Jack McFarland

John Phillip "Jack" McFarland (born in 1969) is a character on the American television sitcom Will & Grace, played by Sean Hayes.

A camp homosexual, Jack has always had a passion for acting and the theater, although many people doubt his abilities in this area. He is very whimsical, changing careers rapidly from department store salesman to acting teacher to student nurse to back-up dancer for Jennifer Lopez and Janet Jackson. Although he considers all his relationships serious, he has only had one relationship that lasted longer than a few weeks, and even it ended with him cheating (see below).

Jack is unashamedly vain and self-absorbed, with an adoration of all gay icons, particularly Cher, of whom he has a rare doll. He also collects hair of celebrities, including a complete collection of the actresses from The Golden Girls, Bernadette Peters and — as of season seven — Patti LuPone.

Jack was raised by his mother Judith (Veronica Cartwright) and stepfather Daniel (Beau Bridges), the former of whom did not know he was gay and the latter of whom was not close to him. During college, he befriended Will Truman (Eric McCormack) and helped Will realize his own homosexuality. They have been close friends ever since.

When the series began, Jack was homeless and moving in with Will, but when Will took in his best friend Grace Adler (Debra Messing), Jack agreed to sublet Grace's apartment — although Will, Karen (see next paragraph), and his mother paid the rent.

Since the first season, Jack has established a close bond with alcoholic socialite Karen Walker (Megan Mullally), who chooses to work merely for something to do. At the end of season one, Jack agreed to marry Karen's maid Rosario (Shelley Morrison) to secure her green card. After a year together, the marriage was annulled when Rosario wanted to date Karen's gardener.

In season 3, Jack undertook a search for his real father, ending when he discovered his father had died. He did, however, meet Elliot (Michael Angarano), his biological son, whom he fathered by depositing at a sperm bank as a teenager so he could buy a coat. He later discovered the boy's mother Bonnie (Rosie O'Donnell) is a lesbian; she was a nurse at the sperm bank who stole Jack's deposit and was inseminated with it.

Jack's most established career was when he took over the class of his acting teacher Zandra (Eileen Brennan) after she got fed up with his lack of talent. After he took everyone's money and left, another student took over the class and began teaching the "McFarland method" ('acting is attracting') without Jack's knowledge. He trained to be a student nurse, but ultimately gave it up when, during Karen's fourth wedding, he met Jennifer Lopez and became her back-up dancer, a career that fizzled out.

In the seventh season, Jack earned himself a proper career as a producer on OutTV, a new gay television network. By season's end, his profile had risen to the point where he was given a talk show of his own to host.

His longest relationship was with Stuart Lamarck (Dave Foley), which lasted several months during the sixth season, until Jack cheated on Stuart.

Jack is also the owner, or former owner, of a dog (Klaus Von Puppy) and a parrot (Guapo). He lives across the hall from Will and Grace, and in his spare time operates a one-table café, Jacques', in the hallway outside his door.