Main

• Flex Alexander as Flexter Alexander "Flex" Barnes Washington (seasons 1–4; recurring season 5) – Flex was born to Richard and Eunice Barnes and is the oldest of three children. In high school, Flex met Nicole, who became his first serious girlfriend. Before that, Flex had a reputation with women that caused many fathers in his neighborhood to dislike him. At age 18, Flex got Nicole pregnant as a senior in high school and they got married. She gave birth to a baby daughter named Breanna when they were 19 years old. A year later, Flex and Nicole went their separate ways when Flex pursued a career in the NBA playing for the Los Angeles Clippers, New York Knicks and Orlando Magic. During a game, however, he blew out his knee and was sidelined. Luckily, he had a communications degree to fall back on (which he admitted he tried to get twice) and became a sportscaster in Baltimore for television station WYNX News 3. After his daughter stays over for two weeks, Nicole springs the news that she got a job in Nova Scotia and wants to take Breanna with her. Flex unwittingly volunteers to take care of Breanna, though it may hamper his bachelor lifestyle. After his divorce from Nicole, Flex had taken on a player persona and even had a 30-day rule, vowing not to date a woman for more than 30 days and run the risk of their connection becoming a romantic relationship. He broke that rule when he dated Natalie, Breanna's art teacher. However, they broke up a year into their romance because she wanted to be a good stepmom to Breanna rather than have children of her own. A year later, Flex began dating Danielle, a psychotherapist who initially did not want to date him because Flex and Brianna were her clients. Flex and Danielle eventually began dating and later became engaged. Around the same time, his show The Flex Files became syndicated. In season 5, the show's premise was revamped and Flex was phased out of the series, but he appeared occasionally as a recurring character. He would fly out to California to visit Breanna and to also make sure Arnaz was not trying to have sex with her.
• Kyla Pratt as Breanna Latrice Barnes – Breanna is the daughter of Flex Washington and Nicole Barnes, born when the two were 19. When Breanna finds out that her mother Nicole got a job in Nova Scotia, Breanna comes up with the idea to have Flex take care of her. During her stay with Flex, her best friend Spirit and she joined the cheerleading squad, which she initially would have never thought to try out for until the head cheerleader taunts her and tries everything she can to keep her from joining. Breanna has had several crushes, including Arnaz, one of her two best friends, who became an on-again/off-again love interest during the series, and in whom she did not show any romantic interest until the end of the first season. Breanna dated Josh, a handsome but dimwitted boy, who became part of a love triangle between Breanna, Josh, and Arnaz. Eventually, Breanna and Arnaz became a couple, only to break up when Josh and Arnaz' ex-girlfriend Ginger came up with a plan to break the two up, in which Breanna caught Ginger kissing Arnaz. During the third season, Arnaz and Breanna seemed to be on the way to getting back together until he revealed he was not a virgin one night when Breanna wanted to lose her virginity to Arnaz to stay popular with the cheerleaders (she did not go through with it after she found out). Then, Breanna decided to remain a virgin until she was ready to have sex, even if it was not until she was married. Breanna also kind of went out with a boy from her school, Nyghtmare, whose real name was Clayton. He was smart, but had a reputation as a bad boy. When Breanna found out, she said something that almost leads to a kiss. Flex saw them and prevented Breanna from seeing him. Nightmare explained to Breanna's father what was going on, and she could see him again, but he came in before Arnaz could tell her his feelings for her. In the next episode, he was not there; they just had an attraction to each other. By the fourth season, Breanna and Arnaz finally became a couple, but Breanna had to endure jealousy when Charlie, a French girl, joined Arnaz's band as the lead singer. Nothing happened between Arnaz and Charlie, because his heart was with Breanna. In the season 4 finale, Breanna and Arnaz broke up after Nicole came up with a plot to keep Breanna from making the same mistakes that she made with Flex when they were her age, after Breanna announced she was going to live with Arnaz, and Flex tried to convince Arnaz to let Breanna go to California to attend the California Institute of the Arts. Arnaz ran onto the plane that Breanna was taking to California to tell her he could not live without her. They eventually went to California, where they moved in with four other roommates: Cash, D-Mack, Lisa, and Sara. They broke up again when Arnaz and their roommate D-Mack's sister began getting closer. She began dating Calvin, a manager at McDonald's, only to break up because he thought that her heart was still with Arnaz. Breanna tells Arnaz she still loves him. She is later seen in bed with D-Mack at the end of the last episode (part 2), to whom she loses her virginity. Breanna is the only character to appear in every episode of the series.
