Brothers & Sisters, the ABC family drama series, ran for five seasons, totaling over 100 episodes.
The series focused on the wealthy Walker family and how they dealt with coping with patriarch William Walker’s sudden death and learning of his infidelity with Holly Harper.
The series also covered many other storylines, including running the family business — Ojai Foods, Robert’s political career, and Kitty’s infertility and adoption process. Many of these showed how the family came together and supported one another.
The show aired on Sundays after Desperate Housewives during all five seasons so audiences could enjoy different kinds of drama.
What is the cast of Brothers & Sisters doing now? Find out below!
Sally Field as Nora Walker
Sally Field portrayed the family matriarch Nora Walker. She was one of only two characters to appear in every series episode.
Shortly after her husband died, Nora learned that he had an affair and had an illegitimate child, which they thought was Rebecca. Though Nora and Holly were initially rivals, Nora grew close to Rebecca and was stunned to learn she wasn’t William’s daughter, and he had a son instead.
Nora was a very hands-on mother with all five children, though she had a special relationship with her youngest, Justin. Entertainment Weekly included Nora in their 2020 list of 22 TV moms we love.
Field won a Primetime Emmy Award for Outstanding Lead Actress in a Drama Series in Brothers & Sisters in 2007 and was nominated in 2008 and 2009.
After the series, Field returned to films and appeared as Mary Todd Lincoln in Lincoln. She’s well-known for playing Aunt May in The Amazing Spider-Man and its 2014 sequel. She recently appeared in the Superbowl comedy 80 for Brady.
In 2017, Field also returned to the theatre after a long absence and her role as Amanda Wingfield in The Glass Menagerie on Broadway, where she was nominated for a Tony Award.
In 2023, Field was the 58th Screen Actors Guild Life Achievement Award recipient and received it at the 29th Screen Actors Guild Awards.
Dave Annable as Justin Walker
Dave Annable played the youngest Walker son, Justin.
Justin was born later in life than the rest of his siblings and often felt over-protected by them and his mother.
Justin struggled with drug addiction since he was a teenager, which worsened after a stint serving in Afghanistan and getting injured. He dealt with getting addicted to painkillers and coping with PTSD.
After sorting out his life, Justin bonds with Rebecca, who he thought was his half-sister. When they learn they’re not related, they finally admit their feelings to each other. Their courtship was chaotic, but they married and celebrated at Ojai Ranch.
Since Brothers & Sisters, Annable has starred in several series, including ABC’s 666 Park Avenue, FOX’s Red Band Society, and Netflix’s What/If.
Most recently, Annable has recurred on the CW’s Walker as Dan Miller and starred in Paramount Plus’s Special Ops: Lioness as Neil.
In 2010, Annable married Odette Yustman, who played his love interest in Brothers & Sisters’ final season. They separated in 2019 but reunited in 2020.
Calista Flockhart as Kitty McCalister
Calista Flockhart portrayed the second-oldest daughter, Kitty Walker McCalister. Technically, she was the first child of William and Nora since William wasn’t Sarah’s biological father.
Kitty had a complicated relationship with her mother partly because their political views clashed and somewhat because Kitty encouraged Justin to join the Army when Nora was against it.
Kitty began dating Senator Robert McCalister, and they quickly fell in love and married. Their marriage had issues, including Kitty’s infertility and Robert’s heart health.
Caring for Robert became too much, and Kitty had an emotional affair with a man she met at the park named Alec. Kitty and Robert worked their way back just as Kitty was diagnosed with cancer.
Flockhart took an acting break after the series ended and didn’t appear in anything until Full Circle’s second season as mob boss Ellen.
After that, she played Cat Grant, the founder of CatCo, on Supergirl’s first season. When the series moved to The CW, she only recurred in a few episodes, but she did appear in the series finale to pass the baton to Kara.
Flockhart has been in a relationship with Harrison Ford since 2002. They became engaged in 2009 and married in 2010. They share a son, Liam Flockhart Ford.
Rachel Griffiths as Sarah Walker
Rachel Griffiths played Sarah Walker, the oldest Walker child.
