Fan-casting the Star Wars expanded universe
Star Wars offers perhaps the broadest and most detailed expanded universe of any sci-fi franchise ever. It spans thousands of years, and is full of characters that never appeared in any of the films. In many cases, we've only read about their exploits in some novel or other. There may be official art, which may or may not correspond to how we picture the characters in our minds. There are, however, no real-life faces of actors attached to these roles (in the way that Mark Hamill, for example, is Luke Skywalker).
Yet quite a lot of us have an image in our heads of what (some of) these characters look like. And since there is certainly no shortage of actors on our planet, we can often point at one of those actors and say: "That's how I picture this character!" I certainly have a lot of opinions along those lines, and this is the place where I'll share those opinions. (Of course, no single casting idea is "definitive", and nobody can be "right" or "wrong" on this subject. We are all free to imagine any character any way we want. The goal here isn't to create some sort of authoritive cast listing. I'm just here to share my own ideas.)
My casting choices, at least for the OT-era and post-RotJ EU, may be a bit peculiar in that I always deliberately fan-cast people who are more or less the correct age in relation to the established OT actors. I'll present my own ideas in more-or-less (in-universe) chronological order. I've always been most interested in the OT-era EU and the post-RotJ EU, so that'll be the bulk of my effort here. I will strive to provide links to roughly age-accurate reference pictures of any actors I suggest.
Shadows of the Empire
For the purpose of this exercise, I imagine all proposed actors as they appeared circa 1982 (that is: a year before RotJ came out— after all, the story is set shortly before that film takes place). Obviously, this means that a hypothetical film could never have been made as I envision it (the book was written years later), but that's okay. This will be a running theme for my casting suggestions. Anyway, since this story mostly features established characters, there are only three major roles to cast here:
Dash Rendar — I've always pictured the guy as a ginger version of Kurt Russell. (Picture for reference here.) He always looked very Corellian to me. He was also in the running for the role of Han Solo, and I can understand why. Since Dash is (let's face it) basically a stand-in for Han, Russell would be well-suited to portray him. (Incidentally, I know that Michael Biehn gets mentioned a lot, and that choice works very well, but he's nearly a decade too young for the part.)
Xizor — My absolute first choice would be Marc Alaimo. (Picture for reference here.) Yes, Dukat himself. Grab him up well before Trek ever casts him. We know he does a formidable villain, and that he has great presence even when under heavy alien make-up. He's basically perfect. He'd be forty in '82, which is perhaps a bit on the young side (since Xizor is Vader's peer and presumably of similar age to him), but we never get a definitive age for Xizor. The make-up will make his age harder to estimate anyway, so it's probably fine.
Guri — a twenty-four year old Sharon Stone, channeling the same murderous assassin vibes as in that one scene in Total Recall? Perfect. We need look no further. (Picture for reference here.)
Some characters from short stories in the Star Wars Adventure Journal
Most if not all of the characters here are completely unknown to just about everybody. They almost exclusively appeared in short stories written in the '90s. These are the main characters from those stories who made repeated appearances, however. They weren't just on-off characters, but actually had an ongoing plot dedicated to their adventures. Some of them even made (minor) appearances in some later novels. Alex winger got a cameo in the Hand of Thrawn duology, and Daye Azur-Jamin came up in the New Jedi Order series. None of these characters is ever going to be an a-list protagonist, but I liked them enough to include them in my fan-casting efforts:
Alex Winger — I'm going with Julia Campbell for this, although I frankly admit that this is mostly because, of all the actresses roughly the right age that I'm aware of, she most accurately matches the character's physical description. (Picture for reference here.)
Tinian I'att Azur-Jamin — Jamie Rose is the right age, looks pretty much exactly as the character is described on the page, and seems like a pretty good choice for the part. (Picture for reference here.)
Daye Azur-Jamin — Funny story: I saw him as Bryan Cranston long before the whole world realised what a badass Bryan Cranston really is. It's because I saw a picture of a young Cranston with five o'clock shadow once. It changes his look, and suddenly he's perfect for the part. (Picture for reference, though sadly without badass five o'clock shadow, here.)
Fable Astin — Patricia Tallman is literally my only candidate here. Possibly because those short stories came out in the '90s, and so did Babylon 5, where Tallman was Lyta, so it just kind of blended together in my mind? Who knows. I can only say that I can't really see anyone else when picturing the character. (Picture for reference here.)
Jaalib Brandl — Billy Campbell looks about right for the part, I think, and it would be fun to see him as a menacing character. Especially when he was young and liable to be type-cast as an uncomplicated good guy. Having play a much darker, troubled character isn't really what you'd expect, but I think he could do it. (Picture for reference here.)
Adalric Cessius Brandl — We know Jaalib's evil dad is tall and muscular, with dark hair and a good jaw-line. Considering he's also the right age, I think Peter Lupus really fits the bill. (Picture for reference here.)
The Truce at Bakura
This book only really introduces three characters that play a 'major' role in the story. I imagine the actors I've chosen as they appeared c. 1983, since the book takes place mere weeks after RotJ.
