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Shiri Appleby as Rachel Goldberg, a producer on Everlasting who is brought back to the show by executive producer Quinn despite Rachel's breakdown during the previous season. Though conflicted by how she must lie to and manipulate the contestants, Rachel is a "closer" who thinks fast on her feet and knows exactly what needs to be done to create drama on the show. Meanwhile, she is drawn back to her ex-boyfriend Jeremy and finds herself getting close to the show's suitor Adam, but she later loses relationships to both of them. Rachel is later promoted to supervising producer, which is short-lived as Coleman is hired by the network as the new showrunner.

Constance Zimmer as Quinn King, Everlasting's scheming, demanding executive producer who pushes boundaries on the show to maximize ratings. She is having an affair with Chet, but their dysfunctional relationship is strained by his marriage and their work. She later gets promoted to showrunner until Chet returns, and their conflict results in the network hiring Coleman as the show's new EP and showrunner.

Craig Bierko as Chet Wilton, the eccentric and drug-using creator of Everlasting who is having a volatile affair with Quinn. His immaturity, vulgarity and callousness have given him a keen eye for what the audience wants, but his tremendous success has only fueled his self-destructive self-indulgence. He gets banned from work for his bad behavior behind-the-scenes, but later returns after adopting a healthier lifestyle, putting himself into direct conflict with Quinn. He also joins the men's liberation movement, and enlists Jeremy as part of his cause. The following season, he starts dating a swimsuit model named Crystal.

Jeffrey Bowyer-Chapman as Jay Carter, a gay producer on Everlasting who is initially one of Rachel's only friends. He soon crosses Quinn, and becomes more willing to step over the line in order to ingratiate himself to Chet. He later becomes jealous of Rachel for her job promotion, and grows frustrated by competing against a newly promoted Madison. He later produces his own show, Passport to Dance.

Josh Kelly as Jeremy Caner (seasons 1–3), a camera operator (later promoted to director of photography) on Everlasting, and Rachel's ex-boyfriend. Engaged to the show's make-up artist, Lizzie, at the beginning of the series, he still has unresolved feelings for Rachel. He briefly gets back together with Rachel, but breaks up with her after he finds out that she cheated on him with Adam. He returns to work on the new season a bitter and angry drunk over having his heart broken by Rachel.

Genevieve Buechner as Madison (seasons 3-4, recurring seasons 1–2), Quinn's meek production assistant who had oral sex with Chet and is later promoted to junior producer on Everlasting, and later to Junior Vice President of Non-Scripted at the network, working under Fiona Berlin. Through the rapid progression in her career, she quickly learns to become more confident and conniving to get what she wants. As Vice President, she also produces her own show, #Adulting.

Brennan Elliott as Graham (seasons 3-4, recurring seasons 1–2), the host of Everlasting.

Aline Elasmar as Shia (season 1), a producer on Everlasting who has a professional rivalry with Rachel. Initially earnest with her take on contestant storylines, she soon learns that she has to be more ruthless and manipulative—like Rachel—to compete and succeed. To this end, she gets Maya drunk and tampers with Mary's mood stabilizing medication, but loses control of the outcome. She is sent home after the last of her assigned contestants quits.

Michael Rady as Coleman Wasserman (season 2), an executive producer and new showrunner on Everlasting who was a documentary filmmaker prior to joining the show. He and Rachel become a couple and briefly date, but she worries when Coleman makes it clear he wants to destroy the show by publicly exposing its past crimes committed by the producers. He is later killed (along with Yael) by Jeremy when he rigs his car that crashes on the road.

Francois Arnaud as Tommy Castelli (season 4), a devious new producer on Everlasting who is brought in to handle the new games format for the show's All Stars season. He proves to be a match for Rachel's underhanded manipulation techniques, and eventually starts a relationship with her, leading to their engagement. In the series finale, Quinn scapegoats him as a rogue producer to protect Rachel.

Freddie Stroma as Adam Cromwell (season 1; guest star season 2), a rich British playboy and the "suitor" on Everlasting. He is reluctant to do the show, but is hoping the publicity will improve his "bad boy" reputation and help with his business ventures. As Adam becomes savvy to the producers' manipulations and what will make the show "better", he alternately plays along, and does some kindnesses to individual contestants. He also begins to develop an attraction to Rachel and has an affair with her, but it ultimately ends in heartbreak when he later finds out from her boss Quinn about her fragile mental health, and she convinces him to end his affair with Rachel.

B. J. Britt as Darius Beck (season 2), the first African-American suitor on Everlasting and a professional football player, who hopes that being on Everlasting will help polish his image after being involved in a public relations scandal.

Caitlin FitzGerald as Serena Wolcott (season 3), Everlasting's first female suitor who is a successful Silicon Valley venture capitalist, who comes on the show to seek a husband when she is tired of being single.

Johanna Braddy as Anna Martin (season 1), a bulimic contestant who works as an attorney. She almost leaves Everlasting when her father dies, but she is coaxed back by Rachel with feigned assurances that she will likely win.

Nathalie Kelley as Grace (season 1), a contestant who is a swimsuit model. She and Adam have an immediate sexual attraction, although Quinn does not see her as an acceptable winner for the competition.

