Portrayed by the actor Eric McCormack, the character is a lawyer who lives in the Upper West Side of New York City with his best friend, Grace Adler (Debra Messing).

The series is centered around Will and Grace's relationship, and their interactions with the two other main characters, Karen Walker (Megan Mullally) and Jack McFarland (Sean Hayes).

Will was born on October 23, 1966, in Bridgeport, Connecticut, to WASP parents Marilyn (Blythe Danner) and George Truman (Sydney Pollack).

He came out as gay in 1985, when — after being accused of living in denial by then-acquaintance Jack McFarland — he found himself attracted to a poster of Kevin Bacon.

His practice folds in the show's second season after his main client Harlin Polk (Gary Grubbs) fires him, and he begins working for the law firm Doucette & Stein (Doucette played by Gregory Hines and Stein played by Gene Wilder), where he remains until the end of the seventh season, when he quits to do something more meaningful with his life.

In the eighth season, Will takes a job at the Coalition of Justice, a business providing legal support for people who cannot afford it.

He ultimately returns to Doucette & Stein, taking back his old job after being offered a partnership by his new boss at the firm, Margo (Lily Tomlin).

They dated in 1985, before Will realized that he was gay; after he came out to her, she was so hurt that they didn't speak for a year, but they eventually reconciled and became inseparable best friends.

The process is repeatedly delayed through a series of mishaps, however, and Grace changes her mind after she begins dating Leo Markus (Harry Connick, Jr.), whom she marries later in the season.

In the series finale, however, Grace has a nightmare that the two will become miserable and resentful from raising the child, and thus reunites with Leo when he proposes to her again.

[7][8] When Grace gets pregnant in the 11th season, Will plans to raise their children with her, and they eventually buy a house together in Upstate New York.

In the beginning of the series, Will has an antagonistic relationship with Grace's assistant Karen Walker; she makes fun of his sexuality, while he mocks her alcoholism and vain, spoiled demeanor.

They break up after Vince, who loses two consecutive jobs because he can't resist trying on gloves while on duty, needs to take some time off for himself from their relationship.

Nearly twenty years later, Ben, who was conceived through in vitro fertilization with a surrogate, goes off to college and meets Grace's daughter, Laila Markus, whom he would eventually marry.

Although they have problems at first due to McCoy's insecurity and Will's fear of commitment, they eventually move in together, and Will finally proposes to him during Jack's wedding.

Still, the pair have a close bond, living together after the breakdown of his parents' marriage, visiting the gym together, sharing clothes, and many dinners.

[3][15] They do not see each other for five years after that, until, in the first-season episode "Big Brother is Coming", Grace engineers a chance meeting and forces them to talk out their problems.

[16][17][18][19] Nevertheless, McCormack won a Primetime Emmy Award for Outstanding Lead Actor in a Comedy Series in 2001 for his performance.