz Raycole as Lisa Patterson, a neighborhood girl. She threw a Halloween party in Season 1. Chris briefly developed a crush on her when she danced with him after being rejected by Keisha. She later appeared in Season 3 having a spin the bottle party that Chris wants to get into with Tasha.
• Jim Lau as Mr. Fong, the owner of the Chinese restaurant where Chris works briefly. He works Chris very hard and shows no sympathy for Chris's problems. He calls Chris "Lionel Richie". He is first seen trying to operate the restaurant out of the family's upstairs room.
• Ricky Harris as Malvo, a petty criminal who robs Chris at Doc's and threatens to kill him if he identifies him. Later, after he gets out of jail, he forces Chris to chain-snatch a gold medallion. After he gets out of jail again, he enlists Chris to help him go back to high school. Soon after that, he becomes Chris' friend.
• Myzel Robinson as Fat Mike, a neighborhood kid who protects Chris from local thugs and makes friends with him.

Corleone Junior High/Tattaglia High School staff and students

• Travis T. Flory as Joey Caruso, (b. 1970) the Irish-Italian-American, racist school bully who routinely picks on Chris, although he is surprisingly fond of African-American culture. He is the main antagonist of the series. In each episode, he refers to Chris by a different nickname such as "Satchmo", "Kareem", "Tito" or "Cornbread". In the series finale, it is revealed that Caruso actually admires Chris and the only reason he has picked on Chris in school is because he has been jealous of his determination and achievement and had crushed Chris's spirit only so he himself would not feel inferior.
• Jacqueline Mazarella as Ms. Vivian Morello, Chris's naively racist teacher, and later his high school principal. Due to her apparent attraction to African American men, she holds a soft spot for Chris and tries to support him at every opportunity (such as giving him a Valentine's Day card out of sympathy, or giving him advice on running for the class president). In her efforts to be supportive, however, she makes statements or uses analogies that come off as racist - such as saying that "black people" must wake up and work up fields before sunrise, that they have tendencies towards vandalism, criminality and drugs, that they often lay use of lies and blackmail to rise in life, that Chris has no father and his mother is crack-addicted, and when Chris tries to tell her the truth, she assumes Chris is lying because "he is on drugs" - most of which Chris tolerates. Chris Rock's narration often consists of him wanting to physically hurt her as well as making sarcastic remarks on her ethnicity as she does to him. It was revealed in Everybody Hates Chris that her full name is Vivian Morello.
• Lynda Scarlino as Mrs. Abigail Milone, the elderly school monitor who is later promoted to Vice Principal of Corleone because, according to the adult Chris, she proved that the one thing that she hated a lot more than kids was working with them. She's often seen disciplining someone, and occasionally disciplines Chris even when he hasn't done anything wrong.
• Jude Ciccolella as Dr. Julius Raymond, the stern principal at Corleone Junior High. He makes racist assumptions about Chris and thinks that Chris is a crack baby. He normally is always grumpy because, according to the adult Chris, the school didn't pay him enough for his job. It is implied that he is gay when he is shown dancing with men in a bar dressed in leather. He is last seen in Everybody Hates Halloween
• Jason Alexander as Principal Edwards, the eccentric new principal of Corleone who replaced Dr. Raymond in the second season. He is possibly the only non-racist staff member. He first appeared in Everybody Hates The Buddy System when he caught Chris and Caruso fighting and then tricks them into being buddies during a field trip. In Everybody Hates Snow Day, Chris and Edwards are the only ones who come to school on a snow day. In Everybody Hates Gretzky he calls to inform Julius that Chris did not show up for school. Additionally, Alexander directed two episodes for the series Everybody Hates Gambling and Everybody Hates Graduation.