Ashley Scott as Mary Newhouse (season 1), one of the oldest contestants who is a single mother with an abusive ex-husband. Quinn, finding Mary uninteresting, pushes her to step up her game, not knowing that Shia has tampered with Mary's mood stabilizing medication and given her alcohol. Bipolar and struggling with post-traumatic stress disorder, Mary begins to unravel under the pressure put on her by the manipulations of Rachel, Quinn, Shia, and Chet.

Breeda Wool as Faith Duluth (season 1, guest season 4), a contestant who is a shy and insecure Christian virgin.

Monica Barbaro as Yael/"Hot Rachel" (season 2), a contestant who is an undercover reporter (posing as a fashion blogger), and who the crew labels as a more attractive, less damaged, sane version of Rachel.

Denée Benton as Ruby Carter (season 2), an outspoken Black Lives Matter activist who joins Everlasting looking to use the show to promote her message and, against all odds, falls in love and ends up with Darius.

Kim Matula as Tiffany James (season 2), a contestant who is the wealthy daughter of an NFL team owner who hopes that being on Everlasting will help her step out of her father's shadow.

Meagan Tandy as Chantal (season 2), a contestant who is a beautiful and sophisticated southern debutante who is recovering from the death of her fiancé.

Bart Edwards as Jasper Hunt (season 3), a contestant who is a successful Wall Street investment banker who seems like he will make the perfect power couple with Serena.

Alex Hernandez as Owen Boyd (season 3), a contestant who is a firefighter and a single father looking for love.

Adam Demos as August Walker (seasons 3-4), a contestant who was a surfer who joined the Peace Corps to save the world. He returns for the show's All Stars season.

Alex Sparrow as Alexi Petrov (season 3, recurring season 4), a secretly bisexual contestant who is a "bad boy" ballet dancer and an ostensibly recovering cocaine addict. He returns for the show's All Stars season, and stars on Jay's new reality show Passport to Dance.

Natalie Hall as Candy Coco (season 4), an outspoken contestant who is a single mother and stripper. Although she had never been on the show before, she is invited to All Stars by Quinn as a cross-promotional tactic to market another reality show she's set to star in, Stripper Queens, under the pretense of her being a superfan of Everlasting.

Meagan Holder as Noelle Jackson (season 4), a fan favorite All Stars contestant who had previously been runner up on her original season. She hopes to have a second chance with her original season's suitor, Rodrigo, who is also set to be on All Stars.

Alejandro Munoz as Rodrigo (season 4), a flirtatious and charismatic soccer player, All Stars contestant and former suitor.

Gentry White as Romeo Beck (season 2), Darius' cousin and manager who moves into the Everlasting mansion with him.

Recurring

Amy Hill as Dr. Hillary Wagerstein (seasons 1–2), a therapist employed by the show who feeds the producers personal information about the contestants to better manipulate dramatic moments from them.

Martin Cummins as Brad (seasons 1–2), an executive at the network that airs Everlasting, who was later fired by the network after Chet returned to work.

Mimi Kuzyk as Dr. Olive Goldberg(seasons 1–3), Rachel's controlling psychiatrist mother.

Donavon Stinson as Dan, the assistant director of Everlasting.

Christopher Cousins as Gary Taylor (season 2–3), the president of the television network that airs Everlasting.

Tracie Thoms as Fiona Berlin (season 3–4), a high-end executive who is a lesbian and a close friend of Quinn since early in their careers. She later becomes the President of the television network after Gary is fired.

Tom Brittney as Roger Lockwood (guest season 1, recurring season 4), a friend of Adam's who appears on Everlasting as a guest. He rapes a contestant on the show, Maya. Rachel later invites him back for All Stars, despite him not being an actual contestant, hoping to manufacture drama surrounding the incident.

Natasha Wilson as Maya (season 1, season 4), a contestant who is a sommelier. Shia gets her drunk which results in Maya being raped by Adam's friend Roger. Rachel invites both her and Roger back for All Stars in the hopes that she would confront Roger on television.

Arielle Kebbel as Britney, a contestant whom Quinn brands "the villain" and is one of the first eliminated from Everlasting. Chet brings her back for the finale as a wild card.

Siobhan Williams as Lizzie, a make-up artist on Everlasting and Jeremy's fiancée until he breaks up with her on realising he still has feelings for Rachel.

Christie Laing as Shamiqua, a contestant who is a clerk for a Supreme Court Justice.

J. R. Bourne as Bill DeYoung, Quinn's former writing partner and ex-boyfriend, who is a recovering alcoholic.

Stephanie Bennett as Pepper, a contestant who is an elementary school teacher.

Sonya Salomaa as Cynthia Wilton, Chet's ex-wife.

Graeme McComb as Sam, the assistant director of Everlasting.

Andrea Brooks as Tanya, a contestant on Everlasting.

Natasha Burnett as Athena, a contestant on Everlasting who is hoping to use the publicity to open a salon. Jay encourages her to play up to the "black bitch" stereotype in order to get noticed.

