open/close all folders
Jason and Company
Jason Shepherd
Frankie Muniz
- Brilliant, but Lazy: His lack of dedication to school and homework is what kicks off the plot, but shows throughout the film that he does indeed have the mental capability to be a good student if he put the effort into it. He's able to come up with the most ingenious strategies to steer events towards his favor and his tall tales, though not necessarily believable, are very imaginative and creative. He was even able to write a creative writing story that was good enough for Wolf to plagiarize as a big budget Hollywood movie.
- The Cassandra: Caught saying so many lies that when he is telling the truth (even if it's too weird to believe) only his best friend believes him.
- Crying Wolf: He does this quite literally.
- Determinator: Flew to Los Angeles with Kaylee to confront Marty to get his paper back is the only way to convince his parents that he's telling the truth.
- Hero with Bad Publicity: He's lied to a lot of people, and struggles to gain their trust. (Not so those who have an ax to grind with Marty Wolf.)
- Heroic BSoD: Jason breaks down when he tried everything to stop Marty and admitting the truth only too make matters worse and in the brink of giving up.Kaylee: You know what the worst part of this whole thing is? Wolf is just going to keep getting away with it. He treats all these people like dirt, and no one has the guts to stand up to him!Jason: Forget it, Kaylee.Kaylee: I can't forget it! It just makes me sick that your parents are never gonna know that you wrote that story!Jason: What are we supposed to do? My parents are gonna be here in the morning! We tried everything. It would take an army to get Wolf to admit the truth!
- Innocent Blue Eyes: It ain't Jason Shepherd without Frankie Muniz's blue eyes!
- Jerk with a Heart of Gold: He may be a chronic liar, but he's also kind and helpful.
- Keet: Sometimes Jason can be this, especially when he drank too much Coca-Cola.Kaylee: What's with the Cokes?Jason: The machine, it's rigged. They're free. (hysterically laughing) They're free!
- Late for School: After Jerk Jock Bret takes Jason’s skateboard, he goes rushing on foot to school only for Ms. Phyllis Caldwell to shut the door in front of him. Same when he took a bicycle when he needs to go back to school to submit his handwritten essay.
- No Escape but Down: After Marty’s Villainous Breakdown, the only way for Jason to escape from the chase is to jump off the 4-story building. Fortunately, he landed safely on an airbag.
- Platonic Life-Partners: Doesn't really have any visible romantic feelings for Kaylee, she's just his best friend.
- Pragmatic Hero: Not above using cunning and manipulation to get what he wants, but he does know that lying can get really bad, and is making an active effort to stop doing it by the end.
- The Prankster: He’s accountable for the pranks and mishaps Marty fell victim into.
- "Well Done, Son" Guy: Wants nothing more than to get his parents' trust back. He does.Harry Shepherd: You did all this just to prove you weren't lying?
Jason Shepherd: I wanted to earn your trust back, Dad.
Harry Shepherd: You've earned it, buddy. You've earned it.
Kaylee
Amanda Bynes
Jason's best friend, who tags along with him to Hollywood to get his credibility back.
- Genki Girl: Kaylee really has an upbeat personality.
- Girl Friday: To Jason.
- Nice Girl: Very polite and kind, especially towards Jason.
- The Not-Love Interest: She serves as this to Jason.
- Platonic Life-Partners: Doesn't really have any visible romantic feelings for Jason, she's just his best friend.
- The Straight Man: Acts as this to Jason, showing him how outrageous some of his ideas are.
Harry & Carol Shepherd
Michael Bryan French & Christine Tucci
Jason's parents, who are both fed up with his lies. The one time he tries to tell the truth, they don't believe him.- Good Parents: They really would like Jason to not be such a chronic liar, though.
- I Have No Son!: Downplayed, but part of why Jason seems more interested in proving he's telling the truth to his father than his mother is because when he first pleads to his parents to believe him about Wolf stealing his story, his father sadly says, "I can't. I just don't trust you right now." Jason describes the way he looks at him as if he wasn't even his son anymore.
- Small Role, Big Impact: They don't appear much in the film, but Harry chastising Jason about his lying habit by saying that "making up stories seems to be [his] God given talent," is what inspires him to write "Big Fat Liar."
