Evelyn Hugo
Evelyn is the protagonist of the novel; she narrates significant portions of the novel. Evelyn is a famous Hollywood actress, who is especially well-known for being a sexy and alluring bombshell, although she has also won an Oscar. Due to her success, Evelyn is very wealthy and famous. She is often mysterious and enigmatic; while narrating her life, Evelyn provides rare insight into her true motivations.
Monique Grant
Monique is the secondary protagonist of the novel, and functions as the primary narrator (Evelyn's narrative is embedded within her frame narrative). She is a journalist in her mid-30s who is facing some challenges in her career, and also going through a divorce. Monique begins the novel at a crossroads in her personal and professional life, and is gradually transformed through the life lessons she learns from Evelyn. Monique is also a biracial woman (her mother is white, and her father was Black), and this identity helps her to relate to Evelyn.
Ernie Diaz
Ernie is Evelyn's first husband; she moves to Los Angeles with him. He is a working-class New York man who is Cuban-American. They divorce when Evelyn begins to become famous; Ernie goes on to remarry, have a family, and live a quiet but happy life.
Harry Cameron
Harry Cameron is a successful Hollywood producer; he is slightly older than Evelyn, and helps to launch her career. Evelyn and Harry become extremely close friends, and eventually marry; they also have a daughter together. However, Evelyn and Harry are never romantically or sexually involved because Harry is gay. Harry has a long secret relationship with John Braverman, and is eventually also romantically involved with Monique's father, James Grant. Harry struggles with problematic drinking throughout his life, and dies in a car accident while driving drunk.
Ari Sullivan
Ari is a 48-year-old executive in Hollywood who works at Sunset Studios alongside Harry Cameron. Evelyn singles out Ari in order to get him invested in her career, and the two of them have sex. After that, Evelyn gets many more opportunities in her career.
Don Adler
Don is Evelyn's second husband; he is a wealthy and handsome Hollywood actor. He and Evelyn first begin to date as a publicity stunt, but then genuinely fall in love. After their marriage, Don becomes resentful of Evelyn's success and is physically abusive towards her. Don and Evelyn divorce when she discovers that he is being unfaithful, and when she starts to fall in love with Celia. Evelyn and Don work together on a film many years later, and they partially reconcile when Don expresses regret for the way he treated Evelyn.
Celia St. James
Celia is a famous actress in Hollywood; she and Evelyn become friends, and eventually fall in love. Celia identifies as a lesbian and she dates other women after Evelyn; she is also married to John Braverman for years, which provides privacy for her to pursue a relationship with Evelyn. Celia can be tempestuous and demanding, but she loves Evelyn very much. Celia dies in her 60s from lung disease, and prior to her death she enjoys a happy period living in Spain with Evelyn.
Mick Riva
Mick Riva is a popular and successful singer; he is Evelyn's third husband. He and Evelyn are only married for one day, and she schemes to set up the marriage so that no one will suspect the truth about her and Celia. Mick is initially very infatuated with Evelyn, which is why he is willing to marry her spontaneously, but he becomes disinterested in Evelyn when she stops acting seductively.
David
David is Monique's estranged husband; he and Monique break up because he wants to move to San Francisco to pursue his career. He eventually tries to reunite with Monique, but she turns him down because she has realized that she does not truly love him.
Grace
Grace is Evelyn's housekeeper; she has worked for Evelyn for a long time, and is very loyal and devoted to her employer.
Frankie
She is Monique's editor at Vivant magazine.
Paula
Paula is a housekeeper who works for Don and Evelyn when they are married; Evelyn is sometimes rude to her because she is stressed about concealing her abusive marriage, and Paula sometimes sells gossip about Evelyn to the tabloids.
Ruby Reilly
She is a Hollywood actress who is an acquaintance and sometimes rival to Evelyn. Ruby marries Don Adler after he and Evelyn divorce.
Rex North
Rex is a famous Hollywood actor; he and Evelyn co-star in a film together shortly after she and Celia break up. In order to create publicity and build their careers, Rex and Evelyn agree to marry. They never have a romantic or sexual relationship, even though Evelyn is quite fond of him. She and Rex divorce when he decides he wants to marry another woman.
Joy Nathan
Joy is a Hollywood actress, and acquaintance to Evelyn. While Evelyn and Rex North are married, Rex and Joy have an affair, and Joy gets pregnant. Rex and Evelyn divorce so that he can be with Joy.
John Braverman
John is a famous and successful professional football player; he marries Celia. However, he is a gay man, and he and Celia use their marriage to keep their respective sexual identities a secret. John eventually ends up in a relationship with Harry Cameron, and he, Harry, Celia, and Evelyn live as two couples. John and Celia divorce when Celia breaks up with Evelyn, and he dies suddenly from a heart attack a few years later, leaving Harry devastated.
Connor Cameron
Connor is Evelyn and Harry's daughter. She studies finance, and works first as an investment banker, and then as a professor. She tragically dies at a young age from breast cancer.
Max Girard
Max is prominent French director; he and Evelyn work on a number of films together, and he helps to restore her career several times. After knowing each other for years, Max confides that he is in love with Evelyn, and she realizes that she also cares for him. Max becomes Evelyn's sixth husband (after she and Harry divorce). Evelyn and Max are happy for a short time, but then he becomes disenchanted and bored. Evelyn divorces Max when she reunites with Celia.
Robert Jamison
Robert is Celia's brother, and Evelyn's 7th husband. He is a kind man who loves his sister, and knows the truth about her relationship to Evelyn. He and Evelyn marry so that Evelyn can more easily inherit Celia's estate after her death. He is also a very loving stepfather to Evelyn's daughter Cameron. He dies while he and Evelyn are living together in New York.
James Grant
James is Monique's father; he worked as an on-set photographer in Hollywood. Through his work, he met Harry Cameron, and the two of them had an affair. James died in the same car accident that killed Harry.
