Onstage, Sophie is the worst actress imaginable. But when she’s in the middle of a con and playing a character opposite real people, she can give a performance that pulls the wool over just about anyone’s eyes. Sophie is beautiful and sophisticated, and she has more than just a passing fancy for Nate. But their past relationship seems to be water under the bridge, which is why she has taken a new boyfriend as the show begins its second season. The team relies on her skills, such as her ability to speak six languages and fake 12 more. But they are also cautious about trusting her too much, especially after she tried to con her team members out of a priceless work of art.

• Timothy Hutton as Nathan Ford, a former insurance fraud investigator for IYS Insurance and the team's mastermind. Raised in South Boston, Nate originally intended to become a priest, spending a short period in seminary prior to becoming an insurance investigator. While working for IYS, Nate's young son became seriously ill, and IYS refused to pay for the experimental treatment he needed, resulting in his death. The aftermath leads to Nate's drinking and subsequent dismissal from the company. As a result, Nate is an angry alcoholic who has been divorced by his wife, Maggie as the series opens. When Nate visits Chicago, an aviation executive named Victor Dubenich plays on his desire for revenge to draw him into managing an operation to recover stolen plans from Dubenich's corporate rival. Ford reluctantly agrees to manage the three person team's successful operation. When Nate discovers the team has been conned, he crafts its subsequent retaliation after adding a fourth member, a grifter named Sophie with whom he has a complicated relationship dating back to his days at an insurance investigator. After the team persuades him to remain as their leader, he moves them to Los Angeles and sets up an elaborate headquarters. A skilled planner, Nate draws on his experience as an insurance investigator to anticipate the moves of his team's marks. Initially operating behind the scenes, he soon becomes an active member of the team's cons, drawing the attention of his old rival, James Sterling. Throughout the first season, his drinking remains problematic, even after he goes through detox during a con in a rehab center. When Sophie sees the opportunity for Nate to be revenged on IYS and its chair, Ian Blackpoole, Nate plans a two-part con that allows him to gain the revenge he sought, to get Sterling off his back and make peace with Maggie. But his revenge comes at a price when he discovers Sophie's real agenda, leading him to break up the team. After six months, the team has other ideas and finds him in Boston, where he is reluctantly drawn back into leading them again.
  

• Gina Bellman as Sophie Devereaux, a British actress and accomplished grifter with a taste for art theft. In one of the show's running jokes, Sophie is seen to be a talentless actress, but as a grifter, she effortlessly plays a series of roles ranging from a businesswoman to an art expert designed to draw the team's target into the con. (Nathan proclaims her to be "the greatest actress you'll ever see…when she's breaking the law.") Particularly adept at the use of accents, Sophie is seen to portray such characters as a German athlete, a Southern horse broker and a reporter from New Zealand for various cons. Sophie has a long history with Nate, dating back at least seven years, to when he pursued her as an art thief. At some point, they have become attracted to one another, but have never acted on it, leaving Sophie alternately frustrated, angry and disappointed. Nate's drinking is also a source of conflict between them throughout the first season. After the team disbands, Sophie is instrumental in bringing them all to Boston, leading to their reforming. As the second season opens, Sophie has a new off-camera boyfriend.
  

• Christian Kane as Eliot Spencer, a highly skilled martial artist, weapons expert and retrieval expert who serves as the Leverage team's "hitter." He grew up around horses in Kentucky. He is both proficient with and very knowledgeable about guns, despite his distaste for them— he will immediately eject the magazine and empty the chamber after grabbing a gun from someone. In The Homecoming Job, Eliot was able to identify a gun by the sound of the gunshot, as well as identifying a man as ex-military simply by a short glimpse of his knife-fighting style. in The wedding job he was able to kill a man with an appetizer. Eliot can work fast, as shown in the pilot when he single-handedly defeated a group of guards before Hardison's bag hit the ground. He also has profound skill as a culinary chef. Eliot remained loyal to Nate even after he quit IYS Insurance, showing concern over the loss of Nate's son, and his excuse for staying with the team in The Nigerian Job was to keep Nate from losing himself again.
  

