Summary

• The Archer cast has provided voices for characters for over a decade, making it one of the longest-running adult animated sitcoms.
• Characters like Sterling Archer and Lana Kane are inspired by popular spy figures, with hidden jokes about spy fiction throughout.
• With guest stars like Burt Reynolds and Kenny Loggins, the show is known for its variety of characters and humorous storylines.

The Archer cast has lent its voice talents to its characters for more than a decade, cementing the show's position as one of the longest-running adult-animated sitcoms. Revolving around secret agent Sterling Archer, the FX original deals with the inner workings of a dysfunctional intelligence agency and its global misadventures. Even though the visual environment of the show gives off a vintage noir picture, Archer's timeline is never specified. While the team's missions seem to take place in the Cold War era, their language and gadgets can be quite modern.

From the titular fast-talking narcissist to the mild-mannered accountant-turned-agent Cyril Figgis, Archer boasts a variety of agent characters that serve as spoofs of spy figures from pre-existing pop culture. In fact, Archer features many hidden jokes about spy fiction, including popular fare like the James Bond movies as well as more obscure inspirations like pulp spy novels. While seven characters have been quintessential to the show’s ensemble, Archer has also had many guest stars, such as actor Burt Reynolds and singer Kenny Loggins.

H. Jon Benjamin As Sterling Archer

Active Since 1987

Actor: Voice actor, singer, and comedian H. Jon Benjamin leads the Archer cast as the titular protagonist, Sterling Archer. A comedic veteran, H. John Benjamin's career baegan in Boston in the later 1980s, with him notably being a member of David Cross's comedy team, Cross Comedy. In more recent years, Benjamin has also become known for voicing restaurant owner and lead character Bob Belcher in Bob’s Burgers. He is also the voice of Carl on Family Guy and Ben on Dr. Katz, Professional Therapist.

Character: Clearly inspired by James Bond, Sterling Archer usually dresses sharp and talks in a suave style. However, he is morally flawed, as is evident from his reckless drinking and constant womanizing. He also provides many of Archer’s funniest running gags such as the catchphrase “phrasing” and his elaborate voicemail pranks. It's often implied that Archer has a significant level of neurodiversity — as well as severe tinnitus — and while he's the world's greatest secret agent (in his own estimations, at least), he's terrible at keeping this fact a secret, bragging about it constantly.

Aisha Tyler As Lana Kane

Active Since 1996

Actor: Lana Kane is voiced by actress and talk show host Aisha Tyler, whose diverse live-action roles include Dr. Tara Lewis on Criminal Minds, Mother Nature in the Santa Clause movies, and Andrea Marino in the debut season of Ghost Whisperer. Tyler also starred in, produced, and directed the 2017 drama Axis.

Character: A master spy and the most committed agent of the International Secret Intelligence Service (ISIS), Lana Kane has a no-nonsense work attitude, unlike her peers. Even though Archer is her polar opposite in terms of personality, Lana has shared a constant on-and-off relationship with him, even co-parenting a daughter throughout the series. She's also one half of some of the most hilarious moments of Archer dialogue, with Archer constanly yelling her name until she can no longer ignore him and yells back "what?!".

Jessica Walter As Malory Archer

Active From 1960-2021

Actor: Malory is voiced by one of the most renowned members of the Archer cast: Jessica Walter. The actress earned an incredible amount of acclaim for playing the controlling matriarch Lucille Bluth on Arrested Development, and an obsessive fan in the Clint Eastwood movie Play Misty For Me. Jessica Walter starred in films and TV shows from 1960 through to her unfortunate passing in 2021, when she died aged 80.

Character: When it comes to Archer characters ranked according to work positions, Malory would sit at the top, as she serves as the head of ISIS. As a parody of M, the head of MI6 in the James Bond movies, Malory misuses the agency’s resources for her personal gain. She keeps her son Archer in line even though she has similarly unprofessional traits like a concerning drinking habit. Malory and Archer have an incredibly bizarre relationship, and it's shown that she was more-or-less abusive toward him during his childhood.

Judy Greer As Cheryl Tunt

Active Since 1997

Actor: Archer cast member Judy Greer is well-known as a character actress. Some of her popular roles include Maggie Lang in the Ant-Man movies, Lucy Wyman in 13 Going on 30, the ape Cornelia in the Planet of the Apes movies, and Laurie's daughter Karen in the Halloween sequel trilogy. On TV, she played Bree Marie Jensen on Reboot and Kitty Sanchez on Arrested Development.

