Lena is Sharlene's youngest sister. She is a singer and has released two R&B albums. She starred in Sister Act 2 when she was 15, but went to college before launching her recording career. Her first album was very poorly received and Lena went into acting in musicals for a time until she released her second album in 2008. Lena recently was the runner-up on ABC's Dancing With The Stars and was named to the cast of the reboot of Star Trek>. Shar tries her best to look out for her little sister without smothering her as Lena makes her way into the Hollywood 'A-List' and is extremely proud of her accomplishments.

On screen, their characters were about as connected as you get; Lee Womack played 'Wash' Washburne on Firefly and Serenity. Sharlene and Lee have been close friends ever since. Their friendship has lasted long past most 'Hollywood' links between co-stars; they often hang out together and Sharlene has spent a considerable amount of time at Lee's Hamilton, Montana ranch that she nicknamed 'Big Skye'. They still call each other by nicknames their characters used for each other, or 'hubby' and 'wifey'. They used to routinely mess with the tabloids making them think they are 'dating'; just before Christmas of 2009, the joking became serious and after seven years, Lee and Sharlene have secretly started an intense physical relationship to match the already close emotional bond they have.

Magnolia Sloane, more commonly known as Nola, is Sharlene's cousin from England. Her mother Christina James is 1st cousin to Sharlene's father Michael. Nola is a photographer and fashion historian who makes her living as a consultant on period films. The two met several times over the years, and Sharlene tried hard to take time to include Nola during family events even though a good section of the family liked to call her 'that little snobby girl'. Sharlene loves Nola's spirit and will call her for advice and shopping trips, especially when Sharlene is in Europe.

Ex-husband #1 (1994-1997): Charles Emerson was older, wiser and seemed to be the perfect fit for an uncertain Sharlene. He was guiding her behind the scenes and moved her into her first big movie role, Sally Hemings in Thomas Jefferson In Paris. But as her star rose, she started to find him more and more controlling and eventually she decided to leave him. She doesn't talk about this relationship that much, even though it was one that has ended up effecting all her personal relationships since. (NPC - pb'ed Dennis Haysbert)