In 2018, The Conners premiered on ABC as a direct continuation of Roseanne, with the cast of The Conners remaining almost completely in place from the parent show. ABC fired Roseanne Barr from the series following a string of controversies, moving on with the rest of the cast for the spinoff The Conners. While it seemed unlikely to succeed, the show did find big success and lasted for six more seasons before it finally announced its ending. The Conners saw the series kill of Roseanne following a prescription drug overdose and the new series showed how her widow and kids moved on from her untimely death.
This meant that everyone but Roseanne Barr returned as actors in The Conners, including John Goodman, Laurie Metcalf, and Sara Gilbert. However, the show also added some new actors and showed how far this family had come since the original show aired in the 1990s. The sixth and final season of The Conners wraps up the story and The Conners cast will be back to finish off a story that has been over 30 years in the making, and hopefully the show will pay off the great characters that most of the show’s fans have grown up with.
John Goodman as Dan Conner
John Goodman as Dan Conner Smiling in The Conners
John Goodman plays Dan Conner in The Conners cast. Dan is one of the main characters from Roseanne and is the main character in the cast of The Conners. He is the husband of the late Roseanne and the father of the family. Throughout The Conners, Dan struggles to find jobs but does the best he can to help his family make ends meet. Goodman is an actor from Missouri who has picked up multiple awards over his long career. He got his start in Public Theater before he enjoyed his breakout as Dan on Roseanne in 1988.
Goodman used his fame from Roseanne to further his career, and is a household name even outside of The Conners. He started working with the Coen Brothers and appeared in several of their best movies, including Raising Arizona, Barton Fink, The Big Lebowski, and O Brother, Where Art Thou? He earned seven Emmy nominations, all for Roseanne, and also won a Golden Globe Award for his work on the show. Other key movies include Arachnophobia, Blues Brothers 2000, Monsters, Inc, and Transformers: The Last Knight.
Katey Sagal as Louise Conner
Louise in The Conners season 5
Katey Sagal’s The Conners character is Louise Conner. After Roseanne died, Louise joined the cast of The Conners as a guest character in the first two seasons and then a recurring character in the third. She was a classmate of Dan and Jackie and came back into their lives on the show. Soon, she and Dan fell in love and got married on The Conners. Sagal is an actor from Los Angeles who got her start in the music industry before she got her start on TV in Mary, starring Mary Tyler Moore.
However, most fans know Katey Sagal from one of two roles. She enjoyed her major breakout on Married… with Children, where she played Peggy Bundy from 1987 to 1997. She earned her first Golden Globe nomination for that role. Her next major television role came in the motorcycle club drama Sons of Anarchy, where she played matriarch Gemma Teller Morrow. She also had roles on Rebel, Shameless, and 8 Simple Rules for Dating My Teenage Daughter. Fans might also recognize her voice as Leela on Futurama.
Laurie Metcalf as Jackie Harris-Goldufski
Jackie Darlene Dan and Harris in The Conners season 5
Laurie Metcalf joins the cast of The Conners as Jackie Harris-Goldufski. Jackie is Roseanne’s sister and remained there to help out Dan and her family after Roseanne’s death. She has always been one of the best The Conners cast members, a quirky and funny character with a caring personality. Metcalf is an actor from Illinois who got her start in theater productions before getting her first break on Saturday Night Live. This led to her casting in Roseanne, where she picked up three Emmy Awards.
After Roseanne, Metcalf picked up roles in Norm, Easy Money, and The Big Bang Theory, where she played Sheldon Cooper’s mother. She is also an Oscar-nominated actor, picking up a Best Supporting Actress nomination for her work in Lady Bird. She has also appeared in Uncle Buck, JFK, Scream 2, Stop-Loss, and as the voice of Andy’s mother in the Toy Story movies.
Sara Gilbert as Darlene Conner-Olinsky
Darlene and Ben talk in The Conners
Sara Gilbert plays Darlene Conner-Olinsky in The Conners cast. Darlene is the second daughter of Dan and Roseanne and has been in the cast since Roseanne, growing up on the small screen. She is cynical, sarcastic, and very intelligent. In The Conners, she also found career success as a writer and started a relationship with her editor, Ben. Gilbert is a California actor who got her start on Roseanne at the age of 13, a role that has earned her two Primetime Emmy Award nominations.