• Paul Ben-Victor as Coach Roy Thurman, Chris' home room teacher in Tattaglia and also the coach for the football team. He hires Chris as the team's manager. He does not like Chris, and it is implied that he is racist. He once helped Chris by teaching how to box.
• Monica Anne Parales as Lisa, a hard-working Asian student and the head of the school's newspaper. She criticizes Chris very harshly about his writing when he joins the school's newspaper. When Chris is elected school president, she writes negative stories about him in effort to get him impeached.
• Peter Onorati as the Janitor and Coach Brantley. The janitor works at Tattaglia, and it is said in the show that if you give him 5 dollars, he can help you with anything. He refers to Chris as "Hey, you're that black kid." He has an identical twin brother who is the coach of the wrestling team in Tattaglia. The coach gets Chris to join the team because no other schools have wrestlers in his weight class resulting in an automatic win.
• Johnny Palermo as Frank DiPaolo, a popular but dimwitted student. Chris picked him to be his school vice president in Corleone. He became president after Chris got impeached.
• Shelby Young, as Jennifer Thompson, a student at Corleone who at first is attracted to Chris when he joins the basketball team. In later episodes, she is seen being mean to or ignoring Chris.
• Mackenzee Donham as Jennifer, another Corleone student who is attracted to Greg. Greg is attracted to her as well but always accidentally says something that makes her angry and storm away.
• Brooke Mackenzie as Sydney, a Corleone student who is mean to Chris.
• B.J. Britt as Walter Dickerson, the popular, self-absorbed star of Tattaglia's football team who befriends Chris when he becomes the team's manager. His catchphrase was "My man!" when Chris accepts one of his commands or says no.
• Chris Rock as Mr. Abbott, an unhelpful school guidance counselor with a familiar voice. He tells Chris that he does not have the skills to make it to college. He advises Chris to take time to find himself instead of worrying about college. His dream was to serve America by becoming a crash test dummy.
• Marcel Lam as Bernard Yao, a Corleone student who beats Caruso up using martial arts. Bernard refuses to take Caruso's place as the school bully which causes anarchy in the school. Chris convinces Bernard to fight Caruso again and lose on purpose. Later, Bernard forces Chris to do his math homework for him much to Chris's surprise who assumed Bernard was good at math because he is Asian.
• Sam Mandel as Fisher, who helps forge Chris's report card. He later helps Chris retrieve Chris's father's Playboy magazine from Mrs. Milone. Though he is usually seen with friends while sitting at a desk, he has a mysterious ability to make it instantly disappear by diverting people's attention.
• Mario Quinonez Jr. as the Puerto Rican Kid in Corleone who only speaks Spanish. Was once Greg's science fair partner. He spoke English once in an episode.
• Hector A. Garcia as Angel (actually pronounced "On-hell" but people address him by how it's spelled), an androgynous male student at Tattaglia High, who is in Chris's cooking class. He helps Chris meet a girl in exchange for Chris helping him with his homework. Because of Angel's androgyny, he and Chris prefer not to be seen together in public. Angel appears a few times in Season 4.
• Kwame Boateng as Albert, the new black kid at Corleone who befriends Chris, which makes Greg jealous. Actually a street vandal, Albert committed several acts of vandalism inside Corleone High and Chris was framed. Greg helps Chris prove his innocence by exposing Albert's wrong deeds, resulting in Albert's expulsion.

