Main •
Matt LeBlanc as a fictionalized version of himself. Matt is a
wealthy, charming, but arrogant actor, who was persuaded by the high salary to take the starring role of Coach Lyman in
Pucks. He has a short attention span and need for immediate gratification. He has two sons, who spend most of their time with their mother Diane (
Fiona Glascott), with whom Matt has an antagonistic yet ultimately protective relationship. •
Stephen Mangan as Sean Lincoln – co-creator of
Pucks. Sean moves from London to
Hollywood with his wife and co-creator Beverly to adapt their award-winning show ''Lyman's Boys'' for American audiences. Sean initially adapts to Hollywood better than Beverly, finding it easier to bond with Matt on some level than she does. Although he grows to loathe Hollywood and professes to want to return home, Sean stays because the paychecks are much bigger. •
Tamsin Greig as Beverly Lincoln – co-creator of
Pucks. When Beverly and Sean move to Hollywood, she is quickly overwhelmed by the new lifestyle. Unlike Sean, Beverly struggles to adjust to life in Los Angeles, and the only person she feels close to is network executive Carol Rance (
Kathleen Rose Perkins), with whom she often goes hiking in
Griffith Park and
smokes pot. •
John Pankow as Merc Lapidus – the president of the network. He purchases the American rights to ''Lyman's Boys'' without watching it, based on the acclaim it has received, but immediately insists on major changes which ultimately have a significant impact on the quality of the show. He is boorish and arrogant, lies to everybody to avoid responsibility and has a very short attention span. He is cheating on his blind wife with his network subordinate, Carol. •
Kathleen Rose Perkins as Carol Rance – the network's head of programming. She is Merc's second-in-command. Carol is very good at her job, but she often undermines herself professionally because she has a fetish for people who have authority over her, leading her to engage in a series of affairs with her bosses. She becomes good friends with Beverly. •
Mircea Monroe as Morning Randolph – the leading actress employed by the network to play librarian Nicola McCutcheon opposite Matt's character on
Pucks. A running gag throughout the show is that Morning's age, while never explicitly revealed, is significantly older than her appearance suggests. She has frequent plastic surgery to maintain the appearance of youth which she feels Hollywood insists on from actresses. Morning perceives herself as a household name equal to Matt because she was "Kelly" on the show
Kelly Girl many years before. She has a 19-year-old daughter, Dawn, who she pretends is her younger sister.
Recurring •
Joseph May as Andy Button (seasons 1–5) – the head of casting of the network. By the end of the first season, he is fired by Merc because he likes the talking dog show Merc hates. In the second season, he is re-hired when he threatens a lawsuit against the network. •
Daisy Haggard as Myra Licht (seasons 1–5) – the head of comedy of the network. She constantly makes negative facial expressions and utters disapproving noises. In the fourth season, she obliviously becomes pregnant and ultimately gives birth. •
Genevieve O'Reilly as Jamie Lapidus (seasons 1–3) – Merc's third wife who is blind, but can surprisingly get around. She is aware of Merc's affair with Carol and eventually leaves him for Matt. •
Sophie Rundle as Labia (seasons 2–3) – Matt's stalker who has been stalking Matt for 15 years. She was a
Make-A-Wish child whose wish had Matt take her to
Disneyland, but she survives
cancer and starts stalking him, leading to him getting a restraining order against her. Nevertheless, he has slept with her more than once. She subsequently outgrows Matt in the third season. •
Fiona Glascott as Diane (seasons 1–5) – Matt's ex-wife who is often angry at Matt, but still feels some affection for him. She is understandably protective of their two sons due to Matt's poor life choices. •
Michael Brandon as Elliot Salad (seasons 2–5) – the chairman of the network. •
Chris Diamantopoulos as Castor Sotto (seasons 3–4) – Merc's replacement as network executive. Castor has significant psychological issues and bold ideas for changes at the network. •
Andrea Savage as Helen Basch (seasons 4–5) – Castor's replacement as network executive. Helen is a lesbian who demonstrates good instincts about creative ideas, but is prone to jealousy. •
Alex Rocco as Dick LeBlanc (seasons 3–4) – Matt's father from whom he is estranged, although he supports him financially. •
Caroline Aaron as Linda (seasons 3–5) – Dick's crotchety girlfriend who takes care of and lives with him. She keeps Matt in the loop about his father, although she and Matt don't really get along well. •
Rhoda Gemignani as Mrs. LeBlanc (seasons 4–5) – Matt's almost-deaf mother who requires hearing aids in order to hear better. • Oliver Kieran-Jones as Andrew Lesley (seasons 1–4) – Sean and Beverly's former personal assistant who becomes smug towards them due to his rapid rise in show business. •
Bruce Mackinnon as Tim Whittick (seasons 4–5) – Sean's former writing partner, with whom he stopped writing with after beginning a creative and romantic relationship with Beverly. According to Beverly, Tim refers to her as
Yoko Ono by somehow adding the phrase "oh no" into their conversations. •
Nigel Planer as Sanford Shamiro (seasons 2–4) – Matt's lawyer. He always handles the ramifications of Matt's actions and tends to be very frustrated with Matt as a result. •
Roger Bart as Roger Riskin (seasons 3–5) – Matt's agent, who generally pitches him ideas that are high-paying but humiliating. [NOTE:
William Hope was Matt's agent in Seasons 1.] •
Andrea Rosen as Eileen Jaffee (seasons 3–5) – an agent at
William Morris Endeavor who takes in Sean and Beverly as her clients. She always goes out of her way to act on Sean and Beverly's projects without their consent. •
Ella Kenion as Beth (seasons 3–5) – Matt's publicist. She handles Matt's public statements whenever news of Matt's controversial actions break out. •
Geoff McGivern as Bob (season 4) – Matt's finance manager. He gives Matt woes whenever he calls him, with Matt knowing that it usually involves his money, yielding the two words the latter dreads the most, "It's Bob." •
James Purefoy as Rob (season 2) – Morning's younger brother, who briefly dates Beverly. • Scarlett Rose Patterson as Wendy (seasons 2–4) – Sean and Beverly's monotonous personal assistant. She never concentrates on her work and often tries to leave early. •
Sam Palladio as Stoke Stamon (seasons 2–4) – a 31-year old actor who plays the ice hockey team player Howie in
Pucks! He does well in Hollywood because he is the one "with the hair". •
Harry McEntire as Jason Julius (seasons 2–3) – a 27-year old actor who plays the ice hockey team player Max in
Pucks! In the second season, he reveals to Sean and Beverly that he, Stoke and Kevin are much older than they look and that he has married and divorced multiple times. •
Jacob Anderson as Kevin Garillo (season 2) – a 29-year old actor who plays the ice hockey team player Kyle in
Pucks! His character in the show has two gay fathers. [NOTE:
Eros Vlahos' character in Season 1, "
Pucks! Boy", also has two gay fathers like Kevin, making it unclear whether or not both actors played the same character in
Pucks!.] •
Rufus Jones as Anthony Powner Smith (seasons 3 & 5) – a British actor who initially replaces Matt in Andrew's NBC pilot but gets temporarily paralyzed after a kickboxing accident. •
Lou Hirsch as Wallace (season 1) – the security guard at the gates of the Beverly Hills estates where Sean and Beverly live in the first season. He never remembers the two and often gives them trouble in letting them inside the gates. Fed up with his memory loss for a third time, Beverly succeeds in making a profanity-laced demand for him to open the gate. ==Development and production==