Character: An increasingly unpredictable character in Archer is Cheryl Tunt, a wealthy heiress who initially serves as Malory Archer’s incompetent personal assistant. She takes on many new roles in subsequent seasons while also revealing her amusing personality traits, such as an addiction to rubber cement and a choking fetish. It's revealed that she's the heiress of the vast Tunt fortune, and only works for ISIS so she has a way to pass the time.

Chris Parnell As Cyril Figgis

Active Since 1988

Actor: Another one of the well known cast members in Archer is Chris Parnell, who voices Cyricl. Chris Parnell voices a similar character on Rick & Morty: Jerry, who much like Cyril is treated like a loser by everyone else. The Archer cast member is also a Saturday Night Live alumnus and voices Stewie’s friend Doug on Family Guy. In 2024, Parnell appeared in Amazon's live-action Fallout TV show, playing the one-eyed Vault overseer Benjamin.

Character: The bumbling accountant-turned-agent Cyril Figgis unintentionally provides some of the best laughs on Archer. Often the target of Archer’s pranks, he shares an intense rivalry with him throughout every season. He has also shared notable romantic relationships with co-workers including Lana and Cheryl. But as his relationship history shows, Cyril can be mild-mannered at first but also grow uncontrollably deranged at times. Toward the end of the show, he becomes an ISIS field agent, a promotion that often results in others being injured.

Amber Nash As Pam Poovey

Active Since 2006

Actor: Voice actress and improv comedian Amber Nash voices Pam in Archer, and the show is not her only collaboration with showrunner Adam Reed. She voiced various characters in Reed’s short-lived superhero comedy Frisky Dingo. Nash's other credits include an episode each of Aqua Teen Hunger Force and Mr. Robot.

Character: The spy agency’s Human Resources representative, Pam Poovey, is a free soul who expresses her thoughts in an unfiltered manner. Even though her words put her into dangerous situations, she’s brawny enough to hold her ground and fight. Pam comes off as condescending and foul-mouthed, but she also has a softer side that comes out with her occasionally kind actions.

Adam Reed As Ray Gillette

Active Since 1994

Actor: The Archer cast also includes the show’s creator, Adam Reed, who plays the intelligence analyst and field agent Ray Gillette.An accomplished animator and screenwriter, Reed also created Adult Swim’s parody series Sealab 2021, for which he voiced several characters. Reed also worked on Robot Chicken as the voice of Iron Man and He-Man’s father, King Randor.

Character: While the team takes every opportunity to pull his leg, Ray is quite competent in his job, especially as a wiring and explosives expert. The openly gay character also shares a close friendship with Lana, as both of them are quite serious at their job compared to other Archer characters. Ray goes through many interesting arcs throughout Archer, including multiple episodes where he's experimented on in various ways by Krieger after a bulletin his spine paralyzes him.

Lucky Yates As Dr Krieger

Active Since 1999

Actor: ISIS's eccentric answer to James Bond's Q, Dr. Krieger, is voiced by Lucky Yates in Archer. Like Pam actress Amber Nash, Yates also worked on Frisky Dingo — he voiced the Xtacles, a group of foolish rocket-booted assistants to a superhero. In 2017, he collaborated with Lana actress Aisha Tyler for her directorial venture Axis, in which he played a radio host.

Character: A morally twisted scientist working with the spy agency, Dr. Krieger serves as the head of the applied research department. He has no regard for human life and can go to the extent of experimenting on his own fellow spies. Some of Krieger’s bizarre lab projects include an army of his clones and a holographic anime girlfriend. It's revealed that Krieger is a clone of Adolf Hitler, and also heavily insinuated that the original seen in Archer season 1 was replaced, perhaps multiple times, by other clones as the show unfolds.

Dave Willis As Barry Dylan

Active Since 1995

Actor: Archer's longtime rival Barry is played in the Archer Cast by Dave Willis, who is also the co-creator of the Adult Swim animated shows Aqua Teen Hunger Force and Squidbillies. He voices the ball of ground beef called Meatwad in the former. He also has writer credits on the Family Guy episode "New Kidney In Town."

