On The Shield, main cast refers to the actors and actresses with the main contracts of a season. Main cast actors are billed at the opening of the episode and they usually appear in all the episodes of a given season.
Season 1[]
- Main article: Season 1
- Michael Chiklis as Detective Vic Mackey
- Catherine Dent as Officer Danny Sofer
- Walton Goggins as Detective Shane Vendrell
- Michael Jace as Officer Julien Lowe
- Kenneth Johnson as Detective Curtis Lemansky (12 episodes)
- Jay Karnes as Detective Dutch Wagenbach
- Benito Martinez as Captain David Aceveda
- CCH Pounder as Detective Claudette Wyms
- Reed Diamond as Detective Terry Crowley (1 episode)
Season 2[]
- Main article: Season 2
- Michael Chiklis as Detective Vic Mackey
- Catherine Dent as Officer Danny Sofer
- Walton Goggins as Detective Shane Vendrell
- Michael Jace as Officer Julien Lowe
- Kenneth Johnson as Detective Curtis Lemansky
- Jay Karnes as Detective Dutch Wagenbach
- Benito Martinez as Captain David Aceveda
- CCH Pounder as Detective Claudette Wyms
Season 3[]
- Main article: Season 3
- Michael Chiklis as Detective Vic Mackey
- Catherine Dent as Officer Danny Sofer
- Walton Goggins as Detective Shane Vendrell
- Michael Jace as Officer Julien Lowe
- Kenneth Johnson as Detective Curtis Lemansky
- Jay Karnes as Detective Dutch Wagenbach
- Benito Martinez as Captain David Aceveda
- CCH Pounder as Detective Claudette Wyms
Season 4[]
- Main article: Season 4
- Michael Chiklis as Detective Vic Mackey
- Glenn Close as Captain Monica Rawling
- Catherine Dent as Officer Danny Sofer
- Walton Goggins as Detective Shane Vendrell
- Michael Jace as Officer Julien Lowe
- Kenneth Johnson as Detective Curtis Lemansky
- Jay Karnes as Detective Dutch Wagenbach
- Benito Martinez as Councilman David Aceveda
- CCH Pounder as Detective Claudette Wyms
Season 5[]
- Main article: Season 5
- Michael Chiklis as Detective Vic Mackey
- Catherine Dent as Officer Danny Sofer
- Walton Goggins as Detective Shane Vendrell
- Michael Jace as Officer Julien Lowe
- Kenneth Johnson as Detective Curtis Lemansky
- Jay Karnes as Detective Dutch Wagenbach
- Benito Martinez as Councilman David Aceveda
- CCH Pounder as Detective Claudette Wyms
Season 6[]
- Main article: Season 6
- Michael Chiklis as Detective Vic Mackey
- Catherine Dent as Sergeant Danny Sofer
- Walton Goggins as Detective Shane Vendrell
- Michael Jace as Officer Julien Lowe
- Jay Karnes as Detective Dutch Wagenbach
- Benito Martinez as Councilman David Aceveda
- CCH Pounder as Captain Claudette Wyms
Season 7[]
- Main article: Season 7
- Michael Chiklis as Detective Vic Mackey
- Cathy Cahlin Ryan as Corrine Mackey
- Catherine Dent as Sergeant Danny Sofer
- Paula Garcés as Officer Tina Hanlon
- Walton Goggins as Detective Shane Vendrell
- Michael Jace as Officer Julien Lowe
- Jay Karnes as Detective Dutch Wagenbach
- David Marciano as Detective Steve Billings
- Benito Martinez as Councilman David Aceveda
- David Rees Snell as Detective Ronnie Gardocki
- CCH Pounder as Captain Claudette Wyms
Statistics[]
Billing[]
- Actor Reed Diamond was billed as part of the main cast in the "Pilot" and included in promotional pictures, despite the fact that he is killed at the end of the episode. This was done to heighten the surprise of his death.
- Main cast actors usually appear in all the episodes of a given season. Three exceptions are Reed Diamond (see above), Walton Goggins and Kenneth Johnson. Goggins and Johnson only appear in 10 of 13 episodes of Season 1, despite being credited in all.
- The following members of the main cast of The Shield appeared in all 88 episodes of the show:
- Kenneth Johnson was credited as a guest star in the "Pilot", but was upgraded to main cast status for the second episode. He remained as such until his departure in Season 5.
- Of the main cast in The Shield, Reed Diamond has the fewest appearances with one (1). After him, there are five main cast actors with thirteen (13) appearances as part of the main cast:
- Season 6 has the smallest main cast, with seven (7) people, while Season 7 has the largest main cast, with eleven (11) people.
Character deaths[]
The following main cast actors had their characters killed off on screen.
- Reed Diamond as Detective Terry Crowley ("Pilot")
- Kenneth Johnson as Detective Curtis Lemansky ("Postpartum")
- Walton Goggins as Detective Shane Vendrell ("Family Meeting")