List of It Ain't Easy characters

Giselle Jacques
Giselle is the "main owner" and the manager of Alphonse's Inn, the second-eldest member of the main group behind Adam Steele, and the aunt-in-law of Kat. A blues songstress by trade, she considers the high point of her life to have been when she performed in a one-woman blues revue at an all-inclusive resort in. She has a history of alcoholism, poor business decisions and disputes. She always has good intentions, but her actions often affect the plot. She is portrayed by Genevieve LaClotte.

William Tobin
William is a co-owner of Alphonse's Inn. He met Giselle while she was touring the club circuit, and often considers himself her "second-in-command". He considers himself the "driving force" behind the Inn, even though few people actually come to it. He often helps out Giselle with her schemes.

William was once in a boy band named the NOLA Boys according to the fifth-season episode "William Gets His Band Back Together". He is portrayed by Joey Moody.

Howie Griffith
Howie is William's high school friend and roommate, and a co-owner and the janitor of Alphonse's Inn. He is portrayed as a near-sociopath, and is narcissistic, superficial, pseudointellectual, snobbish, abrasive and selfish, a personality perpetuated by his education at.

Howie's full name is Howard Brigham Griffith. He was raised a Mormon according to the fifth-season episode "I Never Met the Drunk Man". He is a huge fan of the music of, , Steve Billingham and , and drives a. He is portrayed by Steven Mason.

Toby Martinez
Toby is the bartender and "acting head chef" of Alphonse's Inn. A mixologist and former psychology student, Toby often considers himself the voice of reason within the group, and is relatively more focused and sane than his colleagues.

Toby, full name Tobias Pablo Martinez, was raised in the son of a Argentine-American mother and Puerto Rican father. He hopes to be a psychologist one day, but is often dragged down by the group's antics. He is portrayed by David Sanroman.

Daphne Plesner
Daphne, Howie's childhood neighbor, is the assistant manager of Alphonse's Inn. Before getting her job at the Inn, she worked as an ice cream truck driver, and only got the job because she couldn't get any others without Toby's help, considering the lack of any "good jobs" on her resume.

Daphne is Jewish. She attended the in hopes of becoming a electrical engineer, but dropped out after causing what she calls "a major incident" on campus. It is heavily implied throughout the series that Daphne is a lesbian, and she comes out officially in the season 13 episode "Adam's Sunday Drive". She is portrayed by Kimberly Rosen.

Adam Steele
Adam Steele is a co-owner and the self-proclaimed bouncer of Alphonse's Inn, the roommate of Giselle and William, and the "third-in-command" of the group. He constantly carries weapons with him and is not afraid to pull one out even when merely inconvenienced. He was once a successful action movie star with a history of behind-the-scenes drama (including threatening multiple directors with weapons over minor mishaps, being rude to co-stars and routinely showing up late to principal photography) and dealings with sordid characters (such as playing the lead role in an action propaganda film personally financed by Narthernese dictator Peruka Naku so he could score a discounted vacation)

Born Alexander Louis Pasquale in, he legally changed his name to his stage name after a dispute with a former agent who coined it. Despite being a millionaire and owning several properties he could live in full-time, he prefers to live in squalor in the basement of Alphonse's Inn to add a degree of excitement to his life. His lifestyle includes eating cheap fast-food, sleeping on a couch, living on about $20 a week (not including his morning "protein shake" routine), and using the payphone in the lobby for telephone calls.

He frequently involves himself with politics and civil society, ranting about the government's misdeeds. He doesn't believe in good social behavior, viewing it as "hippie crap", and is frequently rude to others. He owns several cars, including his prized, which acts as his "daily driver". He is played by Lee Elliot.

Kat Pomeroy
Kathleen "Kat" Pomeroy is Giselle's niece-in-law. She was introduced in the season 14 episode "Giselle Has Relative Troubles". Since then, he has been considered the inn's waitress. She doesn't consider herself a member of the main group, often considering their antics to be beneath her, and would rather clean up after them than participate in their schemes. She is portrayed by Chloë Martin.

Adam's Lawyer
Robert Preston II (Steve Lampkin), known simply to the group as "Adam's Lawyer", is Adam Steele's lawyer and a frequent accomplice of the gang.

April Simmonds
April Simmonds (Misty Joyce) is Howie's sixth cousin, twice removed. She is a con artist who enjoys targeting specific groups in search of money.

She is introduced in season three as an aspiring Broadway actress that Adam tries to turn into a star. While she's successful at first, she quickly becomes egocentric and the group end up sabotaging her film debut, ruining her career.

