The Housemaid Characters

A young woman living in her car after eviction and firing, desperate for a fresh start. She takes a live-in housekeeper job with the Winchesters while hiding her prison record, and is drawn into an affair with Andrew before discovering his violent, controlling nature. Her past includes a manslaughter conviction for killing a football player with a paperweight while defending a friend.

Arc: She begins as a desperate job-seeker trying to keep her head down, falls for Andrew, then becomes his prisoner in the attic. She turns the tables on him, lets him die locked in the room, and escapes to rebuild her life with Nina's help.

• Nina Winchester — her employer, later her ally and benefactor
• Andrew Winchester — her employer's husband, lover, and eventual captor
• Cecelia Winchester — the child she is hired to help care for
• Enzo — landscaper who warns her of danger and later watches over her
• Kelsey — former best friend she saved from assault
• Duncan — football player she killed with a paperweight
• Mr. Cavanaugh — math teacher who propositioned her and got his tires slashed
• Kyle — bartender who groped her and was punched by her
• Lisa Killeffer — woman who interviews her for a new housekeeper job

The wealthy wife who hires Millie, initially appearing controlling, jealous, and erratic. She is later revealed to be an abuse survivor trapped in a sadistic marriage with Andrew, and her strange behavior was part of an elaborate plan to escape. She ultimately takes the blame for Andrew's death so Millie can go free.

Arc: She moves from manipulated, imprisoned wife to strategic escapee, using Millie as a surrogate to win Andrew over. After Andrew dies, she covers up the death, moves to California with Cecelia, and quietly repays Millie.

• Andrew Winchester — her abusive husband
• Millie Calloway — the woman she hired and later helped escape
• Cecelia Winchester — her daughter
• Enzo — ally, friend, and later secret lover
• Evelyn Winchester — her disapproving mother-in-law
• Suzanne — former best friend who betrayed her
• Dr. Barringer — her therapist at Clearview
• Dr. Hewitt — her later therapist
• Dr. Gelman — fertility specialist she blackmailed
• Detective Connors — investigator who covers up Andrew's death

Nina's husband and Millie's employer, initially presented as handsome, kind, and reasonable. He is actually a controlling, sadistic man who locks women in the attic, gaslights Nina into a psychiatric hospital, and punishes Millie by forcing her to balance books on her stomach. He dies locked in the attic after Millie turns the tables on him.

Arc: He appears to be the sympathetic husband, then his abusive pattern is exposed through Nina's flashbacks. He becomes Millie's captor and is ultimately killed when Millie refuses to release him.

• Nina Winchester — his wife, whom he abuses and imprisons
• Millie Calloway — his employee, lover, and eventual captor
• Cecelia Winchester — the daughter he never adopted but raised as his own
• Evelyn Winchester — his mother
• Enzo — landscaper he fires
• Kathleen Connors — former fiancée

The Winchesters' landscaper/gardener who pretends to speak little English and warns Millie that the house is dangerous. He is secretly Nina's ally, helping her plan her escape because his sister died in an abusive marriage. He rejects Millie's advances and later becomes close to Nina.

Arc: He moves from silent outside worker to Nina's protector and lover. He offers to kill Andrew, helps Nina escape, and keeps watch over Millie after Nina leaves.

• Nina Winchester — friend, ally, and secret lover
• Millie Calloway — woman he warns and later checks on
• Andrew Winchester — his employer, who fires him
• Antonia — his late sister, killed by an abusive husband

Nina and Andrew's young daughter, often described as bratty, demanding, and strange. She claims a peanut allergy, refuses to go with Millie, and treats Millie rudely. She is later revealed to be a child who was used by Andrew to control Nina.

Arc: She goes from a difficult, unsettling child to a relieved and happier girl once her mother takes her away from Andrew and moves to California.

