What Happened To The Cast Of Brothers & Sisters?

ABC's hit show "Brothers & Sisters" aired between 2006 and 2011. The show followed the Walker family, the wealthy owners of a food company headed by recently widowed matriarch Nora Walker (Sally Field). Nora has many children — the titular brothers and sisters — and fans fell in love with all of those competing personalities that still managed to love one another fiercely at the end of the day.

The series was almost quite different. The show's original pilot was instead focused on the family's father, which would've led "Brothers & Sisters" down a different path. Then someone had an idea: What if they kill dad? And what if they bring in Field to take over? "They wanted to look at this big American family that had a very strong father figure, a real patriarchal family, but that over the process of time became a matriarchal family, where the women became the strong voices," Field recalled in an interview with Entertainment Weekly. "And literally, like 10 days later, we were practically filming."

The resulting family soap had quite a big cast, which meant that there were plenty of characters for fans to latch onto. In the wake of the show's surprise cancellation, however, the cast moved on to a variety of other projects. Some have all but retired from acting; others have led multiple major shows since. Some host game shows; others lead Hallmark films. Read on to learn what happened to the cast of "Brothers & Sisters."

Sally Field played Nora Walker on "Brothers & Sisters," the mother of much of the cast. She has to find her place in the family when her husband dies, gradually emerging as a great leader. One of her sons is a troubled Afghan War vet, and when Field won an Emmy for playing Nora, she said, "If mothers ruled the world, there wouldn't be any goddamn wars in the first place." Speaking with Oprah Winfrey, Field explained, "To have a mother's sensibility, you don't need to be female; you don't even have to have children. You just need to have a soul that cares about the future more than you care about yourself."

Since "Brothers & Sisters" ended, the star of "The Flying Nun" once again proved that she was able to easily go between film and television. Field was nominated for an Oscar for her role as Mary Todd Lincoln in "Lincoln," and she didn't mince words about playing Aunt May in "The Amazing Spider-Man" films. She played Dr. Greta Mantleray on the excellent — if overlooked — Netflix miniseries "Maniac," and she starred as Jessie Buss on the HBO sports drama "Winning Time: The Rise of the Lakers Dynasty." 

In 2023, Field played Betty in "80 for Brady," a comedy about women of a certain age going to the Super Bowl. She told Variety that this one was a welcome change, ruminating, "Women and older women are so much more than men and the children in their lives."

Dave Annable starred on "Brothers & Sisters" as Justin Walker, one of Nora's sons. He's a veteran of the war in Afghanistan, and he's struggling with what he saw and had to do; much of his early arc on the show revolves around that trauma. Annable loved being on the show, telling People that he was one of the first people cast; as a result, he didn't quite realize what the show would be until actors like Sally Field, Rachel Griffiths, and Matthew Rhys signed on. He still mourns the end of "Brothers & Sisters" too, reflecting on its surprise cancellation years later. "The writers never had a proper chance to wrap up the story. We didn't get to say goodbye to the crew that we had been working with for five years. That leaves a hole in my heart that I hope one day we sort of all get together," he said. "Even if it's just a Christmas special."

After "Brothers & Sisters," Annable led several other swiftly canceled shows. He was on "666 Park Avenue" and "Red Band Society," following that medical show up by playing yet another doctor on "Heartbeat." Perhaps most famously, he played the doomed Lee Dutton on the first episode of "Yellowstone," though he tried to convince Taylor Sheridan to keep his character alive. He now stars on "Lioness," another Sheridan show, as Neal. "I'm just No. 1 in Taylor's fan club," he told The Hollywood Reporter. "I mean, he's that guy."

Calista Flockhart played Kitty Walker on "Brothers & Sisters," portraying a conservative activist who bristles against her family because of her chosen politics. Flockhart made her name on television, but the "Ally McBeal" star took time off to raise a family before coming back to TV. She told CinemaBlend that she was happy to be working again, musing, "It's fun to be back. All parts of it. It's fun to get out and talk about your work with people. It's kind of exciting to get feedback and know what other people are thinking. It's interesting for me."

Flockhart still doesn't work too frequently — her own choice, by all accounts — but she's put in appearances on several shows since "Brothers & Sisters" went off the air. She starred on the single-season show "Full Circle," and then between 2015 and 2021, she regularly played Supergirl's boss, Cat Gran,t on "Supergirl." In 2024, she starred as Lee Radziwill on "Feud: Capote vs. The Swans," telling The Hollywood Reporter that she was eager to work with "Brothers & Sisters" creator Jon Robin Baitz again. "Whenever I'm with Robbie, honestly, he just puts me into complete fits of giggles," she said. "He is one of the funniest people I know."

Supposedly, there's a Flockhart-led "Ally McBeal" revival in the works. We haven't heard much in the last few years, so we'll have to wait and see.

