I had been envisioning Ryan Kwanten (Jason Stackhouse of True Blood fame) as Barbie the entire time I read the book. Might be a tad too babyfaced, though. How old was Barbie supposed to be, anyway?
Late 20s early 30s I believe. I know it’s mentioned for sure at once.
This is the cast I sort of envisioned in my read. Quite a bit different than most peoples, but here it is.
Big Jim … Gregg Henry / Ian McShane
Junior …Ryan Kwanten / Ben Foster
Barbie … (No Name)
Rusty … Callum Keith Rennie
Julia … Natalie Portman
Carter … Keanu Reeves / Jeremy Renner
Andy Sanders … William Sanderson / William H. Macy
Cox … Brian Cox
Burpee … Garret Dillahunt
Dale Barbara is an interesting role - it’s actually a fairly small role for a male lead as written, but the actor who plays it has to have a, what, quiet dignity? Gravitas? Believability as a former hero who wants to walk away from that life and the person it turned him into, yet still wants to do the right thing when forced into the situation…I actually think Keanu Reeves wouldn’t be a bad choice for it.
I pictured Laura Linney as Ms. Shumway the entire time I read the book.
Good god, NO! All due respect, but I never once got the sense from reading the novel that Dale Barbara was supposed to look all of twelve years old.
Nah, too old. I’ll now lay my own odd casting choice on you, for this role: Dirty Job’s own Mike Rowe. He is an actor, after all.
I think we have a winner!
The guy I pictured as Junior the entire time I read the book is Eddie Malavarca. He had a fairly small, but extremely memorable role as Peter Schibetta on HBO’s Oz. He could do Junior in his sleep.
At 39, he might be a bit old, but I can see Nathan Fillion as Barbara.
These are the actors I envisioned while reading:
Big Jim Rennie - John Goodman
Dale Barbara - James Badge Dale
Julia Shumway - Annette Bening
Peter Randolph - Bill Paxton
Rusty Everett - Michael C. Hall
Linda Everett - Vera Farmiga
Jackie Wettington - Edie Falco
Romeo Burpee - Martin Sheen
Colonel Cox - Ed Harris
Andy Sanders - Stephen Tobolowsky
Norrie Calvert - Chloe Moretz
Brenda Perkins - Helen Mirren
Thurston Marshall - Peter Fonda
Andrea Grinnell - Beth Grant
Rose Twitchell - Kathy Bates
Chef - Ty Burrell
I had Paul Dano as Joe McClatchey, Ryan Hurst as Junior Rennie, and Eric Balfour as Carter Thibodeau, but they’re all probably too old now.
BTW, the actor from “Northern Exposure” some of you mentioned is Barry Corbin. Also a good choice.
You think Kathy Bates looks like Michelle Pfeiffer?!? :eek: 
No, I think that was a joke in the book.
Big Jim i always saw as Alec Baldwin but less groomed. He manages to carry off smart and scary pretty well. Plus he’s physically pretty imposing!
Rose or Julia i’m reckoning a bit of Catherine O Hara…
Junior…i’m havin problems with but maybe Tom Felton not for any previous work but purely because i think he could pull off crazy quite well while still havin that pretty boy mr popular vibe that made him partly what he is.
Barbie - Andrew McCarthy? He was in Kindom Hospital.
Norrie - same train of thought as McCarty because she was in King Hosp but Jodelle Ferland if she could play younger…not a problem for her!
These are just a couple of thoughts 
Fliss
I think a lot of people have a skewed perception of the characters… I’ve read the book a few times (yes, obsess much) and let me remind everybody of a few key things:
Dale Barbara is 30 years old. I’ve seen, on some other boards, recommendations for people like Bruce Willis to play him. What? I had a tough time picturing him throughout the book because SK doesn’t really give us a detailed description. He’s fit and moderately attractive, that’s about all we know.
Julia Shumway is 43 years old. She’s pretty and conservative. And I always got the impression that she looked younger than her years. She may have acted prissy, but I never pictured her as LOOKING prissy.
Rusty is BIG. Like, husky. And tall. Keep that in mind.
Rose is also big. She doesn’t look like Michelle Pfeiffer, it was a joke after Julia put her on the front page of the Democrat.
The only person I clearly pictured while I was reading was John Goodman as Big Jim. I actually LOVE Clifton Collins, Jr as Chef. And I think William H. Macy could really pull off Andy Sanders. As for Barbie… I kind of see Gabriel Macht. Not a huge fan of him, but looks and attitude wise, I could see it. Maybe even Seann William Scott. I also like Robert Carradine to play Peter Randolph. And, I’m not joking, Gene Simmons as Lester Coggins. Stana Katic (of Castle fame) maybe as Linda Everett.
Does anybody think that Haley Williams of the band Paramore could pull of Norrie Calvert? I don’t know… she’s probably too old.
It looks as though they be having a hard time casting Barbie. To fill those shoes is tough. I think that the character of Barbie should be someone with a look of strength, confidence. I’m sure could be many named actors out there who could do the job but maybe they should go with a no name. I did notice this Canadian actor from Toronto Lee Rumohr who has great acting credits under his belt. I’ve seen some of his film and TV stuff and his latest roles carry the strength that Barbie needs.
I see John Goodman’s name thrown around here and I agree that he would be a great addition to this mini series.