Life with Derek/Characters

This is the character sheet for Life with Derek.

Casey McDonald
Played by Ashley Leggat

""DER-EK!""

Casey is the protagonist and is the polar opposite of Derek in just about every way. This often leads to conflict between the two. Prior to her mom remarrying, Casey only had one younger sister and, much like Derek, was used to being in charge. She is studious and high maintenance, but throughout the course of the show becomes a little more easy going. Casey often confides in her guidance counselor, Paul, about her problems - or just to vent about Derek.


 * Adorkable
 * Bad Liar
 * Be Careful What You Wish For
 * Belligerent Sexual Tension: With Derek... and Truman.
 * Brainy Brunette
 * Catch Phrase: "DER-EK!" Lampshaded in one episode, when Derek responds by saying Casey's name the same way, as well as Sally's.
 * Control Freak
 * Extracurricular Enthusiast
 * Flirty Stepsiblings: With Derek. Unintentional on the writers' part.
 * Foolish Sibling, Responsible Sibling: The responsible to Derek's foolish.
 * Greek Chorus: At the beginning of each episode, she usually makes a comment to the viewers about what the general theme or message of what the episode will be about.
 * Hollywood Nerd
 * I Didn't Mean to Turn You On
 * The Klutz
 * Snowball Lie: Accidentally starts one in the episode Rumor Mill.
 * Tomboy and Girly Girl: Girly Girl to Lizzie's Tomboy.
 * Tsundere: Type B.
 * Visit by Divorced Dad: In season 2.
 * Vitriolic Best Buds: Type 2. With Derek.

Derek Venturi
Played by Michael Seater

""If you have a complaint, you can put it in my suggestion box.""

Derek is Casey's step-brother and her primary antagonist on the show. He's popular and good looking and not very book smart, although it is hinted at a couple of times that he's just lazy and that if he put more effort into school work, he'd probably do a lot better. He is used to being the one in charge at home, but the arrival of Casey and her family disrupts that, and he's not particularly fond of changing his life style around. He's sneaky and manipulative and not above lying to Casey to get what he wants. That said, even though he and Casey are often at each other's throats for one reason or another, he does have a soft side, but it's usually reserved for his younger sister Marti.


 * Aloof Big Brother: It seems like he tries to be this.
 * Anti-Hero: Type III.
 * Big Brother Bully: Can be like this occasionally.
 * Belligerent Sexual Tension: With Casey.
 * Book Dumb: Although, he could just be...
 * Brilliant but Lazy
 * The Casanova
 * Class Clown
 * Flirty Stepsiblings: With Casey. Unintentional on the writers' part.
 * Foolish Sibling, Responsible Sibling: The foolish to Casey's responsible.
 * Handsome Devil
 * Handsome Lech
 * Hates Being Touched: Derek isn't exactly the "hugging" type.
 * Hidden Heart of Gold
 * High School Hustler
 * Hypocritical Heartwarming: No one BUT him is allowed to make fun of Casey.
 * Jerkass: Half the time.
 * Jerk with a Heart of Gold; The other half.
 * Kissing Cousins: Kisses Vicky.
 * Lazy Bum
 * My Sister Is Off-Limits: What he tells Sam when Sam shows an interest in Casey.
 * Pet the Dog: Many of his scenes with Marti consist of this.
 * School Is for Losers
 * Sensitive Guy and Manly Man: Manly Man to Edwin's Sensitive Guy.
 * Tall, Dark and Snarky
 * The Prankster
 * The Slacker
 * Vitriolic Best Buds: With Casey, oddly enough. Type 2, meaning neither would ever admit to being friends.

Edwin Venturi
Played by Daniel Magder

Edwin is Derek's younger brother, and the middle child along with Lizzie. He tends to feel like he's the Unfavorite and although he looks up to Derek, he has been shown to have a bit of an inferiority complex.


