Casting The West Wing If It Was Made In 2026: All 9 Main Roles
When it premiered in 1999, The West Wing couldn't have had a more perfect cast. Each actor brought just the right balance of diligence and personality to creator Aaron Sorkin's signature fast-paced dialogue. Even more importantly, they all had the air of confidence, professionalism, and endearing charisma needed to depict the show's uniquely inspiring administration.
Beyond their individual abilities, the ensemble also had an undeniable chemistry that allowed every interaction, whether comedic or heart-wrenching, to land with impact. Every character, from assistant Donna to President Bartlet himself, had a key role to play that allowed The West Wing to move with quick, unified precision.
Though it's now considered a classic, The West Wing and its characters were products of their time. Were it made today, capturing modern political topics and sentiments would give the show a different feel, but these contemporary actors would still embody the essence of The West Wing's iconic cast of characters.
Matthew Rhys
President Jed Bartlet
Somewhere between Widow's Bay's Mayor Tom Loftis and The Beast in Me's charismatic Nile Jarvis is a note-perfect President Bartlet. Across his several hit shows over the years, Rhys has demonstrated the simultaneous power, confidence, and New England charm the role calls for. To top it off, Rhys also, despite being Welsh, has come to feel like one of TV's quintessential American leading men.
Throughout The West Wing's run, Martin Sheen brought some inimitable quirks to the character. President Bartlet even became known for his unique way of putting on his jacket, something the actor did without a second thought. More significantly, Sheen was able to go from playful to deadly serious, from a man of the people to the Commander in Chief on a dime in the President's rapid-moving world.
Rhys was similarly adaptable in The Americans, where he played a Russian spy who constantly donned various, impressively convincing disguises and personas. Through everything the role required of him, Rhys maintained a strong emotional core that allowed viewers to see how the exciting, fast-paced plot was affecting him on a deeper level, just as Sheen allowed Bartlet just the right amount of vulnerability.
Cillian Murphy
Leo McGarry
Played by John Spencer, Leo was President Bartlet's less personable, more life-hardened chief of staff. Where Bartlet was an economist and adept public speaker, Leo was a Vietnam War veteran with an addiction to alcohol and pills. Spencer believably embodied the character's relative edginess, while still feeling like the lovable, loyal friend and politician that he was.
Cillian Murphy has found the soft soul in characters much less likable than Leo. Peaky Blinders' Tommy Shelby was a fearsome, powerful gangster, but in the hands of Murphy, he somehow felt like the underdog, a constant, sobering reminder of the pain of war. Amidst this multifaceted darkness, Murphy's Tommy Shelby also had a lot of love to give as a father, a husband, and a brother.
In Peaky Blinders as well as Oppenheimer, Murphy played someone with the will, intelligence, and life experience to outsmart everyone around him while carrying the weight of what that victory would cost. This is exactly the demeanor of The West Wing's Leo McGarry, a world-class strategic mind who proceeds to do his best despite the heaviness of knowing that only so many battles can be won.
Jeremy Allen White
Josh Lyman
Jeremy Allen White would be, perhaps, a slightly less upbeat Josh than the iconic Bradley Whitford, but he certainly has Josh's self-described "you know, boyish thing." With his experience on Shameless and The Bear, White also excels at playing near-geniuses so distracted by their own thoughts that they are often only half-listening when being spoken to — a specific trait oddly applicable to Josh.
When imagining Josh, it's impossible not to think of "Noel," one of The West Wing's most famous episodes in which Josh spent an eight-hour therapy session doggedly avoiding the doctor's questions before finally being diagnosed with PTSD and told that he was in "nine kinds of pain." If The Bear's Carmy were dropped into that episode, it would likely play out the very same way.
Notably, Jeremy Allen White is set to star in the upcoming The Social Reckoning, Aaron Sorkin's sequel to his 2010 film, The Social Network. The dialogue that made The West Wing famous has been Sorkin's signature style across his projects. His casting of White in The Social Reckoning suggests a compatibility that would make the actor a strong fit for the show's trademark writing style.
Hannah Einbinder
CJ Cregg
Allison Janney is a class act, and her work on The West Wing was no exception. In a show that wasn't overpopulated with women, Janney's CJ was poised, funny, feminine, and strong, and none of these qualities detracted from one another. Hannah Einbinder has proven to be all of these things as well, though in a distinctly modern way that would befit a 2026 iteration of CJ Cregg.
Interestingly, The West Wing confirmed that, before the events of the show, CJ was an agent at a Hollywood PR firm. This backstory is surprisingly fitting for Einbinder, who has become known for her somewhat meta roles as a comedy writer in HBO's record-breaking Hacks and a Sundance darling writer/director in Jane Schoenbrun's Teenage Sex and Death at Camp Miasma.