BJ Britt as Darius, the “suitor” -a well known African-American football player who is trying to save his image after a soured interview with a reporter.

Ioan Gruffudd as John Booth, an optimistic and adventurous tech billionaire who owns the television network that airs Everlasting.

Karissa Tynes as Jameson, a contestant who is a police officer dedicated to her job, but she hopes that her chemistry with Darius will help fill the missing void in her love life.

Lindsay Musil as Beth Ann, a contestant from a small town in Alabama who speaks her mind without a filter, and is cast on the show to stir up controversy.

Monique Ganderton as Brandi, a shy contestant who overcame a traumatic past to become a mixed martial arts fighter.

Elizabeth Whitmere as Dominique, a contestant who is a professional basketball player and a serious contender for Darius since they have a lot in common as professional athletes.

Jessica Sipos as Hayley, a contestant who is a physical therapist and is sexually adventurous, loves yoga, and is a healer.

Sunita Prasad as London, a contestant who is an engineer with a conservative personality who joins the cast of Everlasting to explore her wild side.

Brandon Jay McLaren as Dr. Simon, a psychologist who was a former corporate crisis counselor who is hired by Quinn to work on Everlasting and to treat Rachel.

Melvin Gregg as Zach Taylor, a contestant who is a charming social media star.

Terry Chen as Guy Moretti, a contestant who is a tattooed chef who is looking for any way to get ahead on Everlasting.

Marcus Rosner as Warren Johnson, a contestant who is a rancher with a cowboy attitude.

Chelsea Hobbs as Charlie, a camera assistant on Everlasting and Jeremy's girlfriend.

Kassandra Clementi as Crystal, a swimsuit model and Chet's girlfriend.

Tyler Hynes as Billy Byrd, a contestant who is a race car driver who lives by his own traditional and conservative values.

Cameron Bancroft as Preston Palmer, an older contestant who is a Miami real estate tycoon.

Joe Abraham as Norman, a contestant who is a jockey and a very confident elite athlete.

Jaime Callica as Xavier Chopin, a dancer and Jay's boyfriend.

Christopher Russell as Jack, an All Stars contestant who is a pediatrician. He is a fan favorite on Everlasting, and had previously appeared on two seasons before being invited to All Stars. Rachel confides in him that he was the reason she became a producer on the show.

Meghan Heffern as Sofia, an All Stars contestant who was previously known as a sweetheart on her original season, but hopes to cultivate a more villainous reputation on her second time.

Alli Chung as Skye, an abrasive All Stars contestant who enjoys the limelight.

Karis Cameron as Naomi, an All Stars contestant who is Amish.

Samantha Cole as Emily, an All Stars contestant.

Greg Delmage as Luke, an All Stars contestant.

Maxwell Yip as Joe, an All Stars contestant.

Concept and characterization

Unreal is set behind the scenes of Everlasting, a fictional reality dating series operating similarly to The Bachelor. Dalene Rovenstine of Entertainment Weekly wrote, "UnREAL has comic moments, but is also twisty and dark in a way you hope isn't reflected by real-life reality shows." According to Noxon, the series is based on what really happens in the world of reality show production. Shapiro says, "Viewers want to believe in fairy tales, and those reality shows tap into that want. Our show dismantles that want." Adds Noxon, "We thought uncovering the behind-the-scenes machinations would make great stories, and we wanted to comment on the kind of bully culture of a lot of reality television." Shapiro says of the genre:

Contestants come in and think they can beat the game, but it's truly an unbeatable game ... You're ritually manipulated and charmed and edited beyond your control. Viewers think the contestants knew what they had signed up for. But they couldn't have. There's no way.

Writing for the Associated Press, Frazier Moore described the show's dynamic:

UnREAL dwells in the off-camera netherworld of a dating competition show ... where a handsome bachelor must choose among a bevy of hot, hopeful women each bucking for a fairytale wedding ... The week-to-week production process is anything but romantic. On the contrary, it's a callous game of bullying and illusion whose sole objective is outrageous narratives. That process of seduction is led by executive producer Quinn King ... a single-minded puppetmaster whose chief henchman is Rachel Goldberg ... a young producer whose task is to cajole, badger and play on the weaknesses of the show's participants to get the footage Quinn demands.

Jon Caramanica of The New York Times called Quinn and Rachel "architects of destruction—ostensibly of the people on camera, but really of themselves." Moore noted that, despite the contestants' expectations, "the game is fixed and the matchmaking premise is only a pretext ... [the contestants] are pawns in the Everlasting chess game, with Quinn, in her video-paneled master control, pronouncing which contestant is the designated villainess, which is the hot one, which ones are boring and should be bounced." Appreciating Rachel's "killer instincts" and manipulative skills, Quinn also "plays on Rachel's many weaknesses to keep her in line." Caramanica commented:

UnREAL doesn't exist just to send up reality television, or to pick at its scabs. Nor is it primarily a tell-all about the behind-the-scenes hands that shape reality-TV narrative ... Rather, UnREAL uses that access as a tool to ask questions about these sorts of programs: not just about how they operate—savagely, if its stories are to be believed—but also why participants on both sides of the camera subject themselves to them."