- So Proud of You: Jason's parents are quite pleased with the effort Jason went to just to clear his name with them, as say he's earned their trust back.
Marty Wolf Pictures
Marty Wolf
Paul Giamatti
Click here to see Marty after his skin is dyed blue.
An arrogant, greedy, unscrupulous Hollywood producer who steals Jason's story, and a massive Jerkass to everyone who works for him.
- Animal Motifs: Wolves, obviously. The logo for his movie studio is a closeup of a wolf's face, and he uses "Hungry Like The Wolf" as his de facto Villain Song. Deleted scenes also imply that he "preys" on young actresses, a la the Big Bad Wolf.
- Asshole Victim: He spends the second half of the movie getting constantly hurt and humiliated, but, given what he's like, it's impossible to feel bad for him.
- Bad Boss: Treats all of his employees like total crap.
- Berserk Button: Tricking him, making a fool out of him (which is pretty easy, but still), all that.
- Big Bad: His theft of Jason’s paper to use for his next big movie is what drives Jason to try to get him to admit to his plagiarism.
- Butt-Monkey: A big target of Jason's mishaps.
- Cloud Cuckoo Lander: Marty is typically one especially when he has Mr. Funnybones with him.
- Color Motif: Blue. He has a blue car, the song “Blue” playing from his car, and at one point his skin is turned blue.
- Compulsive Liar: He will never tell the truth. Only when he's been manipulated to do so.
- Cool Car: His favorite blue Jaguar XKR convertible until the wreck.
- Disproportionate Retribution: In a textbook example, when Frank Jackson, an aspiring actor, requested if he could be in one of Marty's movies back when he chauffeured the latter* . Marty, as Frank points out, could have simply refused him, but instead went for not only firing Frank but humiliating him by writing "Loser!" across his headshot and faxing it to every casting director in L.A., essentially blacklisting Frank before his career could even take off.
- Dreaded Kids' Party Entertainer Job: In the final scene. Now working as a party clown, Marty Wolf finds himself assigned to perform at a birthday party. When he announces his presence, none of the attendees have any reaction. But then he is greeted by... the last unaccounted-for (and only indirect) victim of his Bad Boss reign: Masher. Turns out the birthday boy is his son; when he tells Little Mash to "show him your nutcracker," the attendees all erupt in cheers. And yes, Marty's reaction indicates the "nutcracker" was a success.
- Entitled Bastard: Marty Wolf's obsession to demean and insult everyone around him, even those like Monty who are all but stated to have made his name in Hollywood, makes him nothing less than this. Even when its made expressly clear that his career is on a knife edge and that Jason would walk away to let him continue work on Big Fat Liar if he would just call Jason's dad to confess, Marty twice refuses it even after the former helps the production from being shelved. He also treats the decline of his productions as something like a minor inconvenience despite Universal's new president barely hiding his contempt for the producer, especially after the utter failure of Whitaker and Fowl.
- Evil Is Petty: All Jason wants is Marty to make a small confession to his father. But Marty is such a dick, he won't even do that.
- Failed a Spot Check: He doesn't notice that his skin has been dyed blue until he's partway through his shower, after coming out of the pool.
- Fatal Flaw: Marty has a bad combination of extreme arrogance and contempt for those around him. He constantly feels the need to put his employees down. Despite knowing Jason has the means to make his life very miserable, he still feels the need to torment and bully the kid, despite Jason only wanting him to make a small confession to his dad. After putting Wolf through a final round of torment, Jason is able to manipulate him into loudly confessing his deception in public, destroying what's left of his reputation. The reason Jason was able to do this was that his employees got sick of his abuse.
- Freudian Excuse: Deleted scenes reveal that Wolf had a miserable childhood in a small town and his pet stuffed monkey is all that he has left of it, and it's implied he's moved back to that town at the end. These scenes were likely cut so as not to try and excuse Marty's awful behavior, especially when Jason really isn't that much morally superior.
- Ignored Epiphany: Briefly calls after Jason when he accidentally leaves his essay in the limo, but once Marty sees the actual story, he also sees the potential and the rest is history.
- Hated by All: Nobody likes this guy. Even the kids. And with valid reason.
- Hate Sink: He is selfish, ignorant, and careless toward others, including Jason, his rival.