Sarah was the epitome of a businesswoman and often struggled to balance her career with her family duties, especially when Paige and Cooper were younger. Her husband, Joe, resented that, and they ended up divorcing.
Sarah had difficulty dealing with Holly, and she and Saul started their own company. However, she returned to the family business to save it from Tommy’s illegal activities and learned to work peacefully with Holly.
After the series ended, Griffiths made her Broadway debut in Manhattan in Other Desert Cities, starring Judith Light and Stockard Channing.
In 2012, she returned to her family in Australia, tired of working 80-hour weeks. 2015 Griffiths directed three episodes of the Australian teen drama Nowhere to Run.
In 2020, she starred in the Amazon Prime television series The Wilds as Greyhen Klein.
Matthew Rhys as Kevin Walker
Matthew Rhys portrayed the middle son, Kevin Walker. He’s the second son to appear in every episode of the series.
Kevin eventually became a successful lawyer, but he struggled with relationships. When he met Scotty Wandell, Scotty recognized that Kevin was gay.
While their first date was rocky, Kevin and Scotty had one of the most interesting relationships, including getting married, working through infidelity, and adopting two children.
Kevin and Scotty’s relationship was so memorable that it was included in TV Guide’s list of the best TV couples of all time.
Rhys led two television series after Brothers & Sisters. He starred in FX’s The Americans as Philip Jennings opposite Keri Russell and in HBO’s Perry Mason in the titular role.
Rhys also appeared in films like The Edge of Love, Burnt, The Post, and Cocaine Bear.
He’s also voiced several characters in animated series, including Emperor Belos from The Owl House.
Balthazar Getty as Tommy Walker
Balthazar Getty portrayed Tommy Walker, the eldest Walker son. His contract ended after the third season, and he made guest appearances until the show ended.
Tommy considered his sister Sarah a rival in the family business since he assumed he’d be the president of Ojai, but his dad gave that to Sarah in the will.
Tommy hated asking for help, but when he and his wife Julia couldn’t have a baby, he agreed to let his brothers become sperm donors. They never knew which one was the biological father until Elizabeth needed an organ transplant.
Tommy tried to save Ojai with illegal dealings. While his family eventually forgave him, he fled to Mexico to become his own man.
Getty has turned more to music since the series ended. He is the producer and beatmaker for the indie rock band Ringside in Hollywood, CA. He also started a record label, Purplehaus Records, in 2013.
Getty has been married to fashion designer Rosetta Millington since 2000. They have four children, and Grey’s Anatomy actor Eric Dane is the godfather to their son.
He is also on the board of directors for the Lunchbox Fund, a non-profit organization that provides daily meals to students in Soweto, South Africa.
Ron Rifkin as Saul Holden
Ron Rifkin portrayed Saul Holden, Nora’s older brother.
Saul identified as gay but didn’t come out to his family until Season 2 when he wanted to live like his nephew Kevin and find love again.
Saul had dated Holly Harper in the past, looking for companionship and a future family, but she sensed it wasn’t that into her. The two remained close friends.
Once Saul began dating again, he learned he had contracted HIV and confronted an old boyfriend about it. Saul had many LBGTQ storylines, and we were relieved his storyline had a happy ending.
Rifkin portrayed Defense Attorney Marvin Stan Exely on Law & Order: SVU and Father Creel in Gotham. He’s appeared in several films, including They Shall Not Perish and A Star is Born.
In 2020, he appeared in a short film, Daddy, on Christian Coppola’s YouTube channel with Dylan Sprouse.
Rifkin has been married to his wife, Iva, since 1966. She owns a fashion design business.
Patricia Wettig as Holly Harper
Patricia Wettig played Holly Harper, William’s mistress and Rebecca’s mother.
Holly was initially seen only as William’s mistress, but she bought a significant share in Ojai Foods and joined the family business, to Sarah and Nora’s dismay.
She and Tommy merged Ojai Foods and Walker Landing Winery, making it such a success that Holly was made CEO.
Later, Holly learned that David was Rebecca’s father, not William. Her daughter, Rebecca, started dating Nora’s son, Justin, and after some brawls, the women became friendlier for their children.