Gaeriel Captison — I'm inclined to suggest Linda Purl, although I don't feel particularly strongly about this choice. (Picture for reference here; a promo shot for The Last Days of Pompeii. That Roman aesthetic seems appropriately 'Bakuran' to me, but that's just my take.)
Pter Thanas — Timothy Dalton. I'm much more certain about that one. (Picture for reference here.) This would be pre-Bond, so Dalton would be mostly known for his role as Prince Barin in Flash Gordon (a film that was only made because of the success of Star Wars, incidentally.) Dalton is just perfect as an Imperial commander with redeeming qualities. By the way, I know that supplementary works later made Thanas much older, but it didn't seem like that to me in the novel. He was older than Luke, Leia, Gaeriel etc. but more in the same way Han is older (i.e. about a decade).
Wilek Nereus — Jim Carter. I knew exactly who to cast for this. Nereus is described as a stocky figure, and the one piece of official are (here) pictures him with a prominent, high-bridged nose. Carter is famous for having just such a nose. He's the first actor I thought of for the part. He also rarely gets to portray villains, and I'd like to see him as a true bad guy for a change. (Picture for reference here.)
The X-Wing books
These near-universally acclaimed novels take place in 6 and 7 ABY, just a few years after RotJ (4 ABY) and a few before the Thrawn Trilogy (9 ABY). Because I try to iron out the age disparities between OT characters and their actors a bit by equating 9 ABY to 1985, I'm left with only one real-world year to correspond to the in-universe period between RotJ and the Thrawn books. As such, I'm pretty much imagining the actors I've chosen for the relevant parts here as they appeared in 1984.
Tycho Celchu — Surprisingly hard to cast, I've found. In official art, Tycho is portrayed in two very different ways (this one and this one). My choice would be Alan Ruck, who is clearly a lot closer to the first depiction. (Picture for reference here.) I've seen Denis Leary suggested as well, presumably by people who prefer Tycho's depiction in the comics. He wouldn't be my choice for the part, but he resembles that comic book depiction rather well, so I figured I'd mention it.
Corran Horn — Viggo Mortensen, and no doubt about it. The man just corresponds amazingly well to my mental image of Corran. (Picture for reference here.) I've heard that Stackpole himself has said that he'd pick Michael J. Fox if he had to choose an actor to play Corran. That's fine, but it's not at all how I see him (and I'm not inclined to slavishly follow the author's preference).
Derek 'Hobbie' Klivian — Jamey Sheridan, purely on the basis that he can do that wry laugh that I associate with Hobbie. (Picture for reference here.) Sheridan also doesn't get a lot of roles where he can be a genuinely funny character, even though he can pull it off easily.
Wes Janson — Very hard to cast. I'm going with Lewis Smith, based on the fact that he fits the description and looks like he enjoys a good joke. (Picture for reference here.)
Ton Phanan — Barry Van Dyke, just because that's how I picture the character. (Picture for reference here.)
Garik "Face" Loran — Ralph Macchio. (Picture for reference here.) C'mon, it fits perfectly. Boyish looks, and the character is a former teenage film star (just like Macchio, the 'karate kid').
Kell Tainer — Bill Paxton, who look quite a lot like Kell's official description and depiction. (Picture of Paxton for reference here.) He also has sci-fi experience, and would fit right into the cast for this. He was the first potential actor I thought of for the part, and remains my first choice.
Iella Wessiri — Cindy Morgan, in part because she adequately resembles Iella's description in the book (and even adequately resembles her depiction in the comics), and in part because I'm a fan of TRON. (Picture for reference here.)
Tyria Sarkin — Nancy Everhard. (Picture for reference here.) She looks a lot like how I imagine Tyria, and fits right into my general tendency to pick actors and actresses with some sci-fi experience.
Pash Cracken — David Keith. (Picture for reference here.) I admit that I'm not very solid on this one.
Gavin Darklighter — Matt Dillon. (Picture for reference here.) He looks exactly like Gavin does (at least in my head).
Lujayne Forge — Chelsea Field. (Picture for reference here.) Again, someone who has previous experience in sci-fi, and who matches the description of the character well enough, so a sensible choice.
Myn Donos — Patrick St. Esprit. (Picture for reference here.) Quite difficult to form a clear image of the guy, at least for me. I'm sure the actor I chose can pull it off easily, but I'm not feeling very strongly about this bit of casting.
Gara Petothel / Lara Notsil / Kirney Slane — Nancy Allen. (Picture for reference here.) Looks like a very kind, open person. The very last one you'd suspect of being a programmed sleeper agent. Therefore ideal. Also, I like RoboCop.
Rhysati Ynr — Rebeca Arthur. (Picture for reference here.) Another character that was never very prominent, at least not in my opinion. I chose the actress purely because she is the right age and matches the character's description.
Elassar Targon — Dylan Baker. (Picture for reference here.) Now here's a choice I'm very confident about. I've pictured Baker as Targon from the start (obviously under the appropriate make-up), and I think he'd be perfect for the part.