- Hidden Depths: For all his wretched habits, Marty does have a pretty creative and artistic mind when he puts in the effort. At the party to promote Big Fat Liar, Marty takes control of the event from Jason and manages to woo the crowd enough that his boss gives him one more chance.
- Hoist by His Own Petard: Ultimately, he's manipulated by his employees into fessing up that he stole Jason's story.
- Jerkass: Towards everyone under him, and to Jason. But what really seals the deal is what he does when Jason helps him get people excited for Big Fat Liar, only asking that he calls his parents and tells them that he took Jason's story. Not only does he not call Jason's parents, but he calls security on him and Kaylee and gloats that he'll never tell the truth. This bites him hard in the end.
- Jerk with a Heart of Jerk: He does this twice to Jason.
- When he takes out Jason's paper of Big Fat Liar, it looks like he's going to give it back to him and call his dad and confess he stole it, but then he lights a cigar and he purposely drops the lit cigarette on the paper burning it and he puts it out with vodka and has Jason escorted out by his guards.
- When Wolf makes a deal with Jason that if he helps him make a good production on Big Fat Liar, he'll call his parents and confess that he stole his written story, however when he does, Marty takes out his phone and pretends to call his dad and instead calls his security guards to escort him and Kaylee off the studio and gloating in victory.
- Karmic Butt-Monkey: Wolf goes all of misfortune throughout the second half of the movie, which is deserved for his own lying and cruelly towards everyone around him.
- Kick the Dog: It's easier to list a scene in which this doesn't happen. For added emphasis, his secretary is a dog lover with the family name Barker and while otherwise never shares any screen time with Marty, her genuine thanks of Kaylee for arranging a relaxing day off really encapsulates that the guy does not deserve nearly all the success he has.
- He fired his chauffeur and went beyond by faxing his headshot all over the Orange County with a scribbled insult written over the latter's mug to ensure he'd never find acting work. As Frank, the chauffeur in question, points out, this was all for the "offense" of asking if he could appear in one of Wolf's films, of which the megalomaniac could have simply said "no".
- His most despicable act would be his refusing to allow his stunt coordinator a day off to take his granddaughter to a birthday party, even tearing up the invitation and telling him he can take off "in a year or two when you're DEAD!"
- Large Ham: Never hesitates to raise his voice and act outlandishly.
- Laser-Guided Karma: Marty gets the boot for all his troubles at the end, with his production studio being closed for good. Additionally, his public confession and subsequent firing destroy his reputation, rendering him unhireable in the film industry and ending his career. Also, given to his final fate working as a birthday clown, it's likely that he was forced to spend his entire fortune and assets to reimburse for his acts of theft and copyright infringement to avoid going to prison. Also, Big Fat Liar is made without him in a better direction, utilizing the talents of everyone he mistreated and abused, becoming a massive success. And finally, Wolf gets subjected to humiliation and abuse by many of his child clients, starting ironically with the son of The Masher, who gives him a cringe-worthy Groin Attack.
- Laughably Evil: He's an abusive dick...but between his obsession with his monkey and his over-the-top nature, he's an abusive dick that's quite memorable.
- Manchild: He has a stuffed monkey that he plays with and talks to like a real person.
- Manipulative Bastard: Lies to everyone and uses emotional manipulation to keep his employees in line. It bites him hard in the end when they all turn on him.
- Mistaken for Clown: When in his oranged and blued-up form he's sent to a birthday party in a mansion full of rowdy sadistic kids ("it's the clown, let's hurt him!").
- Nice Job Fixing It, Villain: His loud confessional taunt gets Caught on Tape, proving Jason that he's telling the truth.
- The Nicknamer: Often with stealth insults, but never flowery ones. If you're up in your years, he'll call you "Grandpa" or "dinosaur," for starters. If you're a bit on the heavy side, You Are Fat comes into play. Asian? "Confucius say..." That.
- Politically Incorrect Villain: As mentioned with the above trope, he isn’t above telling an elderly man that the effects looked better “in 1942 you Dinosaur!”, and mocking the Asian director with the phrase “Confusious say...”, as well as making sexist remarks towards his secretaries. Additionally, impatient to get to a film set, he refers to Frank, “Hurry up, Ricky Retardo!” and he's borderline racist in how he dresses down Jaleel (even worse during the deleted scenes where he awkwardly tries to act black to Duncan).