• Nina Winchester — her mother
• Andrew Winchester — the father she called her own, though he never adopted her
• Millie Calloway — housekeeper she resents and tests
• Evelyn Winchester — her grandmother

Andrew's mother, who babysits Cecelia and makes thinly veiled criticisms of Nina's parenting. She is cold toward Nina but at Andrew's wake tells Nina she is glad Nina taught Andrew a lesson, implying she knows the truth about his death.

Arc: She does not change significantly but serves as a witness to Andrew's behavior and a keeper of the secret around his death.

• Andrew Winchester — her son
• Nina Winchester — her daughter-in-law
• Cecelia Winchester — her granddaughter
• Robert Winchester — her husband

The detective who investigates Andrew's death. He questions Nina about the bruises on Andrew's body, then reveals that his own daughter was once engaged to Andrew. He uses a friend in the coroner's office to rule Andrew's death accidental.

Arc: He begins as an investigator and ends as a participant in covering up the true circumstances of Andrew's death.

• Nina Winchester — woman he questions and ultimately clears
• Andrew Winchester — dead husband whose death he rules accidental
• Kathleen Connors — his daughter, formerly engaged to Andrew

A woman Nina once considered her best friend, who gossips about Nina and jokes about Enzo. She betrayed Nina by telling Andrew what Nina confessed about the abuse. At Andrew's wake she offers sympathy, but Nina remembers the betrayal.

Arc: She remains self-interested and unchanged throughout the story.

• Nina Winchester — former best friend who betrayed her
• Andrew Winchester — husband she gossips about
• Enzo — landscaper she jokes about

One of Nina's PTA friends who complains about her cleaning and gossips about Nina's weight and mental health. At the supermarket she tells Millie about the tracking app Nina installed on Millie's phone.

Arc: She appears as a source of gossip and information, without her own arc.

• Nina Winchester — friend she gossips about behind her back
• Millie Calloway — woman she recognizes as Nina's girl and tells about the tracking app

A mother in the tap-dancing waiting room who offers Millie Advil and introduces herself as the waiting-room drug dealer. She tells Millie the rumor that Nina tried to drown Cecelia in a bathtub and was locked up in a mental institution.

Arc: She is a gossip and minor helper, with no personal arc.

• Millie Calloway — waiting-room acquaintance she gives Advil and gossip
• Nina Winchester — woman she calls crazy and jealous

Millie's parole officer, who conducts her monthly meetings and asks about her job, social life, and dating. She encourages Millie to build human connections and expresses pride in her adjustment.

Arc: She remains a steady, supportive professional figure in Millie's life.

• Millie Calloway — her parolee

Nina's therapist at Clearview Psychiatric Hospital. He explains that Nina's delusions felt real even if they were not, and holds sessions where Nina owns up to her actions.

Arc: He serves as the authority who gaslights Nina into doubting her memories of Andrew's abuse.

• Nina Winchester — her therapist at Clearview

Nina's later therapist, who presses her about her fear of the attic and advises her to visit it to take away its power.

Arc: He encourages Nina to confront the attic, but the confrontation is part of Andrew's plan to imprison her again.

• Nina Winchester — her therapist

The fertility specialist who tells Andrew that Nina cannot carry a pregnancy to term. He does so under blackmail from Nina, who has photographs of him with a woman who is not his wife.

Arc: He is a coerced participant in Nina's plan, with no change beyond yielding to the blackmail.

• Nina Winchester — patient's wife who blackmails him
• Andrew Winchester — the man he tells Nina cannot get pregnant

Andrew's father, who attends the wake with Evelyn and offers support to Nina. He becomes emotional, claps a hand over his mouth, and hurries out of the room.

Arc: He appears only as a grieving parent at the funeral and has no further arc.

• Andrew Winchester — his son
• Evelyn Winchester — his wife
• Nina Winchester — his daughter-in-law

Detective Connors's daughter, who was once engaged to Andrew long ago. She moved far away, changed her name, and has not dated a man since.