Nawara Ven — Mark Holton. (Picture for reference here.) Again, I'm quite certain of this choice. I actually arrived at Holton when I thought of who could play an older Ven in hypothetical EU-based sequels set decades later, and then figured he'd be good for the part at a younger age, too.
Mirax Terrik — Holly Gagnier. (Picture for reference here.) She looks very much like Mirax should look, I think. And I bet she can pull off the whole action girl thing, too.
Booster Terrik — The most oft-suggested choice for the role is Kris Kristofferson. I'm inclined to agree. (Picture for reference here.) The man just really looks the part.
Erisi Dlarit — Carey Lowell. (Picture for reference here.) Pretty much corresponds 1:1 to the description of the character, so a really obvious choice.
Zsinj — David Huddleston. (Picture for reference here.) Just put the characteristic mustache on him, and he's ready to go.
Ysanne Isard — Meg Foster would be just right for this. She has that really cold gaze, you know. (Picture for reference here.)
Leonia Tavira — Sydney Walsh. (Picture for reference here.) Okay, so the character doesn't actually appear in the X-Wing books, but I always lump I, Jedi in with those on account of Corran being the protagonist. So, yeah. Figured I'd include Tavira here.
The Courtship of Princess Leia
Still imagining the actors as they appeared in 1984...
Teneniel Djo — I've long thought that Connie Nielsen would be great for this. (Picture for reference here.)
Gethzerion — Okay, wait for it: Helen Mirren. That may not seem like an obvious choice, but she was the right age for the part back then, and I think she'd be just great as the thoroughly evil leader of the Nightsisters. (Picture for reference here.)
Augwynne Djo — Viveca Lindfors. A relatively random choice, I'll admit. She's the right age, she's known for appearing in another sci-fi film (Stargate), and she's easily capable of playing this part. (Picture for reference here.)
Barukka — Annette O'Toole. (Picture for reference here.) Barukka is never really described in detail. We know she has blue eyes, and I'm just going with Teneniel's auburn hair and assuming that her sister is also a redhead. Annette O'Toole is the right age, so... why not?
Isolder — Surprisingly difficult to cast (for me), given that we know exactly what he looks like. Dave Wolverton based Isolder on Fabio Lanzoni. (Picture for reference here.) My issue is that I imagine Hapans as French people (or rather: I imagine their language being pronounced much the same way), and Fabio's pronounciation obviously sounds more Italian. So... just imagine Fabio, but with a French accent?
Ta'a Chume — Catherine Deneuve. (Picture for reference here.) She'd be absolutely ideal for the part. I can't even imagine anyone else.
The Thrawn Trilogy
Here it is: the EU story that usually gets everyone's primary fan-casting attention. Some of my choices here are very conventional, going along with what many others have already suggested. others... not so much. In any event, I imagine the chosen actors as they appeared c. 1985.
Thrawn — Jeremy Irons has often been suggested for the part, and although certainly not the only 'fan favourite' who could portray Thrawn, I do think he's the best choice. When you're a blue alien, and most of your scenes are very "talky", with little direct action, the actor's charisma and presence have to carry the day. Irons can do it, and his voice in particular is perfect for such a "villain role". But I believe he'd look the part as well. (I did a little editing in photoshop to show you all what I mean, and give you a picture for reference here.)
Mara Jade — Rene Russo. (Picture for reference here). She's the right age in relation to Hamill, and I really think she looks the part. This is one of those roles where there are about as many casting opinions as there are people who have those opinions, and, well... this is mine.
Joruus C'baoth — Now we're going to get wild. Assuming a film made c. 1985, I'd cast Dick Van Dyke. You think that's ridiculous? Take a look at this. With a beard, he suddenly looks the part. The thing is, the oft-suggested Donald Sutherland was too young in '85, and I believe that Van Dyke has the same general 'look'. Also, he and Mark Hamill joked on twitter about the role that the above picture is from, where Van Dyke got to play a villain with a full beard. Which Van Dyke loved to do. It's almost like he and Hamill were encouraging the notion of Van Dyke as a Star Wars villain... In any event, I think he'd have been a great C'baoth.
Talon Karrde — This one is perhaps the most difficult. Somewhat influenced by his portrayal in the comics, I picture Karrde as a cross between Tom Selleck (reference picture here) and Ian McShane (reference picture here). Depending on how you'd prefer to portray the character, I think both men could do it. Fun aside: this is ironically one character where we know exactly how the author pictured him. Zahn pictured Karrde as Avon from Blake's 7, seen here, as portrayed by Paul Darrow. (I think Zahn is the only person on Earth who pictures Karrde that way.)
Garm Bel Iblis — Sean Connery. (Picture for reference here.) I don't think you can get much closer to a real-life version of Bel Iblis than this.
