Ocean's Eleven Crew: Every Member and Role

The Ocean's Eleven crew is eleven characters, led by Danny Ocean and his old partner Rusty Ryan, who set out to rob a vault shared by three Las Vegas casinos. The casinos belong to Terry Benedict, who is dating Danny's former wife Tess. The specialists include Linus Caldwell (pickpocket), Basher Tarr (demolitions), Frank Catton (card dealer) and Yen (acrobat), and the job is timed for a big boxing match night, when the vault holds its most cash.

The original 1960 film worked differently: Danny Ocean and Jimmy Foster recruited nine more veterans, making eleven. For the wider cast, see Ocean's Eleven cast and crew and Ocean's Eleven characters.

Danny Ocean, played by George Clooney, is the leader of the crew. He walks out of a New Jersey prison on parole and goes straight to planning the Las Vegas robbery, which tells you how long he has been thinking about it. Clooney is billed first in all three Soderbergh films. For the character's full file, see Danny Ocean. Frank Sinatra played the same name in the 1960 original.

Rusty Ryan, played by Brad Pitt, is Danny's old partner and the man who helps him bring the specialists together. Pitt is billed second in Ocean's Eleven and Ocean's Thirteen, and third in Ocean's Twelve. In Twelve the story gives Rusty a past with the Europol detective Isabel Lahiri, which turns his history into a pressure point for the whole crew. More on him at Rusty Ryan.

Linus Caldwell, played by Matt Damon, is the crew's pickpocket. Damon holds the fourth billing slot in all three Soderbergh films, which makes Linus one of the steadiest presences in the ensemble. His hands are the crew's way into the casino owner's pockets, and the character page at Linus Caldwell follows him across the saga. In Ocean's Thirteen he works Abigail Sponder (Ellen Barkin), Willy Bank's assistant.

Reuben Tishkoff, played by Elliott Gould, is the retired casino owner who backs Danny and Rusty. He is billed ninth in Ocean's Eleven and fourteenth in both Ocean's Twelve and Ocean's Thirteen. He supplies the money and the Las Vegas know how, rather than the sleight of hand. His story carries all of Ocean's Thirteen, where Willy Bank pushes him out of a shared casino deal and Reuben collapses, so Danny gathers the crew for revenge. Gould also appears as Reuben in Ocean's Eight. See Reuben Tishkoff.

Saul Bloom, played by Carl Reiner, is one of the eleven specialists Danny and Rusty gather for the Las Vegas job. He is billed thirteenth in Ocean's Eleven and again in Ocean's Twelve, then moves up to tenth in Ocean's Thirteen. That makes him one of the longer serving faces in the crew. His profile sits at Saul Bloom.

Basher Tarr, played by Don Cheadle, is the crew's demolitions specialist. He is billed eighth in Ocean's Eleven and Ocean's Twelve, then rises to fifth in Ocean's Thirteen. In Thirteen the crew's drilling equipment fails, which is the setback that sends Danny to Benedict for money. The profile sits at Basher Tarr.

Frank Catton, played by Bernie Mac, is the card dealer who works inside the casino. He is billed eleventh in Ocean's Eleven, ninth in Ocean's Twelve and sixth in Ocean's Thirteen, so he gains ground in the credits with each sequel. Benedict's demand in Twelve covers him as well, because the casino owner tracks down every member of the old crew. Details at Frank Catton.

Livingston Dell, played by Eddie Jemison, is one of the eleven specialists on Danny's crew. He is billed tenth in Ocean's Eleven, twelfth in Ocean's Twelve and thirteenth in Ocean's Thirteen. He is part of the full eleven in every Soderbergh film, though his billing slides as new stars arrive. The character's page is Livingston Dell.

Yen, played by Shaobo Qin, is the acrobat on the crew. He is billed twelfth in Ocean's Eleven and fifteenth in both Ocean's Twelve and Ocean's Thirteen. The credits write the name as Yen in Ocean's Eleven and Ocean's Thirteen, and as The Amazing Yen in Ocean's Twelve. The character page at Yen covers his part.

