| CHARACTER | ||
| Marshall Gregson | ||
|---|---|---|
 | ||
| Gender | Male | |
| Date of Birth | c. 1990 | |
| First Appearance | Pilot | |
| Last Appearance | -The Good Parts | |
| Occupation | Student | |
| Number of episodes | 36 | |
| Relatives |
Tara Gregson (Mother)
Charmaine(Aunt)
Craine (Grandfather)
Lionel Trane (ex-boyfriend)
| |
| Portrayed by | Keir Gilchrist | |
Marshall Gregson (Keir Gilchrist ) is Tara and Max's son, and the "baby" of the family. He is old-fashioned, loves classic films and wants to be a director when he grows up. Creator Diablo Cody has addressed Marshall's being gay as "just matter-of-fact" and "definitely wasn't intended as any sort of plot point." Though the family is supportive of Marshall, Buck is slightly homophobic and often makes disparaging remarks; Cody thought "it would be really fun" to have the dichotomy of Tara being "incredibly supportive" while Buck is "kind of a homophobe", though "he actually does love Marshall." Tara's pet name for Marshall is "Marshmallow," while Kate endearingly calls him "Moosh." He crushes on Jason , an older boy at his school. The two kiss but after an incident with T , Jason ends things with Marshall. During the first season he develops a pill addiction but the plot never returns to the issue. He then begins to date a girl, Courtney . However, after having sex with her, Marshall comes to realize he is gay. Marshall gets a boyfriend in season 2, Lionel, his openly gay best friend and first official boyfriend. In season 3 Marshall and Lionel break up and Marshall begins a relationship with Noah, a new classmate. Gilchrist has been praised for his portrayal, and singled out as "the real breakout star ... [his] expressive, trusting face will definitely break your heart in some scenes".