- It’s Always Sunny in Philadelphia will return to our screens this July
- But who is in the main cast, and where will viewers have seen them outside of the show?
- Here’s what we know
It’s Always Sunny in Philadelphia has been on our screens since 2006.
And with season 17 about to drop on FXX, fans of the show can’t wait to see what The Gang get up to across the eight episodes.
If you’re not familiar with the show (where have you been?!), the series follows the antics of a group of narcissistic and sociopathic friends who run the Irish dive bar Paddy’s Pub in South Philadelphia.
However, rather than doing any actual work, they spend most of their free time drinking, scheming, arguing among themselves, and plotting elaborate cons against others (and each other).
But who is in the main It’s Always Sunny in Philadelphia cast, and what else may we have seen them in? Here’s everything you need to know.
Rob McElhenney
Starting our line-up is Rob McElhenney, who plays bouncer Ronald ‘Mac’ McDonald in the show.
McElhenney, 48, began his career in 1997, with a small part in the movie The Devil’s Own – though his role was cut out of the final edit.
Smaller parts followed, and then the actor took on more substantial roles in the films Latter Days and The Tollbooth.
Meeting Glenn Howerton and Charlie Day in LA in his mid-twenties, he wrote and executed the pilot on a $200 budget and pitched it to various cable networks – and, after choosing FX, the rest is history.
But a successful sitcom isn’t the only thing McElhenney gained from It’s Always Sunny – as it’s how he met his wife and mother to his two sons, Kaitlin Olson.
The actor plays Sweet Dee in the show – and McElhenney has admitted he became romantically interested in her “around season 2” of the series. The pair married in September 2008.
McElhenney has also made cameos in huge shows, such as Lost, Fargo and Game of Thrones, and made an appearance in the 2024 movie, Deadpool & Wolverine.
He co-created the Apple TV+ comedy series Mythic Quest, alongside his It’s Always Sunny co-star, Day.
Away from acting, McElhenney is also the co-owner of Welsh soccer team Wrexham FC, which he bought in 2020 with pal Ryan Reynolds. The duo are also part of an investor group that bought a 24 percent equity stake in the Alpine F1 Team.
And though they have Paddy’s Pub on the series, McElhenney and Olson also purchased Skinner’s Bar in Philadelphia in 2009 – which they have renamed Mac’s Tavern.
McElhenney, Day and Howerton also established an Irish American Whiskey company to bottle the spirit of Paddy’s Pub, named Four Walls – as a tribute to the four walls of the bar they call home on the show.
Charlie Day
Charlie Day is best known for portraying Charlie Kelly in the series – the janitor of Paddy’s Pub.
As mentioned, Day, 49, also created Mythic Quest with McElhenney, and the pair have many shared business ventures – including the It’s Always Sunny podcast, which they started with Howerton in 2023.
Away from the show, fans may recognize Day from many movies – including Horrible Bosses and Horrible Bosses 2, Going the Distance, Pacific Rim and Hotel Artemis.
His voice can be heard as Art in the Pixar animated film Monsters University, Benny in the Lego movies, and Luigi in The Super Mario Bros. Movie.
Day’s first feature directorial debut was released in 2023. The movie, titled Fool’s Paradise, stars himself and Ken Jeong, and features Ray Liotta, Kate Beckinsale, Adrien Brody, Common, Jason Sudeikis, Edie Falco and John Malkovich.
Like McElhenney, Day also has a special connection to It’s Always Sunny – as his wife has a recurring role in the show.
The actor met Mary Elizabeth Ellis – who viewers will recognize as The Waitress in the sitcom – in 2001, and they co-starred as incestuous siblings on Reno911! before the creation of It’s Always Sunny.
The pair married in March 2006, and welcomed a son in December 2011.
Glenn Howerton
Everyone’s favorite bartender (or so he’d like to think), Glenn Howerton has been starring as Dennis Reynolds since the show’s inception.
He started his career in 2002 on That ‘80s show, and went on to feature in a number of small roles, including as a guest star on ER as Dr. Nick Cooper in 2003.
After It’s Always Sunny landed, Howerton, 49, has also taken on recurring roles in many TV shows – including The Mindy Project, Fargo and House of Lies.
