It's a Wonderful Life - Characters & Cast

George's primary motivation is a deep-seated sense of duty and compassion for his family and community. Despite his personal desires for adventure and success, he is fundamentally driven to protect the people of Bedford Falls from the greed of Mr. Potter and to uphold his father's legacy of providing dignified, affordable housing for the working class.

George Bailey begins as a young man with grand dreams of escaping his small town to see the world and build modern wonders. However, a series of familial and communal obligations forces him to repeatedly sacrifice his ambitions. Over the years, this sacrifice wears on him, leading to frustration and a sense of failure. This culminates in a moment of profound despair on Christmas Eve, where he believes his life has been worthless and contemplates suicide. Through the intervention of his guardian angel, Clarence, George is shown an alternate reality where he never existed. This experience forces him to see the immense positive impact he has had, leading to a profound epiphany. He returns to his life with overwhelming gratitude and joy, finally understanding that his seemingly ordinary life was, in fact, truly wonderful.

Mary is motivated by her deep and abiding love for George and her unwavering belief in family and community. She shares his values of generosity and compassion and helps him build a life rooted in those principles, even when he himself loses sight of their importance. Her goal is to create a happy, stable home and to support George through all his trials.

Mary has loved George since childhood and remains a steadfast, grounding force in his life. Her arc is less about transformation and more about quiet strength and perseverance. She confidently knows what she wants—a life with George in Bedford Falls—and works to create it. When George's dreams crumble, she provides unwavering support, creating a loving home and even using their honeymoon money to save the Building & Loan. In the film's final crisis, it is Mary who takes decisive action, rallying the townspeople to come to George's aid. She represents the stability, love, and community that George learns to appreciate.

Potter is motivated by an insatiable desire for money and power. He despises the Baileys' business model, which empowers the working class and threatens his control. His actions are driven by pure, unapologetic greed and a contempt for what he calls the "rabble."

Mr. Potter is a static character who undergoes no development. He is the richest and most powerful man in town, embodying avarice and misanthropy. Throughout the film, he relentlessly tries to crush the Bailey Building & Loan to establish a complete monopoly over Bedford Falls. He shows no compassion, famously telling George he is "worth more dead than alive." His arc is flat; he begins as a villain and ends as one, unpunished for his theft of the $8,000, serving as a constant representation of the corrupting influence of greed.

Clarence's stated motivation is to earn his wings. However, his deeper purpose is to provide George with a crucial change in perspective. He is a divine messenger sent to restore a desperate man's faith and show him that his life has profound meaning.

Clarence is an Angel Second Class who has been waiting over 200 years to earn his wings. He is introduced as a gentle, somewhat naive celestial being tasked with saving George. His arc involves proving his worth as a guardian angel. By successfully showing George the true value of his life, Clarence not only saves a mortal but also achieves his own long-awaited goal. His final act is leaving George a book with the inscription, "Remember no man is a failure who has friends," summarizing the film's core lesson and signifying the completion of his mission.