Reba: Cast & Characters

After being one of the most popular sitcom ensembles on television in the 2000s, many fans wonder where the Reba cast is now. Reba McEntire might be best known as a Grammy Award-winning country singer, but she also has impressive acting abilities, which scored the icon her own sitcom. The show aired for six seasons from 2002 to 2007, firstly on the now-defunct network The WB and later on The CW, and was one of the defining sitcoms of the early 2000s.

McEntire starred as Reba Hart, a single mother left raising her kids alone in suburban Houston, Texas after her husband leaves her for a younger woman. Not only did McEntire have a starring role in Reba, but she also sang its theme tune “I’m A Survivor” too. While McEntire was certainly the star of the show, a lot of the charm of the series came from the collection of characters who made up the dysfunctional yet lovable Hart family. While some of the Reba cast is now out of the limelight, fans will recognize some of the actors for their later work.

Reba McEntire

As Reba Hart

Character: Reba McEntire’s character Reba Hart is, naturally, the heart of the sitcom. She’s a sassy and sarcastic mother of three who divorced her husband of 20 years after discovering the younger woman he left her for is pregnant with his child. While Reba has a fiery attitude and is not afraid to speak her mind, she is also very loving to her family and is even cordial with her ex-husband and his new wife. Throughout the series, Reba jumps around to various jobs, but she ultimately finds success as a real estate agent.

Actor: McEntire is best known for her incredible music career, in which she has earned the title, “Queen of Country Music.” She has sold more than 75 million records worldwide and has 25 singles that have reached the top spot on the Billboard Hot Country Songs chart. In her acting career, she made her screen debut in the cult classic horror comedy Tremors as Heather Gummer. She played Western legend Annie Oakley in Buffalo Girls and voiced Betsy in 2006’s Charlotte’s Web. More recently, she had a recurring role as June in Young Sheldon.

McEntire is now ready to take the sitcom world by storm again with her new show, Happy’s Place, in which she plays Bobbi, who inherits her late father’s bar along with her half-sister. McEntire’s new sitcom is set to debut on NBC in October 2024.

JoAnna Garcia Swisher

As Cheyenne Hart-Montgomery

Character: Cheyenne Hart-Montgomery is the oldest of Reba’s three children. She finds out she’s pregnant during her senior year and gives birth to a daughter who she raises with her high school sweetheart-turned-husband Van. While she is portrayed as a somewhat ditsy and clueless young woman in the early episodes of the series, she is made to be a more intelligent character as the series continues. Cheyenne also has a big heart, open to helping people in whatever way she can. She is also shown to mature a lot throughout the show, raising her daughter while attending college.

Actor: One of JoAnna Garcia Swisher’s earliest roles in her career was playing the popular but misunderstood high school cheerleader Vicki Appleby in the cult high school series Freaks and Geeks. Since her time on Reba, Swisher has enjoyed an active career in television, appearing in a number of series. She played Ariel in Once Upon a Time, Betty Grissom in The Astronaut Wives Club, and can currently be seen playing Maddie Townsend in Netflix’s Sweet Magnolias.

Steve Howey

As Van Montgomery

Character: Steve Howey played Van in the cast of Reba, the son-in-law of Reba Hart and partner to Cheyenne. Following Cheyenne’s pregnancy, Van is disowned by his parents and kicked out of his house. He ends up moving in with the Hart family, becoming a key part of the household. Despite never mending his relationship with his own parents, Van shows great appreciation for Reba for all her support. While he was a star athlete in high school, an injury crushes his dreams of making it in professional football. However, he later joins Reba in the real estate business.

Actor: As much as Steve Howey gained a lot of fans through his role as Van in Reba, his most famous role is certainly that of Kevin in the cast of Shameless. He also had the starring role as K.C. in the action movie Supercross and recently appeared in the Netflix horror comedy Day Shift as Mike Nazarian. In 2023, Howey returned to television in the lead role of Harry Trasker in the comedy-action series True Lies, but the series was canceled after its first season.

