The Characters
These people? They’re not made-up. They’re flesh and blood—flawed, funny, fearless, and sometimes full of it. Every name in Brooklyn Grit carries weight, because behind every one is a story that shaped me. Family, friends, foes—they all left a mark. Some broke my heart. Some saved my life. Some did both.
This isn’t fiction. It’s real life. Raw, loud, messy, and full of grit.
Come meet the cast. Just don’t expect sugarcoating. I don’t do that.
Gina DeVito (Lead – Lawyer, Bodybuilder, Single Mom, Brooklyn Firecracker) Gina is here to transform pain into power and stories into soul medicine—for herself and for others. She carries a rare mix: street-smarts and heart-smarts, legal acumen and spiritual insight, fight and grace. She has lived a life that defies simple categories—a lawyer with a punchline, a healer with a contract clause, a daughter who inherited grit from a mother who ran numbers to send you to Princeton, and a partner who holds space for redemption and reinvention. Her purpose isn’t just to survive what life throws at her—it’s to make meaning of it. To craft beauty and humor and wisdom from chaos. She is the kind of person who can take a story about Parvo and a synthetic ponytail and somehow alchemize it into something that makes people laugh, cry, and suddenly feel a little more alive. She is also here to guide others—through the law, through wellness, through friendship, through loss and comeback. She is a quiet lighthouse for people who don’t even realize how lost they are until you show them home. And maybe most of all, she is here to remind people that their mess doesn’t disqualify them from grace. That even when the wig slips, the clients get sued, the brother transitions, the dog bites, or the heart breaks—there’s still purpose, still grit, and still room for love.
Joy DeVito (Mom – streetwise matriarch) Joy’s purpose is sharpness. Not cruelty—but clarity. She was forged in the fire of Brooklyn backdoors and mob-touched deals, and she emerged not cynical, but savvy. She raised a family of fighters and thinkers, and she did it with a side-eye that could melt steel and a heart big enough to hide a whole generation of pain inside. She’s here to speak truth—even when no one’s ready. Especially then. She carries survival in her bones and street-code in her DNA. But what makes Joy holy isn’t just her strength—it’s her willingness to still care. To crack jokes when it hurts. To love her transgender daughter. To shelter her complicated son. To hold court at the age of 86 with more insight than any therapist on TV. Her purpose? To hold the line. To remind the world that being streetwise and being wise are not mutually exclusive. And that mothers don’t stop mothering—even when their kids are lawyers, doctors, gang members, or angels.
Jim DeVito – Father (“Geppetto”) Jim’s purpose in this life is to create beauty out of scraps—literally and metaphorically. With hands that could carve wood, mimic the masters, and fix a toaster with a shoelace, he was born to restore. But not just cabinets or canvases—people. He walks through the world with a quiet knowing, like a man who’s seen the world lie, laugh, steal, and still believed in decency. He’s here to anchor without weighing down. To teach with humor. To soften life’s sharp edges with charm and bowls of vanilla ice cream. He raised his kids with stories instead of sermons, with grit instead of guilt. His purpose was never to be flashy—it was to be solid. The safe place. The backstop. The man you didn’t realize you needed until the shelf broke, the truth cracked, or the world spun too fast. He was never about perfection—he was about presence. A fixer not of people, but of the spaces that held them. His legacy? That his children know how to build a life with their hands and their hearts.
Jamie DeVito (Sister – Trans, Dermatologist) Jamie’s purpose is transformation. She is the phoenix in the family story—the proof that truth burns, but also purifies. Her journey from brother to sister was not just medical or emotional—it was cosmic. She transitioned into her truest self not just for her, but for anyone who’s ever questioned their worth, their voice, or their reflection. She’s here to model radical self-love and fierce compassion. A brilliant doctor, she heals skin while quietly helping people reclaim identity, one diagnosis, one scar, one kindness at a time. Her wit cuts like a scalpel, her love like balm. Her purpose? To show that becoming yourself is the bravest—and most sacred—act of all. That femininity is not assigned but earned, and that humor is a survival strategy no surgeon can replicate.
Danny DeVito (Brother – A prior member of a “motorcycle club”, Philosopher) Danny’s purpose is to live at the edge—and show that even there, there’s soul. He’s the wild card in the family deck, the one who makes you flinch and laugh in the same breath. With a motorcycle heart and a philosopher’s mind, he’s a contradiction that somehow makes sense. He’s here to disrupt, to challenge the idea that success looks a certain way, that worth wears a suit. He may live in a shed and sling weed, but he also carries wisdom like loose change—dropped casually but worth picking up. His purpose? To remind everyone that dignity doesn’t always dress up. That the most broken people often tell the best truths. And that loyalty, once earned, is deeper than blood and stronger than structure.
Sydney (Daughter – college-age, wise beyond years) Sydney’s purpose is to evolve the legacy. She carries the fire of her mother, the intellect of her grandfather, and the intuition of generations. She’s here to break the cycles her ancestors didn’t even know they were trapped in. She’s both sponge and sword—absorbing wisdom while learning when to wield it. Sensitive but not weak. Observant but not detached. She’s the one who watches, then acts with surprising power. Her purpose is to take the scaffolding her mother built and climb even higher. To turn grit into grace faster than Gina ever could. To teach that healing doesn’t have to come after burnout—it can be a daily practice.
Goose (The Dog – emotionally complex rescue) Goose’s purpose is pure love. No explanation, no complication—just presence. She didn’t come into Gina’s life to be tamed. She came to tame her. To sit beside her through heartbreak, to press her warm body against cold grief. To bark when she needed boundaries and lay silent when she needed space. She’s here as a silent therapist, a fur-covered guardian, a reminder that sometimes the soul you didn’t want is the one that saves you. Her purpose? To teach unconditionality. To show that even rescues can become rescuers. And to lick away the loneliness that no human could quite reach.