In 2012, Wettig went on a national tour for Larry Kramer’s production, The Normal Heart. She also appeared in an episode of Netflix’s anthology series Heartstrings in 2019.
She was set to return in the Thirtysomething sequel on ABC with Olin and others, but the project was canceled.
Wettig has been married to producer and actor Ken Olin since 1982, and they have two children.
Emily VanCamp as Rebecca Harper
Emily VanCamp played Rebecca Harper, Holly’s daughter and Justin’s love interest from the end of Season 1 through the beginning of Season 5.
Initially, Rebecca was brought on as the illegitimate daughter of Holly and William. No matter how she felt about Holly, Nora nurtured Rebecca and introduced her to their chaotic family.
Soon, Rebecca bonded with David over photography, took a DNA test, and learned he was her biological father. She was crushed, but that allowed her and Justin to admit their feelings to one another.
She and Justin loved each other but had difficulty dating with their feuding families. Once they finally got married, Rebecca had a miscarriage, and they eventually got a divorce.
After Brothers & Sisters, VanCamp led the ABC mystery thriller series Revenge as Amanda Clarke/Emily Thorne. It was one of her best roles as she tried to hide her identity and learn who killed her father.
VanCamp also co-starred as Sharon Carter in the Marvel Cinematic Universe, beginning with Captain America: The Winter Soldier. Her role increased in the 2021 Disney + series The Falcon and the Winter Soldier.
We loved VanCamp as nurse practitioner Nic Nevin in FOX’s The Resident. She cared about her patients, and her relationship with the lead doctor, Conrad Hawkins (Matt Czuchry), was fun to watch evolve.
VanCamp has been with her Revenge costar, Josh Bowman, since 2011. The couple married on December 15, 2018, and had a daughter in 2021. They’re adorable on social media.
Rob Lowe as Robert McCallister
Rob Lowe portrayed Robert McCallister, a Republican Senator and Kitty’s husband, until the end of Season 4.
After Kitty’s talk show ended, he asked her to become his communications director, and they fell in love working together.
Robert and Kitty became the series’ main couple, but they had their share of issues, including his heart attack right when they adopted Evan.
Caring for Robert and their son became stressful, and Kitty had an emotional affair. The couple eventually reunited but dealt with more health issues with Kitty’s cancer and more of Robert’s heart issues before he died in a fatal car accident.
Lowe has done so much since left Brothers & Sisters that it would be impossible to list it all. However, the highlights included voicing Captain Marvel in the animated Young Justice and starring as Chris Traeger in the comedy Parks and Recreation.
Since January 2020, Lowe has led FOX’s 911: Lonestar as fire captain Owen Strand. His character has some issues, but Owen’s relationship with his son, TK, is one of the series’ highlights.
Lowe has written two memoirs. He wrote Stories I Only Tell My Friends in 2011 and penned Love Life in 2014, which detailed humorous tales about his life. Lowe has been a commercial spokesperson for several companies, including DirectTV and Atkins.
Luke Macfarlane as Scotty Wandell
For all five seasons, Luke Macfarlane played Scotty Wandell, Kevin’s love interest and husband.
Scotty was an openly gay man, but his parents disapproved of his lifestyle, so he moved out independently and began taking catering jobs and attending culinary school.
While his parents still didn’t approve of his marriage, after Kevin visited them, Scotty’s dad gifted them the cufflinks he wore at his wedding in reluctant acceptance.
Scotty eventually opened his restaurant with Saul, and Kevin’s stress over Robert’s death led Scotty to have a one-night stand. This caused an emotional confrontation, which they eventually got past, and the couple looked into adopting a child.
After Brothers * Sisters, he played the leading role of D’avin Jaqobis, a bounty hunter on SYFT’s Killjoys. He also recurred on NBC’s The Night Shift as Rick Lincoln, the boyfriend and army captain of Drew Allister.
Macfarlane has starred in many Hallmark films, including Chateau Christmas and Netflix’s holiday film Single All the Way, which featured an all-LGBTQ cast. In 2022, he co-starred in the major comedy Bros with Billy Eichner.