Character: A long-running antagonist on Archer, Barry is introduced as an agent for ISIS’s rival spy agency, the Organization of Democratic Intelligence Networks (ODIN). But after suffering a fatal injury during a run-in with Archer, he's resurrected as a cyborg and joins the KGB, which he eventually leads. The drastic changes aside, Barry is constantly depicted as Archer’s arch-nemesis who is obsessed with seeking revenge, though they strike up a friendship by the time the series concludes.

George Coe & Tom Kane As Woodhouse

Active Between 1956-2015 (Coe), 1977-2022 (Kane)

Actors: Two actors were in the Archer cast to voice the title character’s loyal British valet, Woodhouse. Woodhouse was played by the late George Coe until season 4. Coe was briefly one of the original cast members of Saturday Night Live, and is credited with a variety of other roles. His replacement, Tom Kane, is a voice actor associated with several Star Wars games and also voiced Admiral Ackbar in the movie Star Wars: The Last Jedi.

Character: A rather unfortunate character, he accepts his fate and takes on whatever troubles his master brings along the way. The way Archer treats Woodhouse is incredibly abusive, but it's revealed via flashbacks that Woodhouse puts up with this treatment because he's incredibly indebted to Malory Archer. Following voice actor George Coe’s death in 2015, Woodhouse died on Archer from a heroin overdose. Tom Kane replaced Koe briefly in season 5, after which the character was killed once and for all.

Archer Supporting Cast & Characters

Ona Grauer as Katya Kazanova - A former KGB agent and Archer’s ex-fiance. Canadian-Mexican actress Ona Grauer previously played Ancient Ayiana and Emily Young in Stargate Universe.

Ron Leibman as Ron Cadillac - As his name suggests, Ron Cadillac is the owner of six Cadillac dealerships. He is also introduced as Malory’s husband, and their relationship is an interesting Easter egg given that he is voiced by Jessica Walter’s real-life husband, Ron Leibman. The late actor was a theater veteran who won a Tony for playing Roy Cohn in Angels in America. He also played Rachel’s short-tempered friend Dr Leonard Green on Friends.

Kimberly Woods as Abbiejean Malory Kane Archer - Lana and Sterling’s daughter Abbiejean is voiced by Kimberly Woods, who has made brief appearances on the HBO shows Westworld and Barry.

Christian Slater as Slater - A CIA agent who is initially introduced on Archer as an arms dealer in Florida, Slater is voiced by his namesake, Christian Slater. A prominent actor in the '80s and '90s, his famous roles include the homicidal high-schooler J.D. in Heathers and the Elvis-loving Clarence Worley in True Romance. In the 2010s, his fame had a resurgence as he earned a Golden Globe for playing the titular role in Mr. Robot.

Related: The Best Archer Characters Introduced After Season 1

Kayvan Novak as Fabian Kingsworth - The former head of the International Intelligence Agency (IIA), Fabian Kingsworth, is played by Kayvan Novak on multiple episodes of Archer. The British actor and comedian is known for playing the vampire Nandor in the What We Do in the Shadows TV adaptation and aspiring terrorist Waj in the comedy Four Lions.

Maggie Wheeler as Trinette - The mother of Seamus, whom she briefly claimed to be Archer's son, Trinette is a former sex worker and is voiced by Maggie Wheeler. The actress is best known for appearances in the sitcoms Friends and Ellen, in which she played Janice and Anita, respectively.

Stephen Tobolowsky as Robert - Lana's billionaire ex-husband, Robert, is voiced by Stephen Tobolowsky, who is considered one of the best character actors of all time. He's best known for two roles: insurance agent Ned Ryerson in Groundhog Day and the amnesiac Sammy Jankis in Christopher Nolan's Memento.

Jon Hamm as Captain Murphy - Hazel "Hank" Murphy is the captain of the underwater lab owned by Cheryl's villainous brother Cecil Tunt. Jon Hamm voiced the guest character on Archer and received a BTVA Voice Acting Award nomination for his performance. Hamm cemented his position in TV history as the adman Don Draper in Mad Men. He also ventured into films with starring roles in Million Dollar Arm, The Town, and Tag, among others.

Peter Newman as Nikolai Jakov - Voice actor Peter Newman joined the Archer cast in its early seasons as the former KGB head Nikolai Jakov. His previous credits included Felix The Cat: The Movie and ThunderCats.