Barryis a very fun and unique show. It’s a crime drama riddled with dark humor, thrills, and suspense with a thick comedic undertone — thanks to creators Bill Hader (Saturday Night Live) and Alec Berg (Seinfeld). The show premiered on HBO in 2018 and stars Hader as Barry Berkman, an ex-military hitman from Cleveland who travels to L.A. for a job but ends up joining an acting class presented by the infamous Gene Cousineau (Henry Winkler). Upon stumbling into the acting class, Barry begins to question his life choices and decides he wants to pursue acting, while simultaneously balancing his life of crime.
Barryhas amassed significant critical acclaim for its notable directing, writing, performances, and cast of original characters. The show has received 30 Primetime Emmy Award nominations, with Hader winning Outstanding Lead Actor in a Comedy Series twice. In a time when streaming services seem to be overwhelmed with options,Barryreally sticks out. Not only is it well-developed, but it’s genuinely funny and original. There’s really nothing like it, which is what makes it such a worthwhile watch. The show’s third season recently premiered on August 20, 2025, and wasrenewed for a fourth season.
Aside from the great writing and original concept, the main characters in the show are a large part of what makes it so good. They are all complex and dynamic in their own ways — both good and bad.
Let’s take a look at the major characters inBarry, ranked by how likable they are.
6Monroe Fuches
Played by Stephen Root (King of the Hill), Fuches essentially acts as Barry’s manager. He finds the hit jobs for Barry and handles all the finances and necessary arrangements. Fuches was a friend of Barry’s dad and arranged for his discharge from the marines. Ever since, Barry has seen Fuches as a sort of an uncle figure, and often leans on him when he needs help. However, Fuches isn’t really all that kind. He sees Barry as more of a cold, hardened war machine and uses his expert marksman skills to build a lucrative — and illegal — career for them both.
As the series progresses, Fuches is shown to be very manipulative of Barry. When Barry expresses that being a hitman isn’t something he wants to do anymore, Fuches won’t hear it because without Barry, he won’t make any money. At almost every turn, Fuches is trying to convince Barry that his one true purpose in life is being an assassin, nothing more. Eventually their relationship reaches its breaking point and instead of just parting ways like Barry wanted, Fuches sets out to get revenge and take Barry down, resulting in a very elaborate betrayal.
5Cristobal
Cristobal Sifuentes is the leader of the Bolivian mob. After the Chechen mob raids the Bolivian’s stash house in season one, Cristobal comes to L.A. to declare war. But in season two, the tables turn when NoHo Hank steps up as leader of the Chechen mob and teams up with Cristobal, forming an unlikely friendship. Played by Micheal Irby (Mayans M.C.), Cristobal is a very polite, professional, and business-oriented mob boss. He means business, but gently. Cristobal and Hank keep their friendship a secret because they come from two feuding mobs, and it would be odd for them to be so close with each other. But eventually, their friendship blossoms into a forbidden romance.
There’s certainly tension because they aren’t supposed to be together, but it’s clear they make each other extremely happy, so you often find yourself rooting for them to get out of the mob business to enjoy their lives together. But Cristobal hasn’t been entirely honest with Hank, and he’s actually married with a family and has a whole separate life he never told Hank about. This really breaks Hank’s heart and leads to loads of problems, making it seem almost impossible for the pair to break out and live the life they’ve been dreaming up together. While it’s understandable why Cristobal did what he did, it’s still hard to like a character who lied like that.
Related:The Best Episodes of Barry, Ranked
4Sally Reed
Sally is a very driven, aspiring actress who eventually becomes Barry’s girlfriend after they meet in Cousineau’s acting class.Portrayed by Sarah Goldberg(The Hummingbird Project), Sally is a dynamic character. At first, she’s very likable as she’s trying to make it in Hollywood and fighting hard to overcome adversity, sexism in the industry, and make her acting dreams a reality. However, once her career begins to pick up speed, a very self-centered and cruel side of her personality starts to shine through.
