The following is a list of characters from the Ocean's film series. It includes characters from both Steven Soderbergh's Ocean's trilogy, including 2001's Ocean's Eleven, 2004's Ocean's Twelve and 2007's Ocean's Thirteen, and 2018's spin-off, Ocean's 8.
Cast and characters
Character Original film Remake films Spin-off Prequel Ocean's 11 Ocean's Eleven Ocean's Twelve Ocean's Thirteen Ocean's 8 Untitled prequel film 1960 2001 2004 2007 2018 Danny Ocean Frank Sinatra George Clooney Sam Harmon Dean Martin colspan="5" Josh Howard Sammy Davis Jr. colspan="5" Jimmy Foster Peter Lawford colspan="5" Beatrice Ocean Angie Dickinson colspan="5" Tony Bergdorf Richard Conte colspan="5" Duke Santos Cesar Romero colspan="5" Adele Elkstrom Patrice Wymore colspan="5" "Mushy" O'Connors Joey Bishop colspan="5" Roger Corneal Henry Silva colspan="5" Vince Massler Buddy Lester colspan="5" George "Curly" Steffans Richard Benedict colspan="5" Peter Rheimer Norman Fell colspan="5" Louis Jackson Clem Harvey colspan="5" Spyros Acebos Akim Tamiroff colspan="5" Rusty Ryan Brad Pitt Linus Caldwell Matt Damon Terry Benedict Andy García Tess Ocean Julia Roberts Basher Tarr Don Cheadle Virgil Malloy Casey Affleck Turk Malloy Scott Caan Reuben Tishkoff Elliott Gould Frank Catton Bernie Mac Livingston Dell Eddie Jemison Saul Bloom Carl Reiner "The Amazing" Yen Shaobo Qin Walsh Michael DeLano Bruiser Scott L. Schwartz Denny Shields Jerry Weintraub François Toulour Vincent Cassel Isabel Lahiri Catherine Zeta-Jones Matsui Robbie Coltrane Molly Stark Cherry Jones Gaspar LeMarc Albert Finney Commissario Giordano Mattia Sbragia Roman Nagel Eddie Izzard Abigail Sponder Ellen Barkin Ellen Barkin Bobby Caldwell Peter Fonda Bob Einstein Willy Bank Al Pacino Debbie Olga Sosnovska "The V.U.P." David Paymer Deborah "Debbie" Ocean Sandra Bullock Lou Miller Cate Blanchett Rose Weil Helena Bonham Carter Daphne Kluger Anne Hathaway Leslie "Nine Ball" Jordan Rihanna Amita Mindy Kaling Constance Awkwafina Tammy Sarah Paulson Claude Becker Richard Armitage John Frazier colspan="4" James Corden Penelope Stern Dakota Fanning Veronica Jordan colspan="4" Nathanya Alexander Mrs. Ocean Margot Robbie Mr. Ocean Bradley Cooper
The Eleven
Danny Ocean Danny Ocean (George Clooney) is a fictional thief from New York City, ringleader and idea man for the main crew that robs three casinos in Ocean’s Eleven, a Fabergé egg in Ocean’s Twelve, and diamonds in Ocean’s Thirteen. He is motivated to pull the Bellagio job in the first film as revenge for Terry Benedict dating his ex-wife, Tess. His success in this job and the notoriety it brings him is what incites the jealousy of Toulour and sets off the events of the second film. In the third film, he undertakes the con against Willy Bank to get revenge for Reuben. He is presumed to be dead by the events of Ocean's 8, though his sister Debbie has expressed her doubts about his demise, hinting the possibility that he has merely faked his death and gone underground.
Rusty Ryan Robert Charles "Rusty” Ryan (Brad Pitt) is Danny Ocean's right-hand man. Rusty's skills are used more in the planning phase of the heists. Rusty's ex-girlfriend Isabel is what gets the team in trouble in Ocean's Twelve, despite condemning Danny's efforts to win back an ex-wife in Ocean's Eleven. Rusty has a weakness for his hotel, which puts him in debt by Ocean's Twelve and has led him to constantly pull off jobs to keep his hotel financially stable by Ocean's Thirteen.
Linus Caldwell The son of a legendary con artist, Bobby Caldwell, Linus (Matt Damon) is one of two newcomers to Danny's crew, recruited by Danny in person. Having witnessed Linus's pickpocket skills grifting in Chicago, he offers him a key slot on his crew for one of the essential parts of the elaborate heist. Throughout the trilogy, Linus repeatedly attempts to live up to this family's reputation and gain respect within the crew. At various times, he seems to succeed: he backs up Danny in Ocean's Eleven by bringing extra batteries for the remote explosive detonator, which turns out to be crucial, and in Ocean's Twelve gets a chance to run the con when half the crew ends up in prison. In Ocean's Thirteen, Linus offers to seduce a casino staff member despite the team's doubts about his ability. He is eventually successful in his endeavor. Eager to prove himself, he frequently offers to tackle challenging parts of the con and assert himself as a leader within the team.
Reuben Tishkoff A flamboyant business kingpin, Reuben (Elliott Gould) is an old-school business tycoon who gets muscled out of his Vegas hotel by Terry Benedict, leading him to finance the expensive casino caper. He appears to be pushed over again in Ocean's Thirteen, when he is forced out of a partnership by Willy Bank, leading to a breakdown that ignites Ocean's revenge plot against Bank. His cunning business instinct is illustrated by the fact that he was the only one to make money out of his take in the Bellagio heist (on the stock market) rather than lose money through spending over the last three years. He appears in Ocean's 8 to pass on a message from the apparently-deceased Danny to his sister Debbie.