From "Muriel's Wedding" to "Six Feet Under" and beyond, Rachel Griffiths has a long history of signing on to projects that are LGBTQ+-inclusive. That includes "Brothers & Sisters," where she played Sarah Walker, who becomes president of Ojai Foods after her father dies in the opening episode. "Ultimately, it is about family — it's about the 'we' of gay, lesbian, transgender lives, not the 'they' or the 'others,'" she told Dallas Voice. "So, for me, to move these people's lives away from the premium cable niche — I love that by not being on a niche network, there wasn't a pressure to be noisy in a more sexual way. We've kind of moved past having to explore that."

She went on to star on "When We Rise," a miniseries about the history of the queer rights movement. She played Gretchen Klein on two seasons of Amazon Prime Video's "The Wilds," and she played Innie in "Anyone But You." Griffiths is Australian, and she's also starred on Down Under shows like "Madam" and "Total Control." Griffiths told The Spinoff that the latter, a political thriller, is her proudest work. "I co-created that show," she said. "It was such a watershed moment because we'd never seen Aboriginal people walking through the halls of power ... I just loved the delicate dance of playing a conservative white woman and unpicking a certain kind of privileged woman's white fragility."

Ron Rifkin played Saul Holden on "Brothers & Sisters." He's Nora's brother, and he works at the family business, stepping up especially after Nora's husband dies at the start of the series. He's also on a journey of his own, coming to accept his homosexuality over the course of the show. He also turns out to be HIV+, a storyline that frustrated Rifkin. Speaking with The Advocate while the show was still on air, Rifkin expressed his disappointment that the writers didn't seem too invested in his character. "It's been a frustrating struggle for me," he said. "It's really been hard for me. And then, with the reveal of the AIDS thing, I thought, well ... maybe they'll get into it, but it doesn't seem to be what they're interested in," he said. "I was hesitant to do this interview with you because I don't have that much to tell you." Yikes.

After the show ended, Rifkin played Father Creal on multiple episodes of "Gotham." He starred as Dennis Finch on the television adaptation of "Limitless," and he played Dean Peter Fulton on "New Amsterdam." He's also been in several films, including "A Star Is Born," "Minyan," and "Funny Pages."

Matthew Rhys played Kevin Walker, one of the many family members who work at Ojai Foods, on "Brothers & Sisters." Kevin is gay, which was a reasonably groundbreaking character trait in 2006. Looking back at the show, Rhys told HuffPost that he appreciated that Kevin being gay was just treated like any other facet of his personality. "There was no coming out story. There was no challenge. He wasn't defined by it or identified by it. He was one of the siblings who happened to be gay and he was so clear about that," he said. "And in reading that, I just thought 'Oh, how refreshing. That's how it should be.'"

After "Brothers & Sisters," Rhys was Emmy-nominated for his guest spot in the classic "Girls" episode "American B****," where he played a writer with sexual assault allegations. He also starred on "The Americans" — one of the best political shows of all time — playing a Russian spy undercover as a normal family man in the United States. He picked up multiple Emmy nominations and one win for the performance, and he also fell in love with Keri Russell, his co-star. When he won the Emmy, Rhys joked (via People), "To the woman who truly got me this award who just stands in front of me every day and puts up with me ... She said, 'If you propose to me, I will punch you clean in the mouth.'"

Balthazar Getty played Tommy Walker on "Brothers & Sisters," the eldest son and perhaps the most troubled. Tommy disappears from the series for a while thanks to an embezzlement situation at Ojai Foods, but he's able to return for key moments. Getty was going through a difficult time off-screen, as his affair with Sienna Miller had become quite the tabloid sensation. There were rumors that he was difficult to work with on set, with one source telling E! News that his off-set behavior had affected his relationships with his co-stars. "No one on set is a fan," the source said. "It's bad. It's just so sad."

He later told The Evening Standard that he's been focused on bucking the lethal addictions that felled other members of his famous family. "Certain drugs and alcohol done the right way and safely in the right conditions, I think there is something to be gained there," he said, insisting that he's been able to find balance since his infamous years as a wild-child Hollywood scion. He still acts occasionally — he appeared on several episodes of the "Twin Peaks" revival as Red, and he's been in films like "Hide and Bleed" and "Megalopolis." Mostly, though, he's focused on his long-simmering music career. "Music was my mistress," he told The Evening Standard, "and then ultimately became my wife."

Luke Macfarlane's "Brothers & Sisters" character Scotty is the partner of Matthew Rhys' character Kevin, as the two ultimately married during the series. The actors stayed close friends after "Brothers & Sisters" ended. "Matthew Rhys is truly a gentleman, he really is. He's one of my favorite actors that I've ever worked with," he told People. "I think that that's why our storyline connected with people." Rhys frequently returns the compliment; in an interview with Entertainment Weekly, he gushed, "Luke Macfarlane kissed like an angel."

