Rizzoli & Isles is a crime drama based on author Tess Gerritsen’s book series titled under the same name. The show aired on TNT, and it has its fan base till today even though it premiered in 2010 and ended in 2016. When it comes to the story, Rizzoli & Isles takes place in Boston where we follow Detective Jane Rizzoli and Chief Medical Examiner Dr. Maura Isles. Both women have different characters, yet they work together to solve the cases they encounter while working for Boston Police Department.
The show also focuses on the Rizzoli and Isles families and what they go through offering us a mix between crime and drama throughout its seven seasons. We get to see their family problems, romantic drama, and work issues as well. Not a day in the lives of Jane and Dr. Maura passes by without being interesting.
They face serial killers among the many crimes they have to solve. Not to mention that the chemistry between the two was one of the main reasons for the show’s success. To get to know more about the crime series, here is a cast and character guide.
Angie Harmon as Detective Jane Rizzoli
Angie Harmon plays the role of Detective Jane Rizzoli who we follow throughout the show as she tries to solve crimes. She worked as a homicide detective for Boston Police Department. Her relationship with her mom sometimes proves itself to be a difficult matter she has to deal with, but Jane has a strong and dedicated character.
She is smart and hardworking, and we see how she became the first female officer to work in the drug control unit. She later joined the homicide unit. Harmon played Jane perfectly, and she managed to portray her confidence and how she comes off as a boy. People definitely loved Jane and what they loved even more is her friendship with Dr. Maura Isles.
After her role in Rizzoli & Isles, Harmon didn't appear in a lot of roles; it was clear that she has taken a step back from acting. Harmon is actually a model in addition to being an actress and a good one too. Some of her roles include playing Ronica Miles in Agent Cody Banks, Abbie Carmichael in Law & Order, and Ryan McBride in Baywatch Nights. Harmon also acted as a voiceover in Voltron: Legendary Defender and she narrated the documentary series Cellmate Secrets.
Sasha Alexander as Dr. Maura Isles
Sasha Alexander played Dr. Maura Isles in the series. She is mostly known for being Jane’s friend, but she is a unique character on her own too. She was actually the daughter of a crime boss named Patrick Doyle. However, she was adopted by another couple whom she took the name Isles from. Working as the Chief Medical Examiner, we can tell that Maura is smart. She is smart enough that she keeps telling everyone around her about all the information she could think of.
A little uncomfortable fact about Maura is how she used to prefer dealing with dead bodies rather than dealing with other alive humans. We can understand where she comes from since she was bullied. However, she let go of her shyness and become more capable of dealing with people. This gave us the perfect friendship between her and Jane.
Other than Rizzoli & Isles, Sasha has appeared in Shameless as Helene Runyon, NCIS as Caitlin Todd, and in Wasteland as Jesse Presser. She also appeared in Dawson's Creek, He's Just Not That Into You, Bernard and Huey, Amanda McKay, and Netflix’s Dangerous Lies.
Jordan Bridges as Frankie Rizzoli Jr.
We see Jordan Bridges playing the role of Frankie Rizzoli Jr., who is also a detective at the Boston Police Department. He is Jane’s younger brother who looks up to her and her work. One trait that Jane dislikes about him is how overprotective he is of her. He is also overprotective of their mother, Angela, as well. He is loyal and has a good sense of humor not to mention how he knows the streets which helps the department with the investigations.
Frankie had a bright future when it comes to baseball, but an injury ended his dreams. We find out later in the show that he liked Maura, but they decided not to pursue a romantic relationship. Luckily for us since it would have been awkward for both us and Jane.
Bridges has appeared in many other works. He acted in Christmas at Holly Lodge, Gone, True Love Blooms, Love Takes Wing, A Good Funeral, Conviction (2006), The Old Man, and many more.
Bruce McGill as Detective Vince Korsak
Bruce McGill plays the role of Detective Vince Korsak who later opens a bar called The Dirty Robber; Jane and the rest of the team love to go there. As well as Jane, Korsak worked as a detective at the Boston Police Department. He even worked with Jane at the drug unit, and they moved together to the homicide unit.
We could tell that he is like a mentor to Jane. One of the most memorable moments between Korsak and Jane is when he saved her from serial killer, Charles Hoyt. What makes us love him even more is his love for dogs. He takes care of them, would do anything for them, and like most people, watches dog videos on the internet.