Arc: She exists only in backstory, but her experience with Andrew motivates her father to cover up his death.

• Andrew Winchester — former fiancé
• Detective Connors — her father

The mother of Sophia, who picks up Cecelia for karate on Wednesday. She calls Nina to verify the pickup arrangement after Millie tries to collect Cecelia.

Arc: She is a minor character who helps expose Nina's gaslighting of Millie.

• Cecelia Winchester — takes her to karate
• Nina Winchester — mother she calls to verify the pickup

An employee at Munch Burgers who calls Millie to say the position has already been filled. She hangs up while Millie is still pleading.

Arc: She appears in a single phone call and does not change.

• Millie Calloway — job applicant she rejects

One of Nina's PTA guests, who asks for gluten-free and vegan options and later mocks Nina's weight, roots, and mental health after Nina leaves the room.

Arc: She is a gossiping supporting figure with no arc.

• Nina Winchester — host she gossips about behind her back
• Patrice — fellow PTA guest
• Suzanne — fellow PTA guest

Supermarket security who watches Millie in the store and detains her as a suspected shoplifter. He checks her receipt against her cart and clears her, mentioning that a phone call described her as a possible thief.

Arc: He is incidental to Nina's plot to torment Millie and does not change.

• Millie Calloway — shopper he detains and clears

A woman interviewing Millie for a housekeeper job in the epilogue. She describes the housekeeping duties and toys with a kitchen knife while telling Millie that Nina Winchester recommended her.

Arc: She appears only in the epilogue as a potential new employer.

• Millie Calloway — candidate she interviews
• Nina Winchester — recommended Millie to her

In the prologue, the man who interviews Millie for a housekeeper job in his penthouse. He explains that his wife Wendy is ill and offers Millie the job.

Arc: He appears only in the prologue as Millie's potential new employer.

• Millie Calloway — housekeeper he hires
• Wendy — his ill wife

Douglas Garrick's wife, who is ill and resting in the guest bedroom during Millie's interview. She does not appear in the scene.

Arc: She is an offscreen figure connected to Millie's new job opportunity.

• Douglas Garrick — her husband

Millie's former best friend who was being assaulted by Duncan in a dark bedroom when Millie killed him with a paperweight. Afterward she never spoke to Millie again and looked at her with disgust.

Arc: She exists only in Millie's backstory and does not appear in the present.

• Millie Calloway — former best friend who stopped speaking to her
• Duncan — the football player assaulting her

A football player in Millie's memory who laughed drunkenly while assaulting Kelsey. Millie smashed a paperweight against his skull to save Kelsey, killing him.

Arc: He is dead before the present story begins, but his death defines Millie's criminal record.

• Kelsey — his victim
• Millie Calloway — the person who killed him

Millie's former math teacher, who told her she would fail the class unless she let him feel her up. Millie slashed his tires in response.

Arc: He appears only in Millie's backstory as an example of her history of violence.

• Millie Calloway — student he propositioned

A bartender who kept grabbing Millie's ass at his bar. Millie punched him in the nose.

Arc: He exists only in Millie's backstory, illustrating her violent past.

• Millie Calloway — woman he groped and who punched him

Enzo's late sister, who was killed by her abusive husband. Enzo fled Sicily after her death and later tells Nina her story, explaining why he feels compelled to save her.

Arc: She exists only in backstory, but her death drives Enzo's protective actions.

• Enzo — her brother

Nina's boss in a flashback who summons her to his office and shouts at her to clean herself up after she leaks breast milk. Andrew later calls him a jerk.

Arc: He is a minor flashback figure who sets up the meeting between Nina and Andrew.

• Nina Winchester — his receptionist
• Andrew Winchester — his boss and CEO, whom he resents

Nina's neighbor and babysitting-trade partner who watches baby Cecelia while Nina is at work.

Arc: She appears only in flashback as a helper to Nina.

• Nina Winchester — neighbor and babysitting-trade partner