 * Amateur Sleuth
 * Annoying Younger Sibling
 * Big Brother Worship
 * Butt Monkey
 * Double Agent
 * Foolish Sibling, Responsible Sibling: The foolish to Lizzie's responsible.
 * Gasshole
 * Lovable Coward
 * Middle Child Syndrome: And HOW.
 * Platonic Life Partners: With Lizzie.
 * Sensitive Guy and Manly Man: Sensitive Guy to Derek's Manly Man.

Lizzie McDonald
Played by Jordan Todosey

""But that still gives you 2 out of 20. And any score less than 6, I'm supposed to call a social worker.""

Lizzie is Casey's younger sister and, like Edwin, is the middle child. She is probably the most level headed of her siblings, but even she has her moments. She and Edwin often partner up when scheming for or against their older siblings. Being the middle child doesn't seem to bother her as much as it does Edwin.


 * Brainy Brunette
 * First Kiss:
 * Foolish Sibling, Responsible Sibling: The responsible to Edwin's foolish.
 * Hey, It's That Guy!: Jordan Todosey plays Adam on Degrassi.
 * Platonic Life Partners: With Edwin.
 * Precocious Crush: On her soccer coach in season 2.
 * Soapbox Sadie
 * She Cleans Up Nicely
 * Tomboy and Girly Girl: Tomboy to Casey's Girly Girl.
 * Visit by Divorced Dad

Marti Venturi
Played by Ariel Waller

""I have an announcement! I'm not wearing socks!""

Marti is the youngest child in the Venturi-McDonald household. She seems to get along with all of her siblings, but is closest to Derek and is one of the few people that Derek opens up to. She can be annoying at times, but gradually grows out of that as the series progresses.


 * Annoying Younger Sibling: Can be, but grows out of this.
 * Companion Cube: Sir Monksalot.
 * Daddy's Girl
 * Imaginary Friend: Has one named Daphne.
 * Morality Pet: To Derek.
 * Puppy Dog Eyes

Nora McDonald-Venturi
Played by Joy Tanner

Nora is Casey and Lizzie's mom. She is married to George Venturi, who is her second husband, and throughout the series is often the Only Sane Man. She finds out that  in the final season, and it is revealed in The Movie that.


 * Amicably Divorced: She and Dennis get along fine.
 * Happily Married: To George.
 * Hey, It's That Guy!: Has a reoccurring role as Declan and Fiona's mom on Degrassi.
 * Hot Mom
 * Only Sane Man

George Venturi
Played by John Ralston

George is the father of Derek, Edwin and Marti. He is a lawyer, a bad driver, and it is implied that when he was younger, he was very much like Derek.


 * Amazingly Embarrassing Dad: Sometimes
 * Amicably Divorced: He and Abby still get along.
 * Bumbling Dad: Occasionally
 * Drives Like Crazy: Apparently...
 * Happily Married: To Nora.
 * Hot Dad
 * Like Father, Like Son
 * The Prankster

Cousin Vicky
Played by Sarah Gadon (Season 1) and Paula Brancati (Season 4)

Vicky is Casey's cousin. She's first introduced in season 1 and is one of the few characters, apart from Derek, who get under Casey's skin. When it is revealed that the reason she is so mean to Casey is because she's jealous of her, she and Casey reconcile.


 * Alpha Bitch
 * Green-Eyed Monster
 * Heel Face Turn
 * Heel Face Revolving Door
 * Kissing Cousins: Kisses Derek.
 * The Other Darrin: They really thought we wouldn't be able to tell the difference?
 * Uncanny Family Resemblance: When she was played by Sarah Gadon, Vicky and Casey look like they could almost be twins.

Aunt Madge
Played by Barbara Gordon

Aunt Madge is George's aunt. She is a notorious cheek pincher who, it's implied, doesn't see George and his family often. She only appears in one episode.


 * Cool Aunt
 * No Sense of Personal Space: She's a cheek pincher, much to Derek and Edwin's chagrin.