Saul Bloom Saul Bloom (Carl Reiner) is an ulcerous old pro con-man who is brought out of retirement to play a crucial role in the casino-heist, playing “Lyman Zerga”, an arms dealer with a special delivery he needs to be located in the casino-vault. His presence ensures that a member of the team is watching the security cameras and getting the explosives into the vault. In Twelve, Saul initially refuses to go along with the pan-European caper but ultimately shows up as a Swiss doctor in the Lookie-loo con. In Thirteen, Saul plays “Kensington Chubb”, a British hotel reviewer.
Basher Tarr Basher Tarr (Don Cheadle) is the munitions expert of the team. Talking with a heavy cockney accent, often in rhyming slang, Basher is more in it for the thrills than for the money, even calling Rusty and Danny "proper villains" as opposed to the fools with whom he unsuccessfully tries to rob a bank in Eleven. He is brought in to create the power blackout necessary for Danny and Linus to get down the elevator shaft in Eleven, and simulates an earthquake with a drilling machine in Thirteen.
Frank Catton An old acquaintance of Danny and Rusty, Frank Catton (Bernie Mac) is an experienced card dealer who has left his mark in various Vegas casinos. He is the first to be recruited for the Bellagio-plan. He is shown to have an affinity for manicures, which even leads to his arrest in Twelve. His lack of participation in Twelve is made up for by his central role in the two casino-heists: first as the inside man at the Bellagio, later as a game host in Bank's casino. The simulated quarrel with Linus's NGC-persona results in the latter pickpocketing the vault codes out of Benedict's jacket.
Livingston Dell Livingston Dell (Eddie Jemison) is the tech-guy, a surveillance specialist who moonlights for the FBI. While a genius with computers, and surveillance equipment, Livingston's anxiety threatens the success of the Bellagio heist. Despite his nervousness, he passes a polygraph test in Thirteen, although he fails to rig the card shuffling machines and secretly calls Roman Nagel for help.
The Malloy Brothers Living in Provo, Utah, "the Mormon twins" Virgil and Turk Malloy are fraternal twin brothers brought in by Rusty to aid in the scheme in Eleven. Recruited as "drivers" in the first movie, both are used in many other parts of the schemes. They are shown to be talented mechanics as well as adept at disguises for many situations. Despite their relationship being an antagonistic one of constant arguing they are useful together and the arguing often helps when in disguise or creating distractions. Their knowledge of remote-controlled cars is used in Eleven. During Thirteen they each ended up disrupting the plan to rig the dice for The Bank at the manufacturers' by staging a strike for better working conditions, with Virgil starting the strike and Turk continuing it despite going there to get his brother back on track. In all three films, the brothers conduct surveillance while undercover.
Virgil and Turk are portrayed by Casey Affleck and Scott Caan, respectively.
The Amazing Yen The Chinese acrobat Yen is the second of two newbies in the group, called a “grease man” by Danny and Rusty, brought in for his flexibility and short stature. He is the first to actually enter the heavily guarded and secured casino-vault, brought into the underground backstage tunnels while confined in a money-cart cunningly delivered by the Malloy brothers, while being watched by Saul's Lyman Zerga character. Once inside, Yen places the explosives from Zerga's briefcase on the vault door, waiting for Danny and Linus to trigger it from the outside. His newfound wealth after the heist results in him inhabiting a huge Florida mansion, dressing up with a lot of bling. His specific skills are much less necessary in the subsequent heists, though in Thirteen he is responsible for climbing up an elevator shaft. He assists Debbie Ocean and Lou in stealing the Crown Jewels from the Met Gala in Ocean's 8, Lou smuggling him in under a food tray during a distraction caused by the theft of the main necklace and Debbie distracting the guards outside the jewel room while Yen and Lou switched the real diamonds for the fakes.
Yen, played by real life acrobat Qin Shaobo, only generally speaks in Mandarin, which almost everyone in the gang can understand, and can understand English. His only lines in the movies that are English are filled with curse words, such as in Eleven when he shouts to Danny and Linus "Where the fuck you been?", and in Thirteen, where the only word he says in English, repeated several times, is "Shit."
Antagonists
Terry Benedict Benedict is the slick owner of three Las Vegas casinos (Bellagio, MGM Grand Las Vegas and The Mirage). Having a romantic relationship with Tess Ocean makes him the perfect target for Danny's big plan. After the major heist, he vows to get those responsible. It is not until he gets help from the mysterious “Night Fox” that he actually does, and reluctantly offers them two weeks to cough up all the money they owe him (plus interest) before killing them. While still an antagonist of the team, he is recruited in Thirteen (and therefore possibly the twelfth member of the crew in this particular scheme) after Danny's crew runs out of money halfway through the Bank-con. Out of hatred for Willy Bank, Benedict agrees to back the operation financially, with his own demands – yet sets up the Night Fox to double cross the team. Terry's ruthlessness, exemplified most by his choice for his lost vault money over Tess, is ironically opposed by his forced performance as a philanthropist on The Oprah Winfrey Show. Benedict was the first target for Ocean's Eleven.
Benedict is played by Andy García.
François Toulour