More than anything, Sally wants to be successful, and in trying to carve out her place in Hollywood, she’s often rude and unforgiving to those around her. She has her own deeply-rooted issues, like her fear of vulnerability and insecurity, but instead of dealing with those things in an effective way, they fuel her lashing out. Sally’s character is sent on an intense roller-coaster ride throughout the series, and she’s so complex that you can’t really hate her for all of her actions. For example, her screaming meltdown toward her former assistant in season three, while harsh and full of hurtful language, may be forgiven depending on how her character progresses in season four.
3Gene Cousineau
Gene Cousineau is self-absorbed and a little corny, but there’s something lovable about him. Portrayed by Henry Winkler (Happy Days), Gene is an acting teacher who takes on a sort of mentorship role with Barry, and unknowingly inspires him to leave his life of crime behind and start anew — even though it doesn’t work out that way. Although his own acting career hasn’t been wildly successful, Gene manages to get through to his students and provides ample life lessons in his classes through his “acting through trauma” method that really strikes chords with Barry and Sally.
In season one, Gene falls in love with Janice Moss (Paula Newsome) a detective investigating the murder of one of his students. Their relationship is rocky at first, but it really softens Janice and gives Gene’s life a new meaning. Unfortunately, Janice is good at her job and eventually catches onto Barry, resulting in him killing her to keep his secrets safe. Janice’s murder breaks Gene and all he wants to do is avenge her by putting her killer behind bars. But when he discovers that person is Barry, things get a little difficult. It’s Cousineau’s dedication — and the fact that he drew an unfortunately short stick in the luck department — that makes him so likable. Despite being so full of himself, it’s eventually made clear that he’s primarily driven by love over anything else, which is not the case for most of the other characters.
Related:Barry: How the HBO Show Questions if Psychopaths Can Ever Change
2Barry Berkman
Barry is possibly the most complex character on the show. On face value, he’s a criminal. He’s completely destroyed people’s lives and up until his experience with Cousineau’s acting class, never really seemed bothered by the nature of his work. But, there are so many layers to his character, and Bill Hader (It: Chapter Two)portrays him in such a captivating way.He’s chaotic and unpredictable, yet he has heart and a desire to become a better person. He wants to be successful, in love, have a family, but at every turn he’s being pulled back into the hitman career Fuches made for him. It’s like he’s in too deep, drowning in all of his misdeeds and constantly trying to right his wrongs, but it’s hard.
This is what makes Barry such a likable character. Barry is a psychopath, and he needs lots of help. And while there is no cure for psychopathy, you still find yourself rooting for him throughout the show to change his ways. Liking Barry’s character is hard when he’s caused others so much pain, but there’s something about how badly he wants to be good that makes him so empathetic. It’ll be interesting to seewhere his character goes in season four.
1NoHo Hank
NoHo Hank is by far the best, most likable character on the show. He’s hilarious and often serves as the comedic relief, but he also has great depth, making him an expertly well-rounded character. Played by Anthony Carrigan (Gotham), Hank is the leader of the Chechen mob and, given his job title, is a very bubbly, positive, and naive individual, adding comedic irony to his character. He becomes good friends with Barry, even idolizing him a bit. He’s also infatuated with Cristobal and would often rather spend time with him than participate in mob-like activities.
While he’s very funny and a reliable source of goofy one-liners, it’d be a mistake not to note Hank’s more serious side. While he’s not the most successful as a mob boss, he thrives at protecting the things he cares deeply about. Like Cousineau, in a way, Hank is also driven by love, which is evident in all the times he went the extra mile to protect Cristobal, showing a heroic side of his character.Especially in season three, when he travels abroad and breaks out of his prison cell just to save his partner, even though Cristobal lied to him and put his life at risk. NoHo Hank is a very lovable, well-developed and excellently portrayed character, oftenstealing the show in every scene he’s in.
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