Felicia
Played by Kate Trotter

Felicia is Nora's mom. She is introduced in The Movie, at which point she hasn't seen Nora or Lizzie and Casey in four years. She openly disapproves of Nora getting remarried and raising five kids, and is not happy when she finds out that Nora. At first, she wants nothing to do with the Venturi kids, and is reluctant to agree to let them stay at her lodge. After a fight with Casey, she has a change of heart.


 * Calling the Grandma Out: Casey basically calls Felicia out on her behavior.
 * Grandparent Favoritism: Felicia only wanted Casey and Lizzie to visit.
 * Obnoxious In-Laws: Does not care for George at all. She gets better.
 * Parental Neglect: ... Sort of.

Emily Davis
Played by Shadia Simmons

Emily is Casey's best friend. She lives next door to the Venturis and has had a crush on Derek for a long time, even going so far as to keep tabs on him. She eventually gets over her crush on him and gets together with Sheldon Schlepper until he moves away.


 * Black Best Friend
 * Dark Horse Victory
 * Wacky Marriage Proposal: Sheldon proposes to her at a dance. In front of everyone. Much to Emily's embarrassment.
 * Victorious Childhood Friend:

Ralph
Played by Shane Kippel

Ralph is one of Derek's friends and bandmates.


 * Cloudcuckoolander
 * Dogged Nice Guy
 * Hey, It's That Guy!: Shane Kippel played Spinner on Degrassi.
 * Surfer Dude
 * Those Two Guys: With Sam.

Sam
Played by Kit Weyman

Sam is Derek's best friend. He is also Casey's first love interest on the show. He's a generally nice guy and he and Casey manage to stay on friendly terms even after they break up.


 * Dogged Nice Guy
 * Those Two Guys: With Ralph.

Truman French
Played by Joe Dinicol

Truman is much like Derek, minus any redeeming qualities. He makes his debut in season 4 and shows an interest in Casey. After much resisting, she agrees to go out with him.


 * Jerkass
 * Your Cheating Heart

Max Miller
Played by Robbie Amell

Max is a popular football jock at school who Casey takes an interest in. He's a fairly decent guy, although he and Casey don't have a lot in common. They eventually break up when Casey feels like she's changed for the worst.


 * Book Dumb
 * Big Man on Campus
 * Lovable Jock: He's not a bad guy.

Kendra
Played by Lauren Collins

Kendra is one of the popular girls at school and, like most girls, shows an interest in Derek.


 * Hey, It's That Guy! Lauren Collins played Paige on Degrassi.
 * Gossipy Hen
 * Lovable Alpha Bitch: She's popular, but never particularly mean to Casey.
 * Popularity Food Chain: At the very top.
 * Snowball Lie: She misinterprets something that Casey says and spreads it.

Sally
Played by Kate Todd

Sally is Derek's co-worker and is, arguably, the first girl he's really tried to work hard at at winning over. She's a bit older than him and convinces him to take her to prom, having missed her own. They eventually break up when she leaves for college.


 * All Girls Want Bad Boys: Well, she is with Derek...
 * Hey, It's That Guy!: Kate Todd played Lily on Radio Free Roscoe
 * Put on a Bus: She goes off to school.

Noel Covington
Played by Adam Butcher

Noel is introduced in season 3 as Casey's leading man in a school play. It's revealed that he likes her, but since she's with Max at the time, he keeps his feelings to himself.


 * Cannot Spit It Out
 * Dogged Nice Guy
 * Nice Guy
 * Shrinking Violet

Sheldon Schlepper
Played by William Greenblatt

Sheldon is first introduced when he's running for class president against Casey. The writers liked him so much that they brought him back as a reoccurring character. He gets together with Emily, much to Casey's surprise. When he's forced to move, he proposes to Emily at prom, but she turns him down since they're still in high school.


 * Adorkable
 * Ascended Extra
 * Put on a Bus
 * Wacky Marriage Proposal

Paul
Played by Arnold Pinnock

Paul is Casey's guidance counselor who she vents to in just about every episode.


 * Black and Nerdy
 * Cool Teacher
 * Magical Negro: He's actually a genie. In Casey's dream.
 * Reasonable Authority Figure