Hacks and Einbinder deserved their Emmys for being laugh-out-loud funny, but what made the show truly memorable was the emotion behind the jokes. Throughout the show's run, Einbinder showed impressive comedic timing that was layered with subtext, significance, and personality, making her well-suited for a character primarily tasked with quick, off-the-cuff yet high-stakes banter with journalists.
Tyler James Williams
Toby Ziegler
Throughout The West Wing, Richard Schiff perfected the subtleties that revealed Toby's barely concealed passion that lay beneath his gruff exterior. Though he rarely emoted, Toby was arguably the show's most optimistic character. His muted, deadpan personality was, in fact, a defense mechanism to stave off the frequent disappointment that came with having such high hopes for the world.
He may be younger than Richard Schiff, but Abbott Elementary's Tyler James Williams embodies Toby's world-weary, cynical idealism in every scene he's in. Though it's in a sitcom setting, Williams' Gregory Eddie is someone who does the work to make the world a better place, while simultaneously feeling annoyed by the people around him and preferring to be alone or in the select company he enjoys.
Though all of Abbott's cast are passionate about education, Gregory is perhaps the character who makes the most tangible impact on kids' lives. He started the gardening club out of sheer passion, and it has proven to be a learning opportunity for its members many times over, with Gregory imparting wisdom and care to the students without ever cracking a smile, just like Toby.
Beyond Abbott Elementary, Tyler James Williams led Everybody Hates Chris and showed his dramatic acting chops in a ten-episode stint on The Walking Dead.
Patrick Ball
Sam Seaborn
Rob Lowe imparted to Sam an innocent, earnest passion so forceful he sometimes seemed on the brink of bringing himself to tears. He held himself, his work, and his country to high standards, and was a true public servant in that he, more than anything, wanted to help people.
Patrick Ball brings that same desperate need to do his job and do it well to The Pitt. Ball's Dr. Langdon has fought to return to the ER after the exposure of his drug addiction. Like Sam, who scandalously kicked off The West Wing by sleeping with a call girl, Langdon clings to his belief that his superior abilities in his field are the true measure of his contribution to the greater good.
Of course, it's worth noting that Rob Lowe's good looks and charm were a relevant facet of Sam's character. Patrick Ball has Rob Lowe's leading-man appearance, and the soulful eyes behind it that made Sam Seaborn more than just a pretty face.
Toheeb Jimoh
Charlie Young
The 21-year-old personal aide to the President was somehow innocent and life-hardened at the same time. When Dulé Hill's Charlie joined The West Wing, he was nervous, bright-eyed, and bushy-tailed when it came to his job. Yet even though we rarely, if ever, saw him outside of work, the loss of his parents and the responsibility of caring for his sister were clear in the way he carried himself.
Though Ted Lasso's Sam Obisanya was generally an upbeat, positive person, he faced heavier setbacks and personal challenges than most other characters, allowing Toheeb Jimoh to demonstrate his dramatic range. Like Charlie, Jimoh's Sam embodied the heartbreak of a young person who's been through things they couldn't possibly deserve.
Keri Russell
Dr. Abby Bartlet
As the lead in the Emmy-nominated The Diplomat, Keri Russell is at the forefront of the conversation when it comes to modern-day political dramas. In fact, The Diplomat has been compared to The West Wing for its portrayal of complex, high-level politics and the adept people who handle it. The West Wing parallels have only increased with the additions of Allison Janney and Bradley Whitford to its cast.
Russell's particular display of intelligence and no-nonsense competence gives her a unique likability, one born out of the respect and intimacy that comes from seeing her do her job well. Stockard Channing brought a similar feel to The West Wing's First Lady, a character who was, in every scene, simultaneously a respected doctor, a poised politician, a supportive wife, and her own individual.
Additionally, Russell has already been half of an on-screen power couple with Matthew Rhys, her real-life partner and our pick for a contemporary President Bartlet. Like Rhys, Russell's work on The Americans demonstrated incredible range, intensity, and a firmness in her beliefs that would serve her well as Abby Bartlet.
Ella Purnell
Donna Moss
Much like Fallout's Lucy MacLean, Donna Moss had a quaint Midwestern charm. Often used as an "audience surrogate," Donna's comparative ignorance in relation to the rest of the staff allowed The West Wing to explain its politics in more detail. Yet Donna was by no means dumb, and Janel Moloney found what made her special.
She played Donna as someone unabashed in what she doesn't know, consistently surprising in what she does, and, most importantly, an emotionally grounding presence for the rest of the team. Like the rest of The West Wing's cast of characters, Donna contained multitudes, and though she was just as wholesome as she seemed, she was also often more perceptive than she was ever given credit for.
Ella Purnell encapsulates that same bravado that is half naivete and half genuine strength. In both Fallout and Yellowjackets, Purnell has played a girlish, underestimated character who soon proved to be emotionally essential to everyone around her. Not only that, but in those shows' harsh worlds, Purnell projected an impressive resilience that, like Moloney's Donna, made her one to watch.