April returns in the season five episode "April's Back", now a successful indie folk musician. Howie ends up ending her career after an on-stage fight, during which she admits to hating hipsters.

She returns again in the season 16 episode "Howie Starts A Microbrewery", now styling herself as a self-righteous "angry liberal" social media personality active on. Her latest career is ended when, on a livestream Giselle is holding, she admits to only supporting left-wing causes "for the clout" while she thinks Giselle is out of the room.

Ben Northam
Ben Northam (Max Oakley) was a popular student at who bullied Howie. Later on, he became a rich real estate developer. He first appeared in the episode "Giselle Starts a Blockade", wanting to buy Alphonse's Inn, demolish it and build low-income housing on the property. He later appears in the episode "Howie's High School Reunion".

Oakley died in 2018. After he died, the character was killed off in the show, with the episode "Howie, William and Daphne Try To Get Ben Northam's Money" revealing he died of an amphetamine overdose.

Bonnie Raitt
 has played a fictionalized version of herself in a few episodes. She first appeared in the episode "Giselle Meets Bonnie Raitt" in which Giselle is chosen to be Raitt's opening act for her concert in New Orleans.

Catherine Wilson
Catherine Wilson is Adam's current manager and business associate. She is dedicated to her client, but sometimes finds his antics childish. She first appeared in the season four episode "Adam Steele is: Adam Steele", where she gets Adam a role as himself in a JCVD-esque action film. She later appears in the B-plot of "William Wins the Lottery" to help Adam with his attempt to buy the. She also appears in "Alphonse's Inn Gets An Award" to help book a Z-list celebrity to show that they "get" celebrity visitors aside from Adam; the episode then makes a pointed reference to Garner's past role as Sydney Bristow on Alias when Adam tells Catherine "Get me Jennifer Garner! You know, that strong female lady from Alias? Remember that show? Wonder what's she's doing these days.", to which she replies "Probably acting in B-movies."

Elisabeth Ramberg
Elisabeth Ramberg is a German woman who is Captain Jacques' illegitimate daughter and Giselle's half-sister, as well as Giselle's childhood pen pal. She is the result of an affair Captain had with a Bunny at the in  that he managed. Giselle previously assumed she was just a friend until she took a DNA test and found out they were, in fact, actually related.

Georgia & G
Georgia (Erika Georgia Roberts) and G (Teagan Hastings) are two of Giselle's old friends from her "Trinidad days". They first appear in "Toby Holds a Party and Completely Screws It Up" when Giselle invites them to Toby's block party.

Grandmaster D and O-Boy
David "Grandmaster D" Martin (Winston Goodwyn) and Oliver "O-Boy" Hill (Roger Appleberry) are an old school rap duo who once featured Adam in a music video for one of their songs back in "the very-early-90s". They frequently hang out with the group.

Hiromi
Hiromi Kiyama (Samantha Kozuki) is a friend of Giselle from her "Trinidad days" who moved to New Orleans to work at a nightclub on. She first appears in the episode "Alphonse's Inn Becomes a Nightclub" as Giselle's "consultant" for the operation.

Ian
Ian Strawberry (Rob Sharp) is a old high school friend of Howie who now works as a bus driver.

Jackie Song
Jacqueline Song (Ma-Eum Roberts) is a blues singer who has been friends with Giselle since high school. While she is now a more mainstream name than Giselle ever has wished to be, she still is friends with Giselle and brought her on tour as an opening act in the past.

Jimmy the Taxi Man
Jimmy the Taxi Man (Robbie Wattis) is a friend of Adam who works as a taxi driver.

The Le Blanc Twins
Lindsay (Courtney Rivers) and Amanda Le Blanc (Haley Rivers) are twin sisters, and two of the most frequently recurring characters on the show, having first appeared in the very first episode "Giselle Holds A Yard Sale". They are old high school friends of Howie, and Linday was Howie's prom date.

In the second pilot, Lindsay was played by Hilda Kajava and Amanda was played by blues singer Brenda Monroy. The Rivers twins replaced Kajava and Monroy for the show as Kajava had work commitments for other projects and Monroy had no acting experience.

Old Lady
Priscilla Doris Walker (Dee Manoury), best known as the "old lady", is a senior citizen who lives across the street from Alphonse's Inn and frequently butts heads with the group. She is the mother of Mr. Manny and grandmother of Kyle from Gretna.

Manoury died in 2016. The episode "Adam Fixes a Shingle", which features the character's last appearance, was dedicated to her memory.

Kyle from Gretna
Kyle Walker is a friend of Giselle who she met while shopping at the  in, which he works as a cashier at. He first appeared in the season six episode "Adam Runs for City Council" when Giselle hired him to be Adam's campaign manager.