Gilad Pellaeon — Christopher Plummer. (Picture for reference here, albeit tragically missing a mustache. But here we see Plummer a few years later, with mustache.) There have been a lot of varied suggestions for Pellaeon, many of which would work. Plummer just fits best in my opinion, because he would be really convincing as not just a career military man, but as a ranking Imperial officer. (Many other suggestions are a little to American for my tastes; I always envision all the Imperial officers as these British-accented fellows we see in the OT.)
Borsk Fey'lya —I've long thought that Tim Curry would be a good voice-actor for this part. He can really do the "smarmy bastard" thing, so that would work just fine.
Niles Ferrier — Vernon Wells. (Picture for reference here.) With a beard, he'd look quite a bit like Ferrier does in the comic version.
Winter Celchu — Glynis Barber, who rather fits the description and is the right age. (Picture for reference here.) To be honest, I don't have a very strong opinion about this one.
Zakarisz Ghent — A young Tom Cavanagh with blue hair, and we're done. (Reference picture, sadly without blue hair, here.)
The later 'Bantam era'
In the period covering roughly the ten years after the Thrawn trilogy, we see the establishment of Luke's Jedi academy, and we have several books/trilogies that deal with various threats to the nascent New Republic. This is a point in the timeline where a lot of the characters who appear in starring roles are ones we've seen before (and who have as such already been fan-cast earlier). I'm just going to cast a few characters wo were freshly introduced in this period, aiming to portray them as the would appear circa 14 ABY (which corresponds to 1990). Fair warning: I'm not really inclined to fan-cast the one-off villains that we never see again, nor some of the side characters of little consequence that we saw in this period.
Kyle Katarn — Most fan-castings just go with Jason Court, who portrayed Katarn in video game cut-scenes, but he's too young compared to other actors portraying characters supposedly the same age as Kyle Katarn. My personal preference would be to go with Sean Bean, who's still on the young side for the part, but not overly so. (Picture for reference here.)
Jan Ors — Katarn's partner in crime, often depicted by Angela Harry in fan-castings (because she appeared alongside Jason Court in those cut-scenes). Same problem applies: the actress is too young for the part when you put her next to characters of supposedly the same age. My suggestion would instead be Rosalind Chao (picture for reference here).
Tionne Solusar — Influenced by her description of having silver hair and eyes, and no doubt subconsciously conflating this with Storm from the X-Men (who shares those traits), I spent years thinking that Tionne was black. To my surprise, I later found out she's supposed to be white. Well, too late to change my mental image of her now. As such, my perhaps unconventional fan-casting for her is Iman (picture for reference here).
Kam Solusar — He's a former soldier with shortly-cropped white-blond hair. That's just about all we get for him as far as description goes. He's also kind of taciturn. I'm going with Marshall R. Teague on this one, mostly because of this picture.
Kirana Ti — Cool Dathomiri warrior lady. Tragically underused in the EU. All we know is that she has brown hair and green eyes. This leaves a lot of leeway. Based on her canonical age, my suggestion is Theresa Russell (picture for reference here).
Streen — His depiction in the EU is kind of inconsistent. Based on the vague descriptions that we get, I'm going with Ian McElhinney. Because he's cool. (Picture for reference here.)
Natasi Daala — I was always going to fan-cast Dana Delany for this part. (Picture for reference here; yes, Daala really is that young, which actually explans quite a bit about her behaviour and decisions...) Daala's features are described as being very sharp and angular, so the casting doesn't exactly match the description, but I'm confident it's the right choice.
Thrackan Sal-Solo — James Brolin, no doubt about it. Look at this picture. Despite obviously being a completely different guy, something about his look resembles Harrison Ford. I don't know what it is, but I can buy them portraying relatives, and people commenting on the family resemblance.
Young Jedi Knights
The idea of imagining hypothetical films and series created at a time when all the actors were the right age puts YJK in 23/24 ABY (corresponding to 1999/2000), with Jacen and Jaina at age 14/15. Obviously, it's a bit tricky to find actors who were already active back then, who were/are the right age to play these characters, and who also look the part. Anyway, I imagine YJK as a mini-series, based on the 'Second Imperium' and 'Diversity Alliance' arcs. (The third arc in the book series always felt a bit tacked-on, and I'd prefer not to include it here). I envision the mini-series as covering two years (1999 and 2000), with each year seeing a few episodes of 45 to 60 minutes. Anyway, here are my would-have-been casting choice for the main characters, and for the bad guys of the first season (a.k.a. the Second Imperium arc):
Jaina Solo — Mary Elizabeth Winstead. Always my number one choice for this role. Just look at the picture. That's YJK-era Jaina to a tee. (And she'd make a great Jaina in films or series set later, too.)
Jacen Solo — Corey Sevier. (Picture for reference here, sadly in low quality.) Really fits the way Jacen is described, and as far as looks go, easily a shoe-in for the role. (When it comes to acting talent, Francois Arnaud definitely also makes my short-list for this part, but he only started acting in 2007. That rules him out for YJK.)
Tenel Ka — Scarlett Johansson. (Picture for reference here.) In hindsight, actually a pretty obvious choice, now that we've all seen her as an ass-kicking warrior lady with red hair.