Macfarlane is a regular Hallmark hunk, having led movies like "Christmas In My Heart," "Sense, Sensibility & Snowmen," "A Magical Christmas Village," and "Catch Me If You Claus." He played Chaplain Hopkins on twelve episodes of "Mercy Street," and he recurred as Rick Lincoln on "The Night Shift." He also played Billy Eichner's love interest in "Bros," the first major studio romcom centered around a gay love story. Macfarlane told People that he was glad to be a part of such a historic film, ruminating, "The thing that I just love hearing from people who've seen the movie is how funny it is and that it's lovely to see a gay movie where a couple has a happy ending. We don't get a lot of those." After all, "Bros" was Billy Eichner's answer to some of queer media's most common problems.

Emily VanCamp played Rebecca on "Brothers & Sisters," the love interest of Dave Annable's character Justin. Though Rebecca was a big part of the show's first few years, she left before the final season, telling Entertainment Weekly that she was eager to take some other opportunities and that she didn't want to renegotiate her contract. "The idea of doing two more years was slightly daunting," she said, insisting that she's loved every minute of being part of the cast. "But with family dramas, it's hard to keep those stories alive," she explained. "I just felt like it was time to move on."

VanCamp moved on to "Revenge," a deliciously soapy ABC show about a woman who ingratiates herself into high society in the Hamptons in order to seek, well, revenge. She spent four seasons on that show as well. She's been a recurring part of the Marvel Cinematic Universe, playing Peggy Carter's daughter Sharon in projects like "Captain America: Civil War" and "The Falcon and The Winter Soldier." VanCamp had another four-season stint on television, this time playing a doctor on "The Resident." As with "Brothers & Sisters," she left that show before it ended, telling Deadline that she wanted to focus on her family. "There's nothing but love and respect between all of us and this decision was not an easy one for anybody," she said, "but it was the right one for me, personally."

Though most of "Brothers & Sisters" focused on Nora Walker's generation and the one after, there was another generation below that, too, as Nora was a grandmother. One such child was Paige, the daughter of Rachel Griffiths' character Sarah. Paige, a spunky child with a severe bob, was played by Kerris Dorsey. She told Interview that she was able to have a normal childhood anyway, recalling, "I didn't work every single day; I was able to be on a gymnastics team and go to school. I got a taste for both; I would go to school and have to take a couple of days off for work but it never felt like a job."

When the show ended, Dorsey hopped over to a bigger role on a premium cable series, playing the titular character's daughter, Bridget, on the Showtime series "Ray Donovan." "I was 14 when I auditioned and I think that being a young woman in the acting world, it's hard to find a character that's not just coming in for one scene or being bratty," she told Interview, perhaps drawing a contrast with Paige. "I liked that [Bridget] had her own world, her own opinions, and a lot of layers to her."

When family patriarch William Walker dies at the beginning of the series, a number of secrets come to light. One such secret is the emergence of Holly Harper (Patricia Wettig), William's mistress. As the family battles for control of Ojai Foods in the wake of their father's death, they must also deal with this woman who's trying to control the company.

Starring on "Brothers & Sisters" was a real family affair for Wettig, whose own husband and children were involved in the production. Her husband, Ken Olin, was one of the show's executive producers; her son Cliff wrote on the show, and her daughter Roxy guest-starred. "It all felt so normal," Wettig told TV Guide. "I've been around family and friends in so many professional settings."

Since the show went off the air, Wettig hasn't acted very much, though she played Judge Virginia Ryan on an episode of "Major Crimes." Finally, Wettig appeared as Harper Cantrell on an episode of "Dolly Parton's Heartstrings," an anthology show that dramatized the stories told in the country singer's songs. Wettig's episode was all about Parton's song "Sugar Hill."

Rob Lowe joined the cast of "Brothers & Sisters" halfway through the show's first season. He played Robert McAllister, a Republican senator who falls in love with Kitty Walker, gradually becoming part of the family himself. Lowe told The Paley Center for Media that the role had been written with him in mind, recalling a meeting with the showrunners. "They just sort of said, 'We want to have a man on television that is not neurotic, he's not 40 acting 20, and that we were gonna deal with things of consequence, and things of substance, and also be funny.' ... I just couldn't have been happier to do it."

Lowe left before the show's final season, instead joining the cast of "Parks & Recreation" as the eternally optimistic Chris Traeger. Together with "Brothers & Sisters," that role reignited the career of the former Brat Pack member. He's led shows like "Code Black" and "Wild Bill," he hosts Fox game show "The Floor," and he anchored the Texas-set "9-1-1" spin-off "9-1-1: Lone Star." When the latter show ended in 2025, Lowe told TV Insider that they almost killed his character off in the finale. "It is sad enough to mourn a show going out. It's still in its prime," he said. "Let's not also mourn the loss of characters that people love."