• Beth Riesgraf as Parker—her last name, since her character profile states she lacks a first name—a thief, cat-burglar, and explosives expert from Camden, Illinois and later Kansas City. A risk-taker, she is involved more for the thrill than monetary rewards. In The Homecoming Job, she explains "I don't like things. I like money." Later in the episode she is seen hugging a large amount of cash. She has a fear of horses, caused by seeing a children's party entertainer in a horse costume beat a clown to death. The pilot shows her abusive father telling her to do as she is told or become a better thief. She chooses the latter option, and is seen exiting her house moments before it explodes. Although she acts very calm and cool, she has a soft spot for children and Hardison. In The Stork Job, she reveals that after she blew up her home she was regularly passed around from foster home to foster home, making her very cold to people who mistreat orphans–as she demonstrated when she stabbed one target with a fork. While she is an expert thief, Parker has a decided lack of social skills, as noted by Hardison: "For jumping off a roof she's all right, but she is terrified when it comes to speaking to people." This is evidenced throughout the series by her vacant stare, speaking what's on her mind, and unusual reactions to certain issues: where Sophie stated for her to think of a sad time, giving her father's death as an example, she instead laughs. A running gag with her theft skills is her ability to disappear and appear in a room without anyone noticing until she reveals herself, causing Eliot to ask Nate how she does that—only for Nate to answer "I've given up asking a long time ago".
  

• Aldis Hodge as Alec Hardison, a computer/Internet specialist and hacker. He is a genius, self-proclaimed geek, and science fiction fan. (In The Nigerian Job, he tried the Jedi Mind Trick on hotel security guards who discovered his party with three women in Princess Leia metal bikinis claiming "This is not the room you're looking for" while using the Jedi hand motion, and later took offense at Eliot claiming to dress up like a Klingon. In The Bank Shot Job he comments about torrenting episodes of Doctor Who, and later in The Mile High Job, three of the IDs he created for Nate are named after actors who played The Doctor while one of Sophie's is named after Sarah Jane Smith.) He can hack into most—if not all—forms of electronics and rarely is caught. Like Parker—who he seems to have a crush on—he was raised by foster parents who were Jehovah's Witnesses, giving him exceptional conversation skills which he uses when posing as a trial lawyer in The Juror #6 Job. In the second season he buys the building Nate's condo is in and redesigns it as their new headquarters.
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• Mark A. Sheppard as James Sterling, Nate's rival in the insurance business. Always second-best to Nate and with no love lost, Sterling learns of Nate's new life and begins to follow him, determined to discover what he's up to. Nate soon realizes Sterling is on his trail, but foils his efforts to dismantle the team's first con. Sterling warns Nate they'll meet again and renews their rivalry when Nate and the team attempt to bring down Nate's former boss, Ian Blackpoole. At first, Sterling seems to have defeated Nate and scattered the team, but they soon regroup, and this time, it's Sterling who's defeated.
  

• Kari Matchett as Maggie Collins, Nate Ford's ex-wife. Although no longer in love with him, Maggie still cares for Nate, but cannot live with his drinking, which lead her to divorce him. Maggie is an art expert who re-enters Nate's life when he attempts to steal a maquette of the David from Ian Blackpoole. She is unaware of IYS's role in her son's death, but learns the whole story as she's drawn into Nate's con, allowing them to come to terms with his death and begin to rebuild their relationship. Maggie demonstrates a flair for Nate's new work, and ends up helping the team complete their con, and Nate to gain his revenge.
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• Saul Rubinek as Victor Dubenich, the Chicago businessman who puts the team together and brings Nate in to lead it.
  

• David S. Lee as Serbian arms dealer Nicolas Obrovic in The Stork Job.
  

• Dan Lauria, as Nicky Moscone, the father of the bride, in The Wedding Job
  

• Jeremy Roenick, forward for the San Jose Sharks of the NHL, as a security guard in The Mile High Job.
  

• Sara Rue as a reluctant accountant turned victim in The Mile High Job.
  

• Danny Strong as the smart son of an unscrupulous contractor in The Snow Job.
  

• Brent Spiner, Armin Shimerman and Lauren Holly as William Quint, the doctor testifying for the corporation, and Toby Earnshaw respectively in The Juror #6 Job.
  

• D.B. Sweeney as Father Paul in The Miracle Job.
  

• Erick Avari as Doctor Lloyd, the museum curator, in The Second David Job.
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The series ranks as ad-supported cable’s #1 entertainment program in the Tuesday 10 p.m. (ET/PT) time slot among viewers, households and adults 25-54. The Dec. 7 premiere was watched by 5.6 million viewers and scored TNT’s best original series telecast ever in delivery of adults 18-49 during the regular broadcast season. Through its first nine episodes, Leverage has averaged 3.2 million viewers and 1.4 million adults 18-49 in Live + Same Day viewing. The first six episodes scored strong growth when comparing Live to Live + 7 numbers, with total viewership rising 33% to 4.1 million and adults 18-49 rising 42% to 1.9 million.