Zekk — Sean Faris. (Picture for reference here.) Lots of people seem to think of Zekk as this kind of thin emo kid type that proliferated in the early 2000s. He's explicitly described as a tough street kid who's gotten into a lot of fights and can stand his ground. Faris would be great for the part, with the only draw-back being that he doesn't have green eyes.
Old Peckhum — Christopher Lloyd. (Picture for reference here.) Famous for accepting lots and lots of tiny roles, he'd be both a realistic candidate for the role and a really great choice.
Brakiss — Aaron Eckhart. (Picture for reference here.) The character is technically described as a sparkling pretty-boy, but that always came across as a bit weird to me. Eckhard could convincingly play the evil guy in a really hammy way, so that's what I'm aiming for here.
Tamith Kai — Lucy Lawless. The character is basically evil space Xena, so why not just cast actual Xena? (Picture for reference, as if anybody needs it, is here.)
Vonnda Ra — Adrienne Wilkinson. (Picture for reference here.) Evil Space Xena's second in command, and we just cast another Xena actress. She was also in The Force Unleashed, so there's an actual Star Wars connection. (Not that this would matter in a hypothetical reality where all these different films and series are getting made...)
Garowyn — Zoe Saldana. (Picture for reference here.) Garowyn is described as having "brown skin", which probably meant that she's just tanned, but this mid-'90s series is so overwhelmingly white that any excuse to cast someone who isn't white is good enough.
Vilas — Eddie Cahill. (Picture for reference here.) I have little to say about this. He's the right age and he fits the very limited description we get of the character.
Qorl — James Remar. (Picture for reference here.) He accepted a lot of bit roles around that time, and he'd really fit the visual for the grizzled ex-TIE Fighter pilot.
(Lowie could basically be portrayed by anyone tall enough, because he'd obviously be in costume all the time. Em Teedee similarly just needs a voice actor. The only problem I have is finding an actor for the role of Raynar Thul. I just have absolutely no clue there.)
This pretty much concludes my big EU fan casting. Everything that takes place after YJK, I'd prefer to liberally re-imagine (and then I'd just fan-cast my re-imagining. I'll probably get to that at one point...) There are some other fan-castings I've made, but those are pretty much separate. More along the lines of "What if instead of the sequel trilogy, they'd released a KotOR film in 2015?" I feel that's best left for another post.
Yet quite a lot of us have an image in our heads of what (some of) these characters look like. And since there is certainly no shortage of actors on our planet, we can often point at one of those actors and say: "That's how I picture this character!" I certainly have a lot of opinions along those lines, and this is the place where I'll share those opinions. (Of course, no single casting idea is "definitive", and nobody can be "right" or "wrong" on this subject. We are all free to imagine any character any way we want. The goal here isn't to create some sort of authoritive cast listing. I'm just here to share my own ideas.)
My casting choices, at least for the OT-era and post-RotJ EU, may be a bit peculiar in that I always deliberately fan-cast people who are more or less the correct age in relation to the established OT actors. I'll present my own ideas in more-or-less (in-universe) chronological order. I've always been most interested in the OT-era EU and the post-RotJ EU, so that'll be the bulk of my effort here. I will strive to provide links to roughly age-accurate reference pictures of any actors I suggest.
Shadows of the Empire
For the purpose of this exercise, I imagine all proposed actors as they appeared circa 1982 (that is: a year before RotJ came out— after all, the story is set shortly before that film takes place). Obviously, this means that a hypothetical film could never have been made as I envision it (the book was written years later), but that's okay. This will be a running theme for my casting suggestions. Anyway, since this story mostly features established characters, there are only three major roles to cast here:
Dash Rendar — I've always pictured the guy as a ginger version of Kurt Russell. (Picture for reference here.) He always looked very Corellian to me. He was also in the running for the role of Han Solo, and I can understand why. Since Dash is (let's face it) basically a stand-in for Han, Russell would be well-suited to portray him. (Incidentally, I know that Michael Biehn gets mentioned a lot, and that choice works very well, but he's nearly a decade too young for the part.)
Xizor — My absolute first choice would be Marc Alaimo. (Picture for reference here.) Yes, Dukat himself. Grab him up well before Trek ever casts him. We know he does a formidable villain, and that he has great presence even when under heavy alien make-up. He's basically perfect. He'd be forty in '82, which is perhaps a bit on the young side (since Xizor is Vader's peer and presumably of similar age to him), but we never get a definitive age for Xizor. The make-up will make his age harder to estimate anyway, so it's probably fine.
Guri — a twenty-four year old Sharon Stone, channeling the same murderous assassin vibes as in that one scene in Total Recall? Perfect. We need look no further. (Picture for reference here.)
