List of Veronica Mars Characters - Main Characters

Main Characters

Kristen Bell portrayed the titular Veronica Mars, a high school junior and skilled private detective. Bell was chosen to play Veronica Mars from more than 500 women who auditioned for the role. Bell felt that it was "just luck" that Rob Thomas saw that "I have some sass to me, and that's exactly what he wanted". Bell thought that it was her cheerleader looks and an outsider's attitude that set her apart from the other women who auditioned.

Teddy Dunn portrayed Duncan Kane, Veronica's ex-boyfriend and Lilly's brother. Dunn originally auditioned for Logan, but ended up portraying Duncan Kane. Dunn left the series midway through the second season because Thomas felt that the Logan-Veronica-Duncan love triangle had run its course. He needed to put "other guys in her life" to keep the series fresh and attributed Dunn's removal to fan interest dominating the Logan-Veronica relationship, saying "it became clear that one suitor won out".

Jason Dohring played Logan Echolls, the "bad-boy" 09er son of an A-list actor. Dohring originally auditioned for the role of Duncan Kane. After his audition, the producers asked Dohring to audition for the character of Logan, who at the time was only going to be a guest star in the pilot. Dohring felt that his audition for Duncan "was a little dark", and was told by the producers that it was "not really right". The producers then asked Dohring to read for the role of Logan. The audition process for Logan was originally Duncan, and Dohring acted one scene from the pilot; bashing the headlights of a car in with a crowbar. During the final auditions, Dohring read two times with Bell, and met with the studio and the network. When reading with Bell, Dohring acted the whole scene as if he had raped her, and tried to give the character an evil and fun feel.

Percy Daggs III portrayed Wallace Fennel, Veronica's best friend and frequent partner in mystery solving. Percy Daggs III auditioned for the role of Wallace Fennel two times before being cast, and had to go through three tests with the studio and network executives. During his first audition, Daggs read four scenes from the pilot. Just before his studio test, Daggs read with Bell and had "a great conversation". He said that she "made me feel comfortable about auditioning", and was a big reason why he became more comfortable playing Wallace as the season went on.

Francis Capra portrayed Eli "Weevil" Navarro, the leader of the PCH Biker gang and Veronica's friend.

Enrico Colantoni played Veronica's father Keith Mars, a private investigator and former Balboa County Sheriff.

Sydney Tamiia Poitier played Mallory Dent, Veronica's journalism teacher at Neptune High through the first season's first half. Ms. Dent, as she was commonly referred to, was the only teacher who took Veronica at face value, not based on prejudices. Together with Veronica, she was responsible for uncovering the voting scam that led to Duncan winning the school elections illegally. Ms. Dent left her job after becoming pregnant. Although she was given series regular billing, Poitier appeared in only four episodes, but was given credit for seven. Poitier's removal from the series was rumored to be due to budget issues.

Tessa Thompson portrays Jackie Cook in the second season as a romantic interest of Wallace and the daughter of a famous baseball player. Fan reaction to the character was generally negative, after Veronica witnessed Jackie talking to a guy while dating Wallace. Thomas blamed the character's reception on his error in judgment: he had hoped fans would question whether it was Jackie or Veronica in the wrong, however the audience automatically assumed that it was Jackie. Thomas decided not to change the story arc he had planned for Jackie, as he believed Thompson was "a fantastic actress and she's got more to play." He said that whether fans end up liking Jackie is "up in the air", but he hoped that they did because "she's really, really good". Jackie was subsequently written out of the series at the end of the second season.

Ryan Hansen portrayed Dick Casablancas, an 09er friend of Logan, a womanizer and former high-school bully turned frat boy. Dick was a recurring character in the first season, but was upgraded to a series regular in the second season.

Kyle Gallner acted as Cassidy "Beaver" Casablancas, Dick's introverted younger brother. Cassidy was a recurring character in the first season, but was upgraded to a series regular in the second season.

Tina Majorino portrayed Cindy "Mac" Mackenzie, a computer expert befriended by Veronica. Mac was a recurring character in the first two seasons, but was upgraded to a series regular in the third.

Julie Gonzalo portrayed Parker Lee, Mac's extroverted roommate at Hearst College, described by Thomas as "everything that Mac is not". Parker was introduced in the third season as a series regular.

Chris Lowell played Stosh "Piz" Piznarski, Wallace's roommate at Hearst College and a music lover with his own campus radio show. Piz was introduced in the third season as a series regular, and was named after the director of the pilot, Mark Piznarski. The character's role was to have another male friend for Veronica who was middle-class, and not upper-class. Thomas used the radio show as a narrative device to capture the mood of the university.

Michael Muhney portrayed Don Lamb, the Balboa County Sheriff who won the office from Keith in the recall election spearheaded by Jake Kane. Lamb was a recurring character in the first two seasons, but was upgraded to a series regular in the third.