Kyle appeared again in the episode "Mr. Manny Died" at his father's funeral.

Megan Forrest
Megan Forrest (Laura Elliot) is a women's MMA fighter and the illegitimate daughter of Adam Steele, and a frequently recurring character in recent seasons. She first appeared in the season 13 episode "Adam Has More Kids" when she suddenly appears at the door of Alphonse's Inn.

Mayor LaToya
, the current real-life mayor of New Orleans, appears as herself in the episodes "Adam Steele Day" and "When the Saints Come Marching In"

Mayor Deng
Wayne Deng (David Tong) was the (fictional) mayor of New Orleans. Captain Jacques ran against him in the episode "Giselle Costs Her Dad the Election". He appears again in the episode "The Fortieth Annual Hotel Awards" as the guest of honor during the ceremony.

Deng appears again in the episode "Giselle Costs Her Dad the Election Again", in which he's leaving office due to being term-limited. In the episode "Let's Go to Washington", he appears again, now a member of the U.S. Senate.

Tong died in 2021.

Mr. Alexander
Alexander Tobin is William's uncle who works as a high school teacher. He taught Kat for a period. He first appears in the season four episode "William's Uncle Stays at the Inn" when he temporarily moves into the Inn while his house is being fumigated. In the season 12 episode "The Debate Club", he is one of the members of Adam's debate club, and has a debate with Kyle from Gretna; the episode then makes a pointed reference to both Haysbert and Dean Winters' status as spokespersons for when Alexander tells Kyle "You're not in good hands!", to which Kyle replies "Well, I like to cause a little mayhem along with the gang from time to time", Kyle's response being a reference to the Allstate advertising character Mayhem, which Winters plays.

Mr. Manny
Mason Walker is an auto mechanic and a friend of Adam who used to be part of his old gang, The Tigers. He is Kyle from Gretna's father.

Winters died in 2019.

Nathan Wilkins
Nathan Wilkins (Anthony C. Glynn) is an old high school friend of Howie who now works as the manager of the Wimpy the group frequent.

Norm Mikeladze
Norman "Norm" Mikeladze (Koba Ioseliani) is a former dentist and disgraced former who is friends with Giselle, and one of the more frequently appearing recurring characters.

A recurring theme is Norm's downward spiral. He lost his dentistry practice due to his involvement with Giselle and her friends, lost his spot on the New Orleans City Council thanks to the group's antics, suffered numerous injuries, and at one point lived in a dumpster.

Philip Studebaker
Philip Studebaker (Phelan Morkel) is a recurring character. He debuted in the second season episode "Save Our Sailors" as a representative of the city of, and was depicted as not that bright, including drawing a picture of a mole character (in Morkel's signature style) instead of writing down info on New Orleans Sailors player contracts. He returns in the fifth-season episode "Steele Private Security" as one of the fursuiters at the furry convention Adam's private security firm is hired for, recognizing Giselle as "that crazy lady from when I was a city rep!" He returns again in the tenth-season episode "Daphne's Prom Date" as part of the lineup of people that could have been the mysterious guy Daphne went to prom with years back. He appears again in the season 16 episode "The Talent Show" as one of the participants in the talent show Alphonse's Inn holds, once again wearing his fursuit from "Steele Private Security".

Roger Duncan
Roger Duncan (Kearney Forbes) is a late night talk show host that Howie adores.

Virginia Song
Virginia Song (Deborah Huang) is Jackie's sister and the current manager of The Blue Room, the blues club Giselle used to perform at.

Gordon "Captain" Jacques
Gordon "Captain" Jacques (Philip Franklin Fulcher), frequently called "The Captain", is Giselle's father who is a successful businessman and the owner of the Captain's Quarters chain of "gentleman's clubs", which has its flagship location on. Perverted, cantankerous, delusional and just as egocentric as his daughter, he grew up in and ran away from home midway through high school. A veteran who was in the  (hence his nickname), he went into the nightclub business after the war and managed s in,  and  before quitting the company to open his own nightclub, which he then expanded into a chain. As a businessman, he has a history of participating in illegal operations (including running, organ harvesting, and working for a euthanasia clinic in to score discounted skiing) and dealings with sordid characters.

Kenneth Plesner
Kenneth Plesner is Daphne's father. The antithesis of Captain Jacques, he is a Reform rabbi who organizes many humanitarian efforts, including projects in. He is often vocally upset about his daughter's antics with the group, and views them as a bad influence on her.

Finkel died in 2016. The character was written off in the show in the episode "Daphne Goes to Her Dad's Funeral", where its revealed he died of a heart attack.