• Robert Ri'chard as Arnaz Leroy Ballard – Arnaz is an aspiring rock musician and was born to a Caucasian mother and an African-American father, who left his mother and owns a crab restaurant (this is seen when Arnaz's parents are shown later in the series, but this contradicted a reference in the first-season episode "The Case of the Almost Broken Heart", in which Breanna stated that Arnaz's father was Caucasian and his mother was of mixed African-American, Jamaican, and Chinese descent). Arnaz had his own rock band called Zanra (which is his name spelled in backwards). Arnaz had a massive crush on Breanna when they met, and would stop at nothing to impress her. Towards the end of season 1, however, as he got her attention, his attention turned to Ginger, who became Breanna's rival. After Ginger and he broke up, Arnaz attempted to get Breanna back, but Breanna was dating Josh at the time. One Christmas, Breanna was given a half-heart pendant by Arnaz, who kept half of the pendant to show he would always keep Breanna close to his heart. In the season 4 premiere, Arnaz, Breanna, and Spirit ran off to New York to pursue their dreams (Breanna acting, Arnaz playing guitar, and Spirit designing). After three years of a "will they or won't they" situation between them, Arnaz and Breanna became a couple in the fourth season. A year later, Arnaz and Breanna's relationship hit the skids when their roommate D-Mack's sister Michelle (Brandy Norwood) visited, and eventually, Arnaz and Michelle became close friends. One night, the two fell asleep on the couch, Michelle was fully dressed and Arnaz is wearing pants but no shirt. Breanna and their roommates, Sara, D-Mack, Lisa, and Cash, walked in after returning from a party in Mexico and saw them. Though they had never done anything intimate, Breanna and Arnaz broke up. Eventually, Michelle and Arnaz did get together, but they went their separate ways after Michelle realized Arnaz's heart was still with Breanna. He thought differently, so he stole Breanna's car (with permission) and chased Michelle to the mountains. However, since the series did not make it to the sixth season, whether Breanna and Arnaz would eventually get back together remained undetermined.
• Sicily as Cloteal "Spirit" Freedom Jones (seasons 1–4) – Spirit is the daughter of Leilani and Cooper Jones, former Black hippies who run an incense shop. Spirit knew Arnaz since they were young children and became best friends with Breanna. Spirit has an quirky fashion sense, which has given her the distinction of being the "Black Blossom Russo." In one episode, Spirit was revealed to have once kissed Arnaz in a game of spin the bottle. The secret angered Breanna because she liked Arnaz, but the two friends apologized for the situation, as Breanna explained that Spirit was one of her few true friends. A running gag in the series is how Spirit never has a boyfriend. This changed in the fourth season when Spirit began dating A-Train (Lloyd), Arnaz's rival in a battle of the bands' contest. Their relationship strained Arnaz and hers for a while, but eventually, they mended fences. She did not appear in the final season.
• Kelly Perine as Duane Odell Knox (seasons 1–4) – Duane is a used-car salesman for Big Sal's Used Cars, who lived up to the stereotype that car salesmen cheat their customers. As he says in the episode "Playing Possum", he "eats sleaze for breakfast and washes it down with a tall glass of dishonesty." Duane was Flex's best friend since they were children. Duane had lived in his mother's basement well into his 30s, eventually moving into an apartment across the hall from Flex. He had an on-again/off-again relationship with Candace Taylor (known as Candy), a manicurist at Flex's father's barbershop Phatheadz. They first broke up after Duane lied to her about losing his job at Big Sal's. They later became engaged, but eventually broke off the engagement. When Duane found out he had a serious health issue (high cholesterol), he needed to contact his father, since his high cholesterol might be hereditary. He met his father, Vaughn Odell Knox (Smokey Robinson) after months of searching for him. Not long after, Vaughn asked Duane for a kidney, which turned out to be for Duane's half-brother Dwayne (Orlando Brown). After losing his car-salesman job, he started his own business, D's Dubs and Subs, which was a cross between a sandwich shop and a custom auto part shop. Throughout the series, Duane always wore a hat, because, when they were children, Flex's brother Kevin made a mistake while practicing his barbering skills on Duane, which in pain; this was revealed in the episode "Phatheadz". The character was written out of the series for season 5.