A major role came in 2018’s A.P. Bio, in which he played Jack Griffin, and it was announced in October 2022 that he would be voicing Fred Jones on the HBO Max animated series Velma. He will also star as Ethan Corbin II in the upcoming Netflix dark comedy series, Sirens.
Howerton co-starred with Jay Baruchel in a Canadian biopic on the rise and fall of BlackBerry, as one of its co-founders, Jim Balsillie.
Howerton married actress and dancer Jill Latiano in September 2009. They welcomed their first son in September 2011, and their second in 2014.
Kaitlin Olson
kaitlin olson's audition for sunny is very special to me, dee came so close to being just a female voice of reason but kaitlin wanted her to be just as fucked up as the others, she made dee. also rcg laughing in the bg is adorable, rob had no idea she was the future love of his… pic.twitter.com/pX3RLdwOIB
— female dennis reynolds (@FlVESTARWOMAN) September 19, 2023
Waitress and (sometimes) bartender Deandra ‘Sweet Dee’ Reynolds started out to be The Gang’s ‘voice of reason’ – but it didn’t last long!
And even though she didn’t know her co-stars before auditioning, Kaitlin Olson, 49, has been in the role since the beginning.
In 2000, Olson made her debut television appearance in the HBO comedy series Curb Your Enthusiasm as the recurring role of Becky, and went on to make guest appearances in The Drew Carey Show, Punk’d, Miss Match, George Lopez, Out of Practice, and The Riches.
Olsen had voice roles in numerous animated series, including Family Guy, Brickleberry, Bob’s Burgers, and The Simpsons. She also is also known as the voice behind Destiny, a nearsighted whale shark, in Disney’s animated sequel film Finding Dory.
Other movie roles include Weather Girl, Leap Year, The Heat, Vacation, and Coyote Ugly.
Olson starred as Mackenzie ‘Mickey’ Molng in the Fox sitcom The Mick, appeared in the dark comedy thriller Arizona and guest starred in the Netflix workplace comedy series Space Force.
She went on to appear as Cricket Melfi in the Quibi comedy series Flipped – which earned her a nomination for the Primetime Emmy Award for Outstanding Actress in a Short Form Comedy or Drama Series.
That isn’t Olson’s only Emmy nomination – as she picked up a further two nods in 2022 for her performance as Deborah ‘DJ’ Vance Jr. in the HBO Max comedy-drama series Hacks.
Since 2024, Olson has starred in the lead role of Morgan Gillory in the ABC crime drama series High Potential, a remake of the French-Belgian series HPI.
Danny DeVito
Look, some actors just don’t need any introduction – and Danny DeVito is one of them.
Bursting onto our screens back in 1975, DeVito – who plays Frank Reynolds in It’s Always Sunny – had his breakthrough three years later, as Louie De Palma in the hit series, Taxi.
Fans will recognize the actor, 80, for his roles in (deep breath): Terms of Endearment, Head Office, Ruthless People, Throw Momma from the Train, Twins, The War of the Roses, Batman Returns, Jack the Bear, Junior, Matilda, L.A. Confidential, The Big Kahuna, Big Fish, Deck the Halls, When in Rome, Wiener-Dog and Jumanji: The Next Level.
DeVito has also voiced roles in such films as Hercules, The Lorax, Smallfoot and Migration.
Alongside his glittering acting career, DeVito founded Jersey Films with Michael Shamberg in 1991, and Stacey Sher became an equal partner soon afterwards.
The production company is responsible for movies such as Pulp Fiction, Garden State, Freedom Writers and Erin Brockovich – the latter of which awarded him an Oscar nomination for Best Picture.
DeVito also owned Jersey Television, which produced the Comedy Central series Reno 911! – which Day and Ellis starred in together.
DeVito is married to Rhea Perlman – aka, his on-screen wife, Zinnia Wormwood, in Matilda!
The pair met in January 1971 – and moved in together two weeks later, before getting married in 1982.
Parents to their three children, they split in 2012, and reconciled their romance a year later.
After they separated for a second time in 2017, Perlman has revealed the former couple are closer friends than before, and have no desire to divorce.
DeVito is the newest member of The Gang – only joining It’s Always Sunny in the second season.