McGill has many other roles like The Insider, Ali, and Collateral. We also see him as Jordan Ramsey in Shades of Blue, Stanley Gordon in Suits, and Jerry Paar in Troubled Waters. While some of his recent roles include appearing in Love & Death, Buried in Barstow, and Reacher.
Lorraine Bracco as Angela Rizzoli
Lorraine Bracco appears in Rizzoli & Isles as Angela Rizzoli. She is the overbearing mother of Jane and Frankie who gives Jane a hard time. At first, she worked as a waitress at Division One Café at the Boston Police Department before she quit. However, she was later hired by Korsak to work with him at The Dirty Robber.
We can see where Frankie gets his overprotective character just by looking at Angela. She also finds it hard to come to terms with Jane and Frankie working as cops since she fears for their lives. Another reason that made her relationship with Jane not the best one out there is how she insisted that Jane should be more feminine. Not going to happen.
We saw Bracco in several other roles including Dr. Jennifer Melfi in The Sopranos, Karen Hill in Goodfellas, and Mayor Margaret Dutton in Blue Bloods. We also saw Bracco playing several roles in recent years since she appeared in Jerk, Welcome to Mama's, The Birthday Cake, and Master Maggie. We shouldn't forget that her role in Goodfellas made her get nominated for the Oscars’ Best Actress in a Supporting Role.
Idara Victor as Nina Holiday
Idara Victor plays another role in Jane and Maura’s team at the Boston Police Department. She is a young analyst and an expert at computers who is very important to the team as she keeps impressing them through her good work. When it comes to romantic relationships, Nina starts dating Frankie later in the series before they get engaged.
Despite hiding their engagement for a long time, the fans loved seeing them together; Frankie even learned magic tricks because Nina admitted that she likes them. We also loved seeing Victor playing Nina, as she was perfect for the role.
Other than Rizzoli & Isles, Victor has many works under her name. She appeared as Abigail in Turn: Washington’s Spies, Miriam in The Choir, and Sarah in Shameless. More of her roles include Alita: Battle Angel, Love Is_, and Minx.
Colin Egglesfield as Tommy Rizzoli
Colin Egglesfield plays the role of Tommy Rizzoli who is Jane and Frankie’s brother. He is also the youngest one and the not-so-successful child. We learn that he was arrested for running over someone, and he serves three years for it. Of course, this doesn't help with how his two siblings are successful and part of the police force. With his record of crimes and ruining things, Jane and Frankie don't trust that Tommy is capable of changing. They even have a hard time accepting that he was released from prison.
All this pressure makes Tommy believe that he is responsible for their parent’s divorce. Despite all of this, we get to see how Tommy’s character develops. At the end of the series, Tommy decides to stay in Boston and continue raising his child there.
Egglesfield also acted in Chicago Fire, Bad Moms, The Middle of X, and Lucifer. We also get to see him in Reprisal, 100 Days to Live, and Backtrace. Egglesfield has a book under his name which is titled “Agile Artist: Life Lessons from Hollywood and Beyond” where he talks about his life, especially as an actor.
Lee Thompson Young as Barry Frost
The late Lee Thompson Young played the role of Barry Frost in Rizzoli & Isles. Barry was a homicide detective for the Boston Police Department. He had a crush on Jane which is understandable. Despite being a detective, Barry was disgusted by the sight of dead bodies and would sometimes even throw up.
Barry appeared in over 50 episodes before his death, which happened after Young died by suicide. Barry’s death took place in Season 5, and we find out that Maura worked to form the Barry Frost Memorial Scholarship. The scholarship was founded in hopes of supporting students who wanted to help others through their chosen careers just like Barry.
Some of Young’s works include The Famous Jett Jackson, Jett Jackson: The Movie, South Beach, Flashforward, Smallville, and more.
Chris Vance as Casey Jones
Chris Vance plays the role of Charles “Casey” Jones. Casey and Jane had some sort of romantic relationship in high school, but it doesn’t last. He joins the army and fights in Iraq, and we see him in only ten episodes. We later find out that he became partially paralyzed which made him push Jane away as he refused to tell her about it.
Their attempts to get back together aren't quite successful due to Casey’s injury and how he feels while he tries to get the surgery he needs. The fortunate part was that the doctors misdiagnosed Casey. He and Jane almost got married, but it doesn't happen as he decides to stay in the army and take a job in the Balkans rather than retire.
Other than playing Casey, Vance also played the roles of Sean Everleigh in All Saints, James Whistler in Prison Break, and Dr. Jack Gallagher in Mental. He also appeared in Dexter, Transporter: The Series, Bosch, and Supergirl.