• Camille Mana as Lisa Sanchez (season 5) – The character of Lisa Sanchez was introduced at the beginning of season 5. Lisa is one of the four roommates with whom Breanna and Arnaz live when they move to California. Other than her roommates, she is somewhat overlooked by people, such as D-Mack's sister Michelle (Brandy Norwood), who is not remember her at all, though she lived with D-Mack. Lisa has had a long-standing crush on D-Mack, though he takes without interest in her. She eventually dates Benjamin, the handsome, nerdy manager of the BLOG, a restaurant hangout where Arnaz works.
• Jonathan Chase as Cash Bagan (season 5) – Cash is another of Breanna and Arnaz's roommates. Cash considers himself a filmmaker but works as a paparazzo to make money. Since the apartment has only two bedrooms, Arnaz is initially alarmed at the idea of sharing a room with Cash and D-Mack, but before long, the three become friends. Throughout the season, Cash chases women, and while he unlucky as he would like to be, he is more successful in his endeavors than D-Mack or Arnaz. At the end of one episode, in an amusing mirror of roommate Sara's usual behavior, Cash uses his toned body to entice a female hotel manager out of making them pay their bill.
• Ray J as Darrell "D-Mack" McGinty (season 5) – The character of Darrell McGinty, nicknamed "D-Mack", was introduced as one of the four roommates. D-Mack has a hip-hop persona, although his lifestyle as a Malibu rich kid comes out at times. He used his sister Michelle McGinty (Brandy Norwood) to become close to Arnaz, so he could date Breanna, but without success. He becomes upset to find out his sister and Arnaz are going behind everyone's back sneaking around together. Meanwhile, Michelle leaves Arnaz. He leaves, going after her to the mountains, leaving D-Mack and Breanna as the only ones left in the house. He questions her about being free, then unexpectedly kisses her. Later, Sara comes back to find them sleeping together in Breanna's bed. She panics, then leaves. The season is left with them together in bed.
• Nicole Paggi as Sara Crawford (season 5) – Sara is also one of the roommates and is the sexpot girl-next-door of the house. Sara is considered a white gold digger, and dreams of being a trophy wife since she grew up in a trailer park in Iowa. In the last episode, she dated Andrew, whom she met while Lisa and she accompanied Breanna to a clinic to get information on contraceptives (Breanna was prepared to have sex with Arnaz just to keep him from straying from her, but she did not), but his need to get to know Sara before having sex with her tired her to the point where she gave up on him. Her passiveness turned him on, but the next night, Sara caught Andrew with another woman.

Recurring

• Ron Canada as Richard, Flex's father (seasons 1–4)
• Joan Pringle as Eunice, Flex's mother (seasons 1–2)
• Marques Houston as Kevin, Flex's younger brother, who later runs the family's barbershop (seasons 3–5)
• Reagan Gomez-Preston as Bernadette, Flex's younger sister (season 2)
• Tamala Jones as Tanya, an old girlfriend of Flex's (season 1; guest season 4)
• Tichina Arnold as Nicole, Flex's ex-wife and Breanna's mother (seasons 1–3; guest season 4)
• Holly Robinson Peete as Stacy Morgan, Flex's boss (season 1)
• Jenny McCarthy as Holly Spears, Flex's co-host (season 3)
• Khanya Mkhize as Ginger, Breanna's rival and Arnaz's former girlfriend (seasons 1–3)
• Omar Gooding as Malik, a barber at Phatheadz (season 2)
• Laz Alonso as Manny, a barber at Phatheadz (seasons 2–3)
• Rashaan Nall as Walt, a barber at Phatheadz (seasons 2–4)
• Shondrella as Candy, a nail stylist at Phatheadz and love interest for Duane (seasons 2–4)
• Melissa De Sousa as Natalie Odessa, Breanna's teacher who later dates Flex (seasons 2–3)
• Josh Henderson as Josh McEntire, Breanna's new love interest after her break-up with Arnaz (seasons 2–3)
• Kim Coles as Leilani Jones, Spirit's mother (seasons 2–4)
• Edward "Grapevine" Fordham, Jr. as Ace Fields, a new barber at Phatheadz and later an intern on the Flex Files (seasons 2–4).
• Saskia Garel as Danielle, Flex's best friend and therapist, later girlfriend, then wife (season 4; guest season 5)
• Lloyd as A-Train (season 4)
• Kel Mitchell as Manny Sellers, the former child actor and Breanna's landlord (season 5)
• Ernie Grunwald as Benjamin (season 5)
• Brandy Norwood as Michelle, D-Mack's sister (season 5)

Notable guest stars