Scrubs (TV Series) - Cast and Characters

Cast and Characters

For the first eight seasons, the series featured seven main cast members, with numerous other characters recurring throughout the course of the series. Starting with the ninth season, much of the original cast left as regular characters, while four new additions were made to the cast.

• Zach Braff portrays John Michael "J.D." Dorian (seasons 1–9), the show's protagonist and narrator. J.D. is a young attending physician, who begins the series as a staff intern. His voice-over to the series comes from his internal thoughts and often features surreal fantasies.
• Sarah Chalke portrays Elliot Reid (seasons 1–8, recurring season 9), another intern and later private practice physician. Her relationship with J.D. becomes romantic on several occasions throughout the series. As the series progresses, despite an initial dislike of each other, she and Carla become good, close friends. Elliot is driven by a neurotic desire to prove her abilities to her family (in which all of the males are doctors), her peers, and herself.
• Donald Faison portrays Christopher Turk (seasons 1–9), J.D.'s best friend and surgeon, who rises to Chief of Surgery as the series progresses. Turk and J.D. were roommates when they attended the College of William and Mary as well as in medical school, and the two have an extremely close relationship often called "guy love". During the course of the series Turk forms a relationship with Carla; they start dating early in the series, then get married, and eventually start a family together.
• Neil Flynn portrays the "Janitor" (seasons 1–8, guest star season 9), the hospital's custodian. An incident in the pilot episode establishes an adversarial relationship between him and J.D., which persists throughout the series. This tends to take the form of the Janitor pulling mean-spirited pranks on J.D., although he has shown, several times throughout the series, that he has a good side. In the season eight finale, "the Janitor" admits his name to J.D. as "Glenn Matthews". However, shortly after, he acknowledges another member of hospital staff, who calls him by a different name, making it unclear whether or not "Glenn Matthews" really is his name. It was later confirmed in a Facebook video by creator Bill Lawrence that his name is Glenn Matthews.
• Ken Jenkins portrays Bob Kelso (seasons 1–8, recurring season 9), who used to be Sacred Heart's Chief of Medicine. Kelso is cold, heartless and cruel, driven primarily by the hospital's bottom line rather than the well-being of patients. It is occasionally suggested that he has a softer side, and that his cruelty is a means of coping with the years of hard decisions. He has been forced to make hard decisions from the beginning, stating that when he became Chief of Medicine, he thought he'd be "the man". Instead he very quickly realized that his decisions made him unpopular, but he had to continue his "evil" facade to keep the hospital running smoothly. He retired in season 7, after which his relationship with staff at the hospital improved. He is unhappily married and embarrassed by his homosexual son's activities. After retiring, he just sat around the hospital using his "free muffins for life" to stuff his face, avoid his wife, and talk to old colleagues. In season 9, Kelso became a teacher at Winston University along with J.D., Dr. Cox, and Turk.
• John C. McGinley portrays Perry Cox (seasons 1–9), who becomes the new Chief of Medicine at Sacred Heart in season 8. J.D. considers Cox his mentor despite the fact that Cox routinely criticizes him, belittles him, and calls him random female names. Cox frequently suggests that this harsh treatment is intended as conditioning for the rigors of hospital life. On rare occasions, he expresses grudging approval and even pride at J.D.'s accomplishments. Dr. Cox is dedicated to the welfare of his patients, leading to frequent clashes with Bob Kelso.
• Judy Reyes portrays Carla Espinosa (seasons 1–8), the hospital's head nurse, who acts like a mother figure to interns, often hiding their mistakes from their attending doctor. During the course of the series Turk forms a relationship with Carla; they start dating early in the series, then get married, and eventually start a family together. She is very close to J.D., affectionately calling him "Bambi", and despite initially disliking each other, she and Elliot also become close friends.
• Eliza Coupe portrays Denise Mahoney (recurring season 8, regular season 9), an intern at Sacred Heart Hospital in season 8. In season 9, she is a Resident at the new Sacred Heart Hospital as well as a student advisor and teacher's assistant at Winston University.
• Kerry Bishé portrays Lucy Bennett (season 9), who is a medical student at Winston University and the show's new narrator, though J.D. still narrates at times.
• Michael Mosley portrays Drew Suffin (season 9), who is a medical student at Winston University giving it a second go after some wrong turns in his personal life.
• Dave Franco portrays Cole Aaronson (season 9), who is a medical student at Winston University. His family donated a large amount of money to get the new Sacred Heart Hospital built and as such, believes that he can do whatever he wants and is untouchable.