Other than her role as a child actor on Roseanne, and the reprising it as an adult in the cast of The Conners, Gilbert might be best known for her job as a co-host on the daytime talk show The Talk. She has also appeared in The Big Bang Theory as Leslie Winkle, one of Leonard’s close friends.
Lecy Goranson as Becky Conner-Healy
Becky Darlene and Jackie shocked in The Conners
Lecy Goranson’s The Conners character is Becky Conner-Healy. Lecy is the oldest daughter of Dan and Roseanne and is mostly self-centered and frustrated with her status in life when she grew up. She spent a lot of time on The Conners dealing with depression issues which also led to alcohol addiction. Goranson is an actor from Illinois who got her start on Roseanne, where she played Becky for five seasons. However, her college aspirations caused Roseanne to have to replace her with Sarah Chalke.
In the eighth season, Goranson returned to the show, replacing her replacement Chalke, and continues to play the role in The Connors cast. Goranson’s acting career other than this franchise is limited. She appeared in Boys Don’t Cry in 1991, a highlight of her movie career, and was a guest in shows like Sex and the City, Law & Order: SVU, and Damages.
Michael Fishman as D.J. Conner
Roseanne’s DJ in The Conners
Michael Fishman joins the cast of The Conners as D.J. Conner. D.J. is the youngest child and only son of Dan and Roseanne. He was a troublesome child, but as an adult, he became a quiet and devoted father to his daughter Mary. D.J. Conner left the show after the fourth season.
Fishman is a Los Angeles actor who got his start on Roseanne at 6 years old. He played the role until he was 15 and then returned to The Conners. Other than Roseanne and the cast of The Conners, Fishman appeared in the movies A.I. Artificial Intelligence and Undrafted and TV shows, Seinfeld, Walker, Texas Ranger, and The Roseanne Show.
Emma Kenney as Harris Conner-Healy
Harris in The Conners season 5
Emma Kenney plays Harris Conner-Healy in The Conners cast. Emma is one of the main characters on The Conners, Darlene’s oldest daughter who is sarcastic and spoiled, sharing a lot of her mother’s traits. However, she also never wanted to live with the family and resented them for it, wanting one day to move in with her father instead.
Kenney is a New York actor who worked on made-for-TV movies as a child. She enjoyed her breakout role on Shameless, where she played Debbie Gallagher, one of the Gallagher siblings on the series. She appeared on that series for 134 episodes until it finally ended. She has also appeared on Boardwalk Empire and had movie roles in Robert the Bruce and Epic.
Ames McNamara as Mark Conner-Healy
Mark in The Conners
Ames McNamara’s The Conners character is Mark Conner-Healy. Mark is Darlene’s second-oldest child and is a lot more delicate and sensitive than his older sister. In the second season, Mark came out as gay to his family. Everyone accepted his decisions, although it took Dan a little while to come around. However, Mark remains one of the more positive representations of the LGBTQ+ community to appear on The Conners. The role has been his most notable to date.
Jayden Rey as Mary Conner
Mary talking to Becky in The Conners season 5 episode 4
Jayden Rey joins the cast of The Conners as Mary Conner. Mary is D.J. Conner’s daughter with Geena. However, she spends most of her time with her extended family since D.J. works long hours and her mother is in the military. She is also a sweet girl who loves animals. As for Rey, she is a young actor from New York whose only other roles was on Unforgettable and Bobcat Moretti.
Maya Lynne Robinson as Geena Williams-Conner
Geena Williams on The Conners
Maya Lynne Robinson plays Geena Williams-Conner in The Conners cast. Geena is D.J.’s wife who serves as an active soldier, which keeps her away from her family for long periods of time. She was a main character in season 1, but then just a guest in the third season. Later in The Conners, she decides she has missed too much of her daughter’s childhood and wants to make up for it. Robinson is an actor from Cleveland whose main breakout role came on The Conners. However, she has also appeared in a main role on The Unicorn and in a recurring role on Grand Crew.
