Charles Brooks

Charles Brooks is the sharp-dressed, quietly principled publisher heading Empirical Press when Liza Miller lands there passing herself off as a woman half her real age. He's her boss and, before long, the man she can't stop noticing — thoughtful, a little uptight, clearly still working through a divorce, and unaware his newest hire is lying to everyone in the building.

Peter Hermann plays him as genuinely decent rather than a romantic obstacle to be overcome, which is what makes the show's central lie sting instead of just amuse. Charles is dry, patient, a little formal — the straight man in a farce who doesn't know he's in one, and you like him too much to enjoy the deception.