- Prima Donna Director: Technically a producer. Hoo-boy. His temper surpasses James Cameron's! Amusingly enough, the actual in-universe director of Big Fat Liar, Dustin "Dusty" Wong, is himself actually more of a Reasonable Authority Figure and spends much of the film as one of Marty's chew toys.
- Professional Butt-Kisser: To Marcus Duncan. He does everything he can to stay on his good side, including lying of course.
- Sanity Slippage: Gradually and played entirely for laughs as Jason's pranks on him escalate. After his "forced evac" of the copter, his hair becomes ruffled and stands on end while his eyes are huge and buggy. It only gets worse when Jason reveals he has Mr. Funnybones.
- Shadow Archetype: He represents the kind of person Jason could become if he never stopped weaseling his way out of responsibility.
- Ungrateful Bastard: Jason helps Wolf make the BFL premiere party a smashing success and restore the latter's career to impress Mr. Duncan. How does Wolf repay him? Go back on his promise once again and instead have security escort him and Kaylee out.
- Villain Ball: All Marty had to do was call Jason's parents and tell them that Jason wasn't lying about making the story. He didn't want any credit or money for the film, he just wanted to get his parents' trust back. If Marty just called that he would have been a successful movie director again and Jason would have left without any fuss. Instead he lost everything and is reduced to a party clown.
- Villain Song: He doesn't actually sing it, but he uses "Hungry Like The Wolf" by Duran Duran as his personal theme song.
- Would Hurt a Child: He goes ballistic when his plagiarism is exposed and charges after Jason screaming "I AM GOING TO GET YOU, SHEPHERD!!!" Who knows what would've happened if Jason hadn't had that float prepared when he jumped.
Monty Kirkham
Amanda Detmer
- Big Eater: She is shown to be eating different food throughout the movie and yet still retains a relatively slim girth.
- Deus ex Machina: Monty pulls a Heel–Face Turn and decides to help Jason and Kaylee after giving up on trying to admit Marty the truth by giving them one last fight, alongside the team that Marty has abused.
- The Dragon: Of Marty Wolf.
- Everyone Has Standards: Despite her reservations working with Wolf, she has no qualms keeping her job. But upon learning that Wolf stole Jason's story and refused to admit it to Jason's family, she finally decides to help Jason and the others get their payback at Wolf for this.
- Heel–Face Turn: She was never "evil" so to speak, but she did have to work for Marty, however much she hated it. That is until she learned that Wolf plagiarised Jason's story and that he refuses to take responsibility for it.
- Mistreatment-Induced Betrayal: When Wolf betrays Jason's promise to call his dad after the latter helps him get people excited for the movie, she decides that enough is enough.
- This Is Gonna Suck: Monty's expressions when Marty "concedes" to Jason and later when he calls "Jason's dad" all but state that she knew in her gut that her boss wouldn't follow through. It, fortunately, convinces her that "enough is enough" and helps the kids to take down Marty.
- Tsundere: Type B. She's very mellow and hardworking but can be very harsh when stressed, especially with Marty's tirades.
- Unlimited Wardrobe: She wears numerous stylish outfits over the course of the movie. It's pretty justified, considering that she works in Hollywood.
Jaleel White
Jaleel White
- Adam Westing: Jaleel White plays himself as a man frustrated by his reputation as Urkel, and wanting to escape it.
- As Himself: Not only is Jaleel playing himself, but his previous filmography is also worked into his character.
- Berserk Button: Being called Urkel. Not only does Marty Wolf do this repeatedly, but he also threatens him with being forced to wear the Steve Urkel outfit.
- Subverted in his last scene with Wolf as he dumps the latter into the middle of the desert as part of Jason's plan to expose Wolf. Upon phoning Jason about his success, Jaleel happily declares "Urkel is out!".
- Cool Car: During the climax, Jaleel drives a black BMW Z3 to transport Marty only just to get him lost. He states it was the one perk of being Urkel.
- Former Child Star: Of course, but he doesn't appreciate being called Urkel.
- I Am Not Spock: As mentioned before, he doesn't like when people call him Urkel In-Universe.
Hollywood
Marcus Duncan
Russell Hornsby
- Armor-Piercing Question: To Marty when he finds out he was plagiarizing Jason's paper for a film.Marcus: You stole this idea for this movie from a 13-year-old boy?