Some characters from short stories in the Star Wars Adventure Journal
Most if not all of the characters here are completely unknown to just about everybody. They almost exclusively appeared in short stories written in the '90s. These are the main characters from those stories who made repeated appearances, however. They weren't just on-off characters, but actually had an ongoing plot dedicated to their adventures. Some of them even made (minor) appearances in some later novels. Alex winger got a cameo in the Hand of Thrawn duology, and Daye Azur-Jamin came up in the New Jedi Order series. None of these characters is ever going to be an a-list protagonist, but I liked them enough to include them in my fan-casting efforts:
Alex Winger — I'm going with Julia Campbell for this, although I frankly admit that this is mostly because, of all the actresses roughly the right age that I'm aware of, she most accurately matches the character's physical description. (Picture for reference here.)
Tinian I'att Azur-Jamin — Jamie Rose is the right age, looks pretty much exactly as the character is described on the page, and seems like a pretty good choice for the part. (Picture for reference here.)
Daye Azur-Jamin — Funny story: I saw him as Bryan Cranston long before the whole world realised what a badass Bryan Cranston really is. It's because I saw a picture of a young Cranston with five o'clock shadow once. It changes his look, and suddenly he's perfect for the part. (Picture for reference, though sadly without badass five o'clock shadow, here.)
Fable Astin — Patricia Tallman is literally my only candidate here. Possibly because those short stories came out in the '90s, and so did Babylon 5, where Tallman was Lyta, so it just kind of blended together in my mind? Who knows. I can only say that I can't really see anyone else when picturing the character. (Picture for reference here.)
Jaalib Brandl — Billy Campbell looks about right for the part, I think, and it would be fun to see him as a menacing character. Especially when he was young and liable to be type-cast as an uncomplicated good guy. Having play a much darker, troubled character isn't really what you'd expect, but I think he could do it. (Picture for reference here.)
Adalric Cessius Brandl — We know Jaalib's evil dad is tall and muscular, with dark hair and a good jaw-line. Considering he's also the right age, I think Peter Lupus really fits the bill. (Picture for reference here.)
The Truce at Bakura
This book only really introduces three characters that play a 'major' role in the story. I imagine the actors I've chosen as they appeared c. 1983, since the book takes place mere weeks after RotJ.
Gaeriel Captison — I'm inclined to suggest Linda Purl, although I don't feel particularly strongly about this choice. (Picture for reference here; a promo shot for The Last Days of Pompeii. That Roman aesthetic seems appropriately 'Bakuran' to me, but that's just my take.)
Pter Thanas — Timothy Dalton. I'm much more certain about that one. (Picture for reference here.) This would be pre-Bond, so Dalton would be mostly known for his role as Prince Barin in Flash Gordon (a film that was only made because of the success of Star Wars, incidentally.) Dalton is just perfect as an Imperial commander with redeeming qualities. By the way, I know that supplementary works later made Thanas much older, but it didn't seem like that to me in the novel. He was older than Luke, Leia, Gaeriel etc. but more in the same way Han is older (i.e. about a decade).
Wilek Nereus — Jim Carter. I knew exactly who to cast for this. Nereus is described as a stocky figure, and the one piece of official are (here) pictures him with a prominent, high-bridged nose. Carter is famous for having just such a nose. He's the first actor I thought of for the part. He also rarely gets to portray villains, and I'd like to see him as a true bad guy for a change. (Picture for reference here.)
The X-Wing books
These near-universally acclaimed novels take place in 6 and 7 ABY, just a few years after RotJ (4 ABY) and a few before the Thrawn Trilogy (9 ABY). Because I try to iron out the age disparities between OT characters and their actors a bit by equating 9 ABY to 1985, I'm left with only one real-world year to correspond to the in-universe period between RotJ and the Thrawn books. As such, I'm pretty much imagining the actors I've chosen for the relevant parts here as they appeared in 1984.
Tycho Celchu — Surprisingly hard to cast, I've found. In official art, Tycho is portrayed in two very different ways (this one and this one). My choice would be Alan Ruck, who is clearly a lot closer to the first depiction. (Picture for reference here.) I've seen Denis Leary suggested as well, presumably by people who prefer Tycho's depiction in the comics. He wouldn't be my choice for the part, but he resembles that comic book depiction rather well, so I figured I'd mention it.
Corran Horn — Viggo Mortensen, and no doubt about it. The man just corresponds amazingly well to my mental image of Corran. (Picture for reference here.) I've heard that Stackpole himself has said that he'd pick Michael J. Fox if he had to choose an actor to play Corran. That's fine, but it's not at all how I see him (and I'm not inclined to slavishly follow the author's preference).
Derek 'Hobbie' Klivian — Jamey Sheridan, purely on the basis that he can do that wry laugh that I associate with Hobbie. (Picture for reference here.) Sheridan also doesn't get a lot of roles where he can be a genuinely funny character, even though he can pull it off easily.
Wes Janson — Very hard to cast. I'm going with Lewis Smith, based on the fact that he fits the description and looks like he enjoys a good joke. (Picture for reference here.)
Ton Phanan — Barry Van Dyke, just because that's how I picture the character. (Picture for reference here.)