In June of 2023, Macfarlane and his partner, alpine skier Hig Roberts, welcomed their daughter, Tess Eleanor Macfarlane, into the world.
Sarah Jane Morris as Julia Walker
Sarah Jane Morris played Julia Walker for the first three seasons. She made one appearance in Season 4.
Julia and Tommy were married before the series began, and most of her stories dealt with them trying to have a baby, losing one of the twins, or Tommy’s business problems.
Julia didn’t have much chance to shine until she decided to leave Tommy, take Elizabeth, and start a new life.
Morris appeared as Special Agent Erica Jane Barrett on NCIS and guest starred on Castle and Body of Proof.
Morris reunited with Macfarlane on The Night Shift, where she recurred as Annie, TC Callahan’s sister-in-law.
Kerris Dorsey as Paige Whedon
Kerris Dorsey started playing Paige Whedon when she was only eight years old.
Since the series focused mainly on the adults, Paige didn’t have many substantial storylines except when the family discovered she had Type 1 diabetes and the usual growing pains with her mom, Sarah.
Dorsey has starred in several films, including Alexander and the Terrible, Horrible, No Good, Very Bad Day, and the American Girl film McKenna Shoots for the Stars.
Since 2013, Dorsey starred as Bridget Donovan on Showtime’s Ray Donovan and reprised her role in the 2022 movie.
John Pyper-Ferguson as Joe Whedon
John Pyper-Ferguson played Joe Whedon, Sarah’s first husband, during Season 1. He made a few guest appearances in Season 2.
Joe and Sarah began having issues in the series because Sarah worked too much. One night, while she was working, Joe kissed Rebecca, who was Sarah’s half-sister.
While they loved the kids, their marriage couldn’t be saved, and Joe remarried his first wife.
He has appeared in numerous television series, including playing Tomas Vergis on the sci-fi series Caprica.
In 2014, Pyper-Ferguson starred as Tex, a special forces soldier on the TNT drama The Last Ship. He appeared until his character was killed off at the end of Season 3. He also appeared as Jack Soloff, a recurring character on Suits.
He’s currently working on Three Days in Havana, where he plays Jack Jones.
Luke Grimes as Ryan Lafferty
Luke Grimes played Ryan Lafferty, William’s illegitimate child, during Season 3 and Season 4.
Ryan believed William Walker abandoned his mother and blamed him for her suicide. Nora tried to be kind to him, but Rebecca was the only person he bonded with.
Ryan wanted to date Rebecca, but she was loyal to Justin.
Despite his feelings about the Walkers, he got tested and even donated his bone marrow when Kitty needed a transplant.
Grimes’s career has taken off since then. He played United States Navy SEAL Marc Lee in the 2014 film American Sniper. In 2015, he played Christian Grey’s Brother, Elliot, in Fifty Shades of Grey and the two sequels.
Since 2018, he’s starred with Kevin Costner in the Paramount Network series Yellowstone as Kayce Dutton.
Gilles Marini as Luc Laurent
Gilles Marini played Luc Laurent, Sarah’s French boyfriend and husband, in Season 4 and Season 5.
When Sarah visited France, she had a whirlwind romance with Luc, thinking she’d never see him again. They fell in love, so he followed her to California and continued their relationship.
Luc didn’t have many substantial storylines, but his love for Sarah was heartfelt and fun to watch. Seeing Gilles use his skills from Dancing with the Stars on an episode was also entertaining.
In 2012, Marini joined Dancing with the Stars Season 15, an all-star season. He and his partner, Peta Murgatroyd, got to week eight.
He joined the cast of Switched at Birth as Angelo Sorrento, Bay Kennish’s biological father. Before they killed his character off, he was upped to a series regular for Seasons 2 and 3.
Marini has starred in many other series, including Days of Our Lives, where he portrayed the sleazy Ted Laurent from 2018 to 2019.
Did you watch Brothers & Sisters on ABC or binged it on Hulu recently?
Who was your favorite character and actor in the series?
Have you kept up with any of your favorites since the series ended?
We hope this article allows Brothers & Sisters fans to reconnect with the actors they loved.
Laura Nowak is a staff writer for TV Fanatic. Follow her on X.