Chris' extended family

• Earthquake as Uncle Mike, Rochelle's lazy, freeloading and obnoxious older brother. He knows how to get on Julius' bad side, such as by roaming about the house in Julius' clothes without asking him, giving him out-dated tickets for sport events or even shouting his trademark salutation "Big man!" at Julius - a thing that drives Julius into wrath or causes him to imagine that Mike wants something (generally unpleasant or unacceptable) from him. "Hey 'Chelle, y'all got somethin' to eat?" or " I didn't know y'all was about to have dinner," as his repeated phrases.
• Tony Rock (real-life brother of Chris Rock) as Uncle Ryan, Julius' younger brother and Drew's favorite uncle who frequently asks him to invest in his shady business ventures. He has an office where he makes fake ID cards and X-ray glasses. His dream is to run a successful business, which can be difficult because all his attempts get shut down for one reason or another.
• Loretta Devine as Maxine, Rochelle's soft-spoken, helpful, but critical mother. She and Rochelle don't always get along because she's critical of Rochelle and likes to take over. She also caused chaos when she visited for her husband's funeral. In a later episode Rochelle tries to set her up on a date, but it didn't go so well. Maxine is also a mathematician and taught Rochelle everything she knows about math and helped out Chris with his math. It was said on one episode, that she's an even bigger "ghetto snob" than Rochelle.
• Monica Calhoun as Charlotte, also known as "Grievy", Rochelle's sensitive, sad, cynical, and unhappy younger sister who never stops crying. She's only seen at funerals. In her first appearance, She just cries about her father Gene's death, She's very worried about his death. In one episode, Rochelle claims that Charlotte cries at every holiday: Easters, Halloweens, and Flag Days.
• Ikona Starr as Mousey, Maxine's sister, and Rochelle's aunt. She speaks inaudibly and she talks less. According to Julius, in Everybody Hates Bomb Threats, she knows how to cure the mojo.
• Jimmie Walker as Gene, Rochelle's hilarious father, who dies of a heart attack at the dinner table on his first appearance on the show. Gene reappeared in flashbacks in "Everybody Hates Gambling", where Rochelle says that Gene gambled on just about anything and "Everybody Hates the Port Authority", where he is shown teaching little Rochelle how to play three card monte.
• Wayne Brady as Uncle Louis, Julius' successful, highly skilled and charismatic younger brother, of whom Julius is very jealous.

Others

• Gary Basaraba as Art Wuliger, Greg's divorced father who never lets him have friends over.
• Mario Joyner as Dr. Information who explains to the audience phrases and concepts of African-American culture.
• P.J. Marino as Detective Marino, the inept but persistent neighborhood detective who never seems to remember Chris. Marino frequently appears in Chris's mind when he imagines getting busted.
• Shon Little as the Cop who usually shows up whenever there is a disturbance in Chris' neighborhood and sometimes in Chris' mind.
• Julie Lancaster as a Reporter who is seen on television covering news events that usually involve Chris or his family
• Robert Wuhl as Abe Himelfarb, a pawnbroker who gives Chris everything he needs to be a DJ.
• Orlando Jones as Mr. Newton, the substitute teacher, who's exacting towards Chris, and Chris only, because he want him to get A's. Jones also plays Dr. Clint Huckstable, a Bill Cosby-esque dad who insists on meeting Chris when his daughter Jenise invites him to the Tattaglia Homecoming Dance.
• Tristin Mays as Jenice Huckstable, Chris's Homecoming date
• Steve Landesberg as Stan Levine, an elderly man who is the last white person living in Bed-Stuy and rarely leaves his apartment. He helps Chris during a city-wide blackout and Chris tries to repay for his kindness by helping him meet new friends.
• Jim Lampley as a Sportscaster in Tonya vs Drew in Checkers.
• DJ Quik as Hilton "Hilly Hill" Reed, the DJ, who takes over Chris's DJing duties at a party.
• Richard Lewis as Kris, a mysterious man whom Chris befriends at the hospital.
• Michael Spellman as Magician the Magician, a magician who once scared Julius with a rabbit.
• Christina DeRosa as Trixie, a young, tough New York stripper that Chris falls for.
• Vincent Pastore as Paulie, a mean bookie who threatens "Chrissy the Black" unless Doc loses a basketball game.
• Phylicia Rashād as Kathleen Devereaux, Kill Moves' estranged mother whom Chris helps him find.
• Tommy Davidson as Eddie, a bank robber whom Julius takes to Las Vegas while working as a cab driver despite his initial reluctance to do so.
• LaVan Davis as Rev. Terrence Willstom, the local Church preacher.
• Shar Jackson as Alyson, the mother of one of Tonya's friends, Latrinda.
• Devika Parikh as Blair Huckstable, Clint's wife who also insists on meeting Chris.
• Robin Givens as Stacy Deveaux, Doc's crazy, conceited, rude, egotistical new girlfriend who makes Chris do all sorts of insane chores around the store.
• Kadeem Hardison as Judge, he and Rochelle bumped heads in court and he was also on the board of Hansel and Gretel.

External links

• Full Cast and crew for Everybody Hates Chris at Imdb.com