Garik "Face" Loran — Ralph Macchio. (Picture for reference here.) C'mon, it fits perfectly. Boyish looks, and the character is a former teenage film star (just like Macchio, the 'karate kid').
Kell Tainer — Bill Paxton, who look quite a lot like Kell's official description and depiction. (Picture of Paxton for reference here.) He also has sci-fi experience, and would fit right into the cast for this. He was the first potential actor I thought of for the part, and remains my first choice.
Iella Wessiri — Cindy Morgan, in part because she adequately resembles Iella's description in the book (and even adequately resembles her depiction in the comics), and in part because I'm a fan of TRON. (Picture for reference here.)
Tyria Sarkin — Nancy Everhard. (Picture for reference here.) She looks a lot like how I imagine Tyria, and fits right into my general tendency to pick actors and actresses with some sci-fi experience.
Pash Cracken — David Keith. (Picture for reference here.) I admit that I'm not very solid on this one.
Gavin Darklighter — Matt Dillon. (Picture for reference here.) He looks exactly like Gavin does (at least in my head).
Lujayne Forge — Chelsea Field. (Picture for reference here.) Again, someone who has previous experience in sci-fi, and who matches the description of the character well enough, so a sensible choice.
Myn Donos — Patrick St. Esprit. (Picture for reference here.) Quite difficult to form a clear image of the guy, at least for me. I'm sure the actor I chose can pull it off easily, but I'm not feeling very strongly about this bit of casting.
Gara Petothel / Lara Notsil / Kirney Slane — Nancy Allen. (Picture for reference here.) Looks like a very kind, open person. The very last one you'd suspect of being a programmed sleeper agent. Therefore ideal. Also, I like RoboCop.
Rhysati Ynr — Rebeca Arthur. (Picture for reference here.) Another character that was never very prominent, at least not in my opinion. I chose the actress purely because she is the right age and matches the character's description.
Elassar Targon — Dylan Baker. (Picture for reference here.) Now here's a choice I'm very confident about. I've pictured Baker as Targon from the start (obviously under the appropriate make-up), and I think he'd be perfect for the part.
Nawara Ven — Mark Holton. (Picture for reference here.) Again, I'm quite certain of this choice. I actually arrived at Holton when I thought of who could play an older Ven in hypothetical EU-based sequels set decades later, and then figured he'd be good for the part at a younger age, too.
Mirax Terrik — Holly Gagnier. (Picture for reference here.) She looks very much like Mirax should look, I think. And I bet she can pull off the whole action girl thing, too.
Booster Terrik — The most oft-suggested choice for the role is Kris Kristofferson. I'm inclined to agree. (Picture for reference here.) The man just really looks the part.
Erisi Dlarit — Carey Lowell. (Picture for reference here.) Pretty much corresponds 1:1 to the description of the character, so a really obvious choice.
Zsinj — David Huddleston. (Picture for reference here.) Just put the characteristic mustache on him, and he's ready to go.
Ysanne Isard — Meg Foster would be just right for this. She has that really cold gaze, you know. (Picture for reference here.)
Leonia Tavira — Sydney Walsh. (Picture for reference here.) Okay, so the character doesn't actually appear in the X-Wing books, but I always lump I, Jedi in with those on account of Corran being the protagonist. So, yeah. Figured I'd include Tavira here.
The Courtship of Princess Leia
Still imagining the actors as they appeared in 1984...
Teneniel Djo — I've long thought that Connie Nielsen would be great for this. (Picture for reference here.)
Gethzerion — Okay, wait for it: Helen Mirren. That may not seem like an obvious choice, but she was the right age for the part back then, and I think she'd be just great as the thoroughly evil leader of the Nightsisters. (Picture for reference here.)
Augwynne Djo — Viveca Lindfors. A relatively random choice, I'll admit. She's the right age, she's known for appearing in another sci-fi film (Stargate), and she's easily capable of playing this part. (Picture for reference here.)
Barukka — Annette O'Toole. (Picture for reference here.) Barukka is never really described in detail. We know she has blue eyes, and I'm just going with Teneniel's auburn hair and assuming that her sister is also a redhead. Annette O'Toole is the right age, so... why not?
Isolder — Surprisingly difficult to cast (for me), given that we know exactly what he looks like. Dave Wolverton based Isolder on Fabio Lanzoni. (Picture for reference here.) My issue is that I imagine Hapans as French people (or rather: I imagine their language being pronounced much the same way), and Fabio's pronounciation obviously sounds more Italian. So... just imagine Fabio, but with a French accent?
Ta'a Chume — Catherine Deneuve. (Picture for reference here.) She'd be absolutely ideal for the part. I can't even imagine anyone else.
The Thrawn Trilogy
Here it is: the EU story that usually gets everyone's primary fan-casting attention. Some of my choices here are very conventional, going along with what many others have already suggested. others... not so much. In any event, I imagine the chosen actors as they appeared c. 1985.