Jay R. Ferguson as Ben Olinsky
Ben Olinsky on The Conners
Jay R. Ferguson’s The Conners character is Ben Olinsky. Ben is Darlene’s ex-boyfriend and was involved in a love triangle with her and David Healy. Ferguson is an actor who got his start as a teenager playing Ponyboy Curtis in a TV adaptation of The Outsiders. This led to a long list of television work, including Evening Shade, Glory Days, Judging Amy, Sleeper Cell, and Easy Money. In 2010, he picked up one of his biggest roles when he played Stan Rizzo on Mad Men. He followed that up with a role on the Real O’Neals before getting cast in The Conners. On the big screen, he appeared in The Lucky One, The Killer Inside Me, and Higher Learning.
The Conners Supporting Cast
The Conners family sitting around the couch in a cabin
in the sitcom
James Pickens Jr. as Chuck Mitchell: James Pickens Jr. joins the cast of The Conners as Chuck Mitchell. He is Dan’s closest friend and business partner. He has appeared in the original Roseanne and remains a part of the Conners cast. Pickens is an actor from Cleveland who has also worked on the soap opera Another World and the TV shows The X-Files, The West Wing, and Curb Your Enthusiasm.
Rene Rosado as Emilio Rodriguez: Rene Rosado plays Emilio Rodriguez in The Conners cast. Emilio is the father of Becky’s daughter, Beverly Rose. He married Becky to get back into the United States after deportation, but they since divorced, and he remains a part of Beverly’s life. Rosado is also known for his role in Major Crimes as Gus Wallace.
Estelle Parsons as Beverly Harris: Estelle Parsons’s The Conners character is Beverly Harris. Beverly is Roseanne and Jackie’s mother. Over the series, Beverly has suffered through medical problems but has never lost her wit and humor. Parsons is a veteran actor who became a star on Broadway before moving on to movies. She won an Oscar for her role as Blanche Barrow in Bonnie and Clyde in 1967.
Johnny Galecki as David Healy: Johnny Galecki joins the cast of The Conners as David Healy. David is Darlene’s ex-husband and the father of her two children. He carried over from the original Roseanne, but his character had become someone that neither Darlene nor her kids could trust to be there for them in The Conners. Most fans know Galecki as Leonard in The Big Bang Theory. He also appeared in Christmas Vacation and Rings.
Alexandra Billings as Robin: Alexandra Billings plays Robin in The Conners cast. Robin was a supervisor at Wellman Plastics and Darlene’s mentor on The Conners. Billings is a transgender actress who also appeared in Romy and Michele: In the Beginning and Transparent.
Nat Faxon as Neville Goldufski: Nat Faxon’s The Conners character is Neville Goldufski. Neville is Louise’s younger brother who works as a veterinarian and ends up marrying Jackie. Faxon is an actor from Boston who got his start in the comedy troupe The Groundlings. From there, he starred in comedy movies like Orange County, Walk Hard: The Dewey Cox Story, and Bad Teacher. He has also had main roles on the TV shows Loot and Mulligan.
Brian Austin Green as Jeff: Brian Austin Green joins the cast of The Conners as Jeff. He is a co-worker of Darlene’s. Most fans know Green from his breakout role as a teenager on the hit series Beverly Hills 90210, where he played David Silver. He has also appeared on Terminator: The Sarah Connor Chronicles and in the TV adaptation of Anger Management.
Andrew Leeds as Nick: Andrew Leeds plays Nick in The Conners cast. Nick is Darlene’s boyfriend in the fourth season. Leeds is an actor who got his start as an understudy on Broadway at only eight years old. On the small screen, he has appeared in Dirt, Bones, NCIS: Los Angeles, A Million Little Things, Zoey’s Extraordinary Playlist, and Barry.
William H. Macy as Smitty: William H. Macy’s The Conners character is Smitty. He is Roseanne’s former boyfriend and Jackie’s former high school crush. Everyone knows Macy from his role as Frank Gallagher in Shameless, where he was nominated for six consecutive Primetime Emmy Awards. He is also an Oscar nominee for his role in the movie Fargo.