Virgil Malloy, played by Casey Affleck, is one half of the Malloy pair on the crew, alongside Turk. He is billed sixth in Ocean's Eleven, seventh in Ocean's Twelve and eighth in Ocean's Thirteen. He returns in all three Soderbergh films, which keeps the pair together as part of the full eleven.

Turk Malloy, played by Scott Caan, is the other half of the Malloy pair, alongside Virgil. He is billed seventh in Ocean's Eleven, tenth in Ocean's Twelve and ninth in Ocean's Thirteen. With Turk the head count reaches eleven: Danny, Rusty, Linus, Reuben, Saul, Basher, Frank, Livingston, Yen, Virgil and Turk. Terry Benedict (Andy Garcia) and Tess Ocean (Julia Roberts) sit in the top five of the cast list but are outside the crew itself.

In Ocean's Twelve (2004), directed by Steven Soderbergh, the crew is the original eleven plus Tess Ocean, played by Julia Roberts, who joins the job in Europe. Benedict sets the clock with a two week deadline to repay the money, plus interest. The outsiders are Isabel Lahiri (Catherine Zeta-Jones), the Europol detective, and François Toulour (Vincent Cassel), the thief known as the Night Fox.

Ocean's Thirteen (2007) has no separate thirteen-person crew: the same eleven members from Ocean's Eleven work the job to avenge Reuben Tishkoff against Willy Bank (Al Pacino). Ellen Barkin plays Bank's assistant Abigail Sponder. Terry Benedict (Andy Garcia) returns, first as the old rival the crew must ask for money, then as a figure with plans of his own for Bank's diamonds. The crew plays the job for Reuben, not for profit.

The Ocean's Eight (2018) crew, directed by Gary Ross, is led by Debbie Ocean (Sandra Bullock), sister of the late Danny Ocean, with her partner Lou (Cate Blanchett). The rest are Rose Weil (Helena Bonham Carter), a fashion designer; Amita (Mindy Kaling), a jeweler; Nine Ball (Rihanna), a hacker; Constance (Awkwafina), a pickpocket; and Tammy (Sarah Paulson), a suburban fence. Daphne Kluger (Anne Hathaway), the gala host and target, agrees to join as the eighth member in return for a share. See Debbie Ocean.

The 1960 Ocean's Eleven, directed by Lewis Milestone, had eleven veterans of the same airborne unit, led by Danny Ocean (Frank Sinatra) and Jimmy Foster (Peter Lawford). The crew included Sam Harmon (Dean Martin) and Josh Howard (Sammy Davis Jr.), and the target was five casinos at once on New Year's Eve: the Sahara, Riviera, Desert Inn, Sands and Flamingo. The prep was military, with some men taking casino jobs, one driving a garbage truck and another working as a lounge performer. Nelson Riddle scored it.

Each specialty in the 2001 crew owns one stage of the job: Linus Caldwell works the pickpocket stage, Basher Tarr the power cut, and the whole team the vault replica and the SWAT-team entry. Start with the rehearsal: the team builds a replica of the vault, so every member practices a step before the night of the boxing match. Next comes the power cut, an electromagnetic pulse that blacks out the city. After that, the crew enters the vault disguised as a SWAT team and bags the cash, while Benedict's security staff watch a looped recording and think the vault is still guarded.

The neatest piece is how the pickpocket fits in, because Linus gets close to Benedict while the others prepare equipment and disguises. Basher's blackout gets the loudest hour, but the quiet jobs (the loop, the replica, the hand off) carry the plan. Compare the 1960 crew, which spread across five casinos and lost everything to a cremation, with the 2001 crew, whose money is already swapped out when Benedict has Danny jailed for violating parole. The earlier film is a military operation with an ironic end; the later one is a set of trades that all arrive on time.