Marty: He's... uhhhh..... he's 14. - Benevolent Boss: The moment he gets proof that Marty has committed a flat-out crime he fires the douchebag and continues the production of "Big Fat Liar" with Jason getting a "Story By" credit.
- Big Good: He's in a position of great power in Hollywood, and also does his best to make worthwhile movies while keeping his employees content.
- No-Nonsense Nemesis: To Marty Wolf.
- Reasonable Authority Figure: Pulls funding on Big Fat Liar when Whitaker & Fowl proves to be a
Box Office Bomb. When Marty Wolf uses his charisma to sway people into wanting to see the movie, he only begrudgingly gives him a second chance. And when it comes to light that Wolf stole Jason's paper, he fires him immediately. - Scary Black Man: Downplayed. He's a very strict man as president of Universal Studios but he's very calm and doesn't lose his temper when angered.
- Tranquil Fury: Shows this to Wolf after the latter is exposed for stealing Jason's story.Marcus: This is the end of the line, Wolf. It's over.
Frank Jackson
Donald Faison
- As Himself: Averted, despite the fact that he easily could have just been Donald Faison as a famous actor.
- The Big Guy: He sides with and aids Jason and Kaylee in their mission and watches their back.
- Dark and Troubled Past: Has years of a troubled history with Marty, which explains his struggling persona. Specifically, he was fired by Marty as his chauffeur and then blacklisted from the entertainment industry for the grave offense of asking the producer if he could appear in one of his movies (''appear'' not ''star''). Frank spells out that Marty could've simply turned him down but instead took said request as an offense to his ego and torpedoed Frank before he even got off the ground.
- Earn Your Happy Ending: After a Dark and Troubled Past, Frank comes from struggling actor to finally become the lead character for the In-Universe movie Big Fat Liar without Marty’s involvement.
- Gosh Dang It to Heck!: Enforced and lampshaded."Now I've got some R rated dialogue for you, but I'm gonna keep it PG, I'm gonna keep it PG!"
- Saying Sound Effects Out Loud: Frank imitated a failing car ignition towards Jason and Kaylee as a sign of losing his job since they owe him $100 for the ride."Hear that? I said 'atuhtuthtuhtuhtuhtuhtuhtuh'!"note
Other Characters
Ms. Phyllis Caldwell
Sandra Oh
- Pet the Dog: Ms. Phyllis is proud of Jason when he receives credit for writing the original story in the movie.
- Stern Teacher: She just simply tells Jason to write an essay. HANDWRITTEN in 3 hours or he will fail and go to summer school.
Bret Callaway
Taran Killam
- The Bully: Obviously. He targets Jason frequently.
- Disguised in Drag: Has to pose as Kaylee for his visit with Grandma Pearl.
- Jerk Jock: Well, he loves skateboarding, plus his arrogant persona.
- Odd Friendship: With Grandma Pearl when he's pretending to be Kaylee. They bond over fitness and exercise together.
- Pet the Dog: Bret also is proud of Jason when his name appeared in the movie and genuinely enjoys his time with Grandma Pearl. Must have taken a day to complete Character Development.
The Masher
Brian Turk
- Berserk Button: Upon seeing the bump on his tire, he gives out a furious tirade:"OH... MY... GOD! I WILL KILL YOU!"
- Big "OMG!": Twice. First when Marty bumped his tires then second at the ending when Marty shows up at his house as a clown. Both of them are Punctuated! For! Emphasis!
- Cool Car: A GMC Sierra monster truck with his name on it.
- Disproportionate Retribution: The Masher destroys Marty's car after the latter simply bumps into his tires.
- Jerkass: Even more than Marty! (Though, judging by his son's birthday party, he does turn out to be a sympathetic example.)
- Large Ham: Yep. Emphasis on the "large" part.
- No Indoor Voice: For a tough guy that loud.
- The Strongman: With that kind of a Cool Car and those kinds of tights, hard not to be.
- Only Known by Their Nickname: Throughout the movie, it's the only name we hear of him.
- Pre-Mortem One-Liner: Has this before The Masher slowly plows and wrecks Marty’s car.The Masher: Who's the tough guy now, pal?
