The Carrie Diaries (TV series)

Cast and characters

Main cast

• AnnaSophia Robb as Carrie Bradshaw; The protagonist and voice-over narrator of the series. She is a 16-year-old high school student living in the fictional town of Castlebury, Connecticut, who dreams of being a famous writer. Carrie's mother recently died from cancer and as a result, Carrie's younger sister, Dorrit, is more rebellious than ever, and their father, Tom, is overwhelmed with the responsibility of suddenly having to care for two teenage girls on his own. Instead of attending school on one day during the week, Carrie takes an internship at a law firm in New York City which she relishes as a stepping stone in her quest to leave her small town behind her. She left this position to work for Larissa Loughlin at Interview magazine. Towards the end of high school, Larissa offers Carrie a full-time job at the magazine, which she accepts over going to NYU. Unfortunately, when Larissa is fired, so is Carrie. She decides to stay in New York, rather than going to Malibu with Sebastian. In the Season 2 finale, she moves into Larissa's apartment with Samantha.
• Austin Butler as Sebastian Kydd; The new kid at Castlebury High School and Carrie's love interest. Sebastian moves to Castlebury after getting kicked out of his old high school for having sex with his art history teacher. He lives with his divorced mother who is never around. He and Carrie date during the second half of the first season, before breaking up. They have an unstable, on and off relationship, but it is clear that they both have feelings for each other. At the end of Season 2, Sebastian moves to Malibu to run his company, leaving the couple apparently broken-up for good.
• Ellen Wong as Jill "Mouse" Chen; Jill is Carrie's nerdy and sweet best friend from high school and the ex-girlfriend of a college guy she still loves, and lost her virginity to. They broke up because both of their grades were getting low, because they were only focusing on each other. In school, she is an academic overachiever who is said to be under pressure and driven to be the best at everything by her stern parents. Mouse accepts an offer to go to Harvard towards the end of Season 2.
• Katie Findlay as Maggie Landers; Carrie's best friend, and Walt's sexually active ex-girlfriend. She is a sarcastic and self-assured underachieving student who barely passes her classes and is said to have an unhappy home life where her parents neglect and ignore her, who are not able to pay for her college life. She cares about Carrie, and will sacrifice her own happiness for Carrie's. Maggie is proposed to by Pete in the last episode of Season 2, and she accepts.
• Stefania LaVie Owen as Dorrit Bradshaw; Carrie's troubled, 14-year-old, rebellious younger sister. She openly resents Carrie for being close with their mother, and for not having more time with her. She is rebelling by dyeing her hair and wearing too much eye make-up as well as seeing a guy older than Carrie called Miller.
• Brendan Dooling as Walter "Walt" Reynolds; Carrie's other best friend. He is Maggie's ex-boyfriend. He doesn't know that she is cheating on him with a cop. In the ending of the first episode, it's implied that Walt is secretly gay. In later episodes it is clear he is confused about his sexuality, he even sparks an interest in a man named Bennet Wilcox. At the end of the first season he and Maggie break up, and she finds out about his homosexuality. In season 2 he begins dating Bennett and his mom sees a picture of them in a local newspaper and kicks him out. He lives at Carrie's for 3 episodes before being scared off by the potential to get AIDS, breaking up with Bennett and moving back in with his parents, denying his sexuality again. By the end of Season 2, his parents finally accept Walt's homosexuality.
• Chloe Bridges as Donna LaDonna; The school's most popular girl, and the leader of a clique called "The Jens", which is made up of all of the school's shallow and narcissistic "mean girls". She was Carrie's chief rival in the first season and also had a crush on Walt. When she found out that Walt was gay, she protected his secret by telling the whole school that they had sex, and pretending that they were dating for real. She is currently frenemies with Carrie.
• Freema Agyeman as Larissa Loughlin; A hip, British, cutting-edge style editor at Interview magazine and party girl, who acts as Carrie's mentor in New York City, while she is working at the law firm. It is later revealed that Larissa is an African princess who ran away from her family and found financial support from a British lord before moving to America. Carrie introduces Larissa to Harlan, her father Tom's friend, and Larissa and Harlan get married in the Season 2 finale.
• Matt Letscher as Tom Bradshaw; Carrie's overprotective father. He loosens up a bit as the series progresses. When Carrie chooses a job at Interview over going to NYU, Tom disapproves and cuts her off financially. In the Season 2 finale, Tom and Carrie mend their relationship when she tells him that she will stay in New York and support herself.
• Lindsey Gort as Samantha Jones; Donna's brash and outgoing older cousin whom Carrie befriends. She is part of Manhattan's music scene, where she used to work at a bar as a bouncer. Samantha and Carrie move in together at the end of Season 2.

  Recurring cast

• Josh Salatin as Simon Byrnes, a former local policeman and Maggie's former casual sexual partner. Maggie becomes pregnant with Simon's child but has a miscarriage when she experiences an ectopic pregnancy. He is fired by Maggie's father when he finds out.
• Jake Robinson as Bennet Wilcox, Larissa's co-worker and Walt's former boyfriend. Walt broke up with him when he realised that he wants all the things that gay people can't have, after a health scare with AIDS. Towards the end of second season Walt decides that he cannot live a lie and reconciles with Bennet, realising that he missed him.
• Scott Cohen as Harlan Silver, Tom's friend who encourages him to begin dating, who is also Larissa's fiance.
• Nadia Dajani as Deb, Tom's ex-girlfriend.
• R.J. Brown as Thomas West, Mouse's academic rival and former boyfriend. The two broke up after West explained that he was tired of competing with Mouse after she got accepted in Harvard.
• Whitney Vance and Alexandra Miller as the Jens, Donna LaDonna's two minions. They follow her around in explosions of neon doing whatever their leader tells them to.
• Evan Crooks as Miller, Dorrit's former boyfriend who works at the record store.
• Chris Wood as Adam Weaver, a guy who Carrie meets while trying to get an interview for the magazine, took her virginity, and is currently her ex.
• Giullian Yao Gioiello as Scott, Dorrit's friend who later becomes her boyfriend. They meet at the Bradshaw house party. He eventually becomes her boyfriend near the end of Season 2 upon being tricked to go to prom with him.

  Production

Development

Casting

Episodes

Reception

Critical response

Awards and accolades

Broadcasts