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Christopher Rich

As Brock Hart

Character: Brock Hart is Reba’s ex-husband in the cast of Reba. Brock is a dentist who left his wife for his younger dental hygienist/girlfriend, BJ. Despite that rather unlikable early behavior, Brock remains a big part of Reba’s life while also bringing his new wife around. Brock is a vain and self-centered guy who is obsessed with his appearance. However, he also cares for his loved ones, and is filled with regret about how the divorce has affected his children. While his new marriage is rocky at times, he also clearly loves BJ.

Actor: Christopher Rich has brought a couple of iconic animated characters to life, playing Prince Charming in the sitcom The Charmings, about the prince and Snow White living in modern-day Los Angeles suburbs. He also played comic book character Archie in the TV movie Archie: To Riverdale and Back Again. Since Reba, Rich has played Melvin Palmer on Boston Legal and Russell Burke on Melissa & Joey. He currently has two upcoming movies, Deep River, in which he plays Pops, and Land of the Free, where he plays Kirk Davis.

Melissa Peterman

Barbra Jean Booker-Hart

Character: Barbara Jean, or BJ, is the mistress and eventual wife of Reba’s ex-husband and the mother of his child. Though more intelligent than her self-involved husband, BJ is still oblivious a lot of the time which makes her an easy target for a lot of Reba’s sarcasm. Despite the awkwardness in their past, BJ is also determined to become good friends with Reba. While she is also oblivious to Reba’s reluctance in this regard, the two do eventually form a bond. A recurring joke in the series features BJ’s penchant for telling bizarre stories of her various family members.

Actor: Melissa Peterman made her acting debut in a small but memorable role in the Coen Brothers movie Fargo, as a sex worker. Following Reba, Peterman earned the lead role in the sitcom Working Class, which ran for one season and followed it up by playing Bonnie Wheeler on Baby Daddy. Like Reba McEntire, Peterman had a recurring role on Young Sheldon, playing Brenda Sparks, neighbor to the Cooper family. Excitingly, Peterman is set to reunite with McEntire in Happy’s Place, as Gabby, the half-sister of McEntire’s character, Bobbie.

Mitch Holleman

As Jake Hart

Character: Jake Hart is the youngest of Reba and Brock’s children and is generally oblivious to what’s going on. He is often the target of teasing from his older sister, Kyra, but he forms a friendship with his older brother-in-law, Van. For many of the earlier episodes of the series, Jake doesn’t get storylines of his own, only popping up in a scene or two to offer his own opinions, often saying the first thing that comes into his head.

Actor: Mitch Holleman plays Jake on Reba, and while his acting career never fully took off after the show ended, he has some notable jobs in his filmography. Holleman’s first screen appearance was in an episode of The Sopranos. He went on to play a young version of Jake Gyllenhaal’s character of Jimmy Livingston in Bubble Boy and his last big role was playing Max in the hit comedy The Hangover.

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Scarlett Pomers

As Kyra Hart

Character: Middle child Kyra Hart is the most intelligent of Reba and Brock’s children and inherited her mother’s sarcastic streak. She often likes to torment her siblings, teasing her younger brother and annoying Cheyenne. She can be difficult at times, partially because she resents the fact that her unusual family prevents her from living a normal teen life as she is often called on to babysit the infants in the family.

Actor: Scarlett Pomers played Krya throughout the six seasons of Reba, but before that show, she had a prominent recurring role playing Naomi Wildman on Star Trek: Voyager. In movies, Pomers made her acting debut in The Babysitter’s Club as Suzi Barrett. She also appeared in the Oscar-winning Steven Soderbergh movie Erin Brockovich as Shanna Jensen. Powers was absent for most of Reba season 5 as she was seeking treatment for anorexia (via Wide Open Country). She later became an ambassador for the National Eating Disorders Association.

Reba (2001)

Reba stars Reba McEntire as a single mother navigating life after her husband’s affair disrupts their marriage. Set in Houston, the series blends humor with the complexities of blended families, showcasing Reba’s resilience and wit as she handles life’s curveballs.

Cast

Reba McEntire
, Christopher Rich
, Joanna García
, Steve Howey
, scarlett pomers
, Mitch Holleman
, Melissa Peterman

Release Date

October 5, 2001

Seasons

6