Jane is a 40-something biracial Gen X writer and college instructor living in Los Angeles. She is currently on sabbatical, working furiously to finish a sprawling historical novel about biracial history in America to secure tenure. Having grown up poor as the child of divorced artists, she deeply desires middle-class stability and dreams of living in a picture-perfect suburban neighborhood. She frequently struggles to balance her artistic ambitions with the daily demands of motherhood.

Lenny is Jane's husband, a Black abstract painter who struggles to sell his art because he refuses to cater to market demands for Black subject matter. Despite his scrappy, anti-capitalist persona, he comes from a bourgeois, upper-middle-class background. He is fiercely dedicated to his artistic integrity but often leaves the bulk of parenting and household duties to Jane while he retreats to his studio.

Hampton is a prominent Black television producer tasked with bringing diverse shows to a major network. He lives in a massive mansion in Pacific Palisades, representing the extreme financial success Jane desires. While he initially presents as a warm and encouraging figure who understands Jane's vision, his chaotic working style and high-pressure demands quickly complicate their professional dynamic.

Brett is a wealthy, biracial television writer and producer who attended the same writing program as Jane. The two share a fierce, almost sibling-like bond stemming from their similar backgrounds as the children of interracial marriages. Unlike Jane, Brett abandoned literary fiction early on to pursue the more lucrative field of television writing, a choice that Jane secretly judges even as she covets his lavish lifestyle.

Ruby is Jane and Lenny's eight-year-old daughter. She is acutely aware of her family's financial struggles compared to her peers. She longs for stability and standard childhood experiences, such as having a proper birthday party and collecting expensive American Girl dolls.

Finn is Jane and Lenny's six-year-old son. He is highly imaginative, often talking about alien planets, and exhibits neurodivergent behaviors that require specialized evaluation. His needs add to Jane's daily exhaustion as she tries to balance her writing with parenting.

Layla is a Nigerian American assistant working for Hampton Ford. She is a recent graduate of a production program who works in the chaotic, high-stress environment of Hampton's production office, often appearing exhausted by the demands of the job.

Topher is a preppy white office worker from Connecticut who works for Hampton Ford. He aspires to be a writer and frequently collaborates on brainstorming sessions, despite the harsh working conditions and Hampton's verbal abuse.

Marianne is Brett's successful television agent. She represents the gateway to the lucrative Hollywood writing career that Jane hopes to break into when her literary prospects dim.

Honor is Jane's literary agent. She has the difficult task of managing Jane's expectations regarding her sprawling, decade-in-the-making historical novel about biracial identity.

Kay is Jane's colleague at the university. Having been demoted from the tenure track after failing to publish a book, she takes on a heavy teaching load and secretly lives in her office, serving as a cautionary tale for Jane's own career fears.

Hiram Cavendish is a fictional white sociologist who wrote an exhaustive study about biracial people in America. Jane cuts up his article and uses excerpts as primary documents in her novel.

Bruce is a white network director who oversees Hampton Ford's production deals. He exerts pressure on Hampton to deliver a successful, marketable television show before the network pivots to different programming.

Wesley is a psychic whom Jane consulted years ago. His specific advice and predictions heavily influenced Jane's early pursuit of Lenny when they first met.

Josiah is the publisher who released Jane's first book. He reviews her sprawling second manuscript and rejects it, describing the work in highly critical terms.

Piper is Brett's wealthy white ex-wife. Because of her racial privilege and financial safety net, her divorce from Brett does not carry the same catastrophic risks that Jane associates with the end of her own marriage.

Lucinda is Brett's new girlfriend, whom he met on the set of a television show. Jane notes that Lucinda looks remarkably like a younger version of Brett's ex-wife, Piper.

Crystal is a mixed-race television writer. Hampton Ford uses her as an example of someone who successfully leverages her racial identity for career advantage, telling Jane she should emulate Crystal's approach.

He is an unnamed man from Osaka, Japan, who tours the same home in "Multicultural Mayberry" as Jane and Lenny. His arrival prompts Lenny to unexpectedly converse with him in fluent Japanese.

Dennis is the director of the writing program that Jane and Brett attended. He taught a highly structured, paint-by-numbers method to literary fiction that Jane still mentally references when outlining her life.

Jane's mother is a white woman who was part of the first generation of legally recognized interracial marriages in the United States. Following a bitter divorce from Jane's father, she holds a cynical view of romance and advises Jane that she is better off without men.

Jane's father is a Black former newspaper columnist. He suffered a deep depression after being unjustly fired from his job following a conflict with a white colleague, an event that left a lasting impact on Jane's worldview.

She is Jane's sister, who grew up watching television with Jane as a way to cope with their parents' divorce. She points Jane toward a psychic for relationship advice in her twenties.

She is Hampton Ford's wife. She and Hampton are both Black, but they send their children to predominantly white private schools, leading to Hampton's anxieties about their family's future lineage.

She is Hampton Ford's young, pale-skinned, red-headed daughter. Her unexpected appearance causes Hampton a moment of drug-induced paranoia at a celebrity birthday party when he realizes she does not physically resemble him.