Thrawn — Jeremy Irons has often been suggested for the part, and although certainly not the only 'fan favourite' who could portray Thrawn, I do think he's the best choice. When you're a blue alien, and most of your scenes are very "talky", with little direct action, the actor's charisma and presence have to carry the day. Irons can do it, and his voice in particular is perfect for such a "villain role". But I believe he'd look the part as well. (I did a little editing in photoshop to show you all what I mean, and give you a picture for reference here.)
Mara Jade — Rene Russo. (Picture for reference here). She's the right age in relation to Hamill, and I really think she looks the part. This is one of those roles where there are about as many casting opinions as there are people who have those opinions, and, well... this is mine.
Joruus C'baoth — Now we're going to get wild. Assuming a film made c. 1985, I'd cast Dick Van Dyke. You think that's ridiculous? Take a look at this. With a beard, he suddenly looks the part. The thing is, the oft-suggested Donald Sutherland was too young in '85, and I believe that Van Dyke has the same general 'look'. Also, he and Mark Hamill joked on twitter about the role that the above picture is from, where Van Dyke got to play a villain with a full beard. Which Van Dyke loved to do. It's almost like he and Hamill were encouraging the notion of Van Dyke as a Star Wars villain... In any event, I think he'd have been a great C'baoth.
Talon Karrde — This one is perhaps the most difficult. Somewhat influenced by his portrayal in the comics, I picture Karrde as a cross between Tom Selleck (reference picture here) and Ian McShane (reference picture here). Depending on how you'd prefer to portray the character, I think both men could do it. Fun aside: this is ironically one character where we know exactly how the author pictured him. Zahn pictured Karrde as Avon from Blake's 7, seen here, as portrayed by Paul Darrow. (I think Zahn is the only person on Earth who pictures Karrde that way.)
Garm Bel Iblis — Sean Connery. (Picture for reference here.) I don't think you can get much closer to a real-life version of Bel Iblis than this.
Gilad Pellaeon — Christopher Plummer. (Picture for reference here, albeit tragically missing a mustache. But here we see Plummer a few years later, with mustache.) There have been a lot of varied suggestions for Pellaeon, many of which would work. Plummer just fits best in my opinion, because he would be really convincing as not just a career military man, but as a ranking Imperial officer. (Many other suggestions are a little to American for my tastes; I always envision all the Imperial officers as these British-accented fellows we see in the OT.)
Borsk Fey'lya —I've long thought that Tim Curry would be a good voice-actor for this part. He can really do the "smarmy bastard" thing, so that would work just fine.
Niles Ferrier — Vernon Wells. (Picture for reference here.) With a beard, he'd look quite a bit like Ferrier does in the comic version.
Winter Celchu — Glynis Barber, who rather fits the description and is the right age. (Picture for reference here.) To be honest, I don't have a very strong opinion about this one.
Zakarisz Ghent — A young Tom Cavanagh with blue hair, and we're done. (Reference picture, sadly without blue hair, here.)
The later 'Bantam era'
In the period covering roughly the ten years after the Thrawn trilogy, we see the establishment of Luke's Jedi academy, and we have several books/trilogies that deal with various threats to the nascent New Republic. This is a point in the timeline where a lot of the characters who appear in starring roles are ones we've seen before (and who have as such already been fan-cast earlier). I'm just going to cast a few characters wo were freshly introduced in this period, aiming to portray them as the would appear circa 14 ABY (which corresponds to 1990). Fair warning: I'm not really inclined to fan-cast the one-off villains that we never see again, nor some of the side characters of little consequence that we saw in this period.
Kyle Katarn — Most fan-castings just go with Jason Court, who portrayed Katarn in video game cut-scenes, but he's too young compared to other actors portraying characters supposedly the same age as Kyle Katarn. My personal preference would be to go with Sean Bean, who's still on the young side for the part, but not overly so. (Picture for reference here.)
Jan Ors — Katarn's partner in crime, often depicted by Angela Harry in fan-castings (because she appeared alongside Jason Court in those cut-scenes). Same problem applies: the actress is too young for the part when you put her next to characters of supposedly the same age. My suggestion would instead be Rosalind Chao (picture for reference here).
Tionne Solusar — Influenced by her description of having silver hair and eyes, and no doubt subconsciously conflating this with Storm from the X-Men (who shares those traits), I spent years thinking that Tionne was black. To my surprise, I later found out she's supposed to be white. Well, too late to change my mental image of her now. As such, my perhaps unconventional fan-casting for her is Iman (picture for reference here).
Kam Solusar — He's a former soldier with shortly-cropped white-blond hair. That's just about all we get for him as far as description goes. He's also kind of taciturn. I'm going with Marshall R. Teague on this one, mostly because of this picture.
Kirana Ti — Cool Dathomiri warrior lady. Tragically underused in the EU. All we know is that she has brown hair and green eyes. This leaves a lot of leeway. Based on her canonical age, my suggestion is Theresa Russell (picture for reference here).
Streen — His depiction in the EU is kind of inconsistent. Based on the vague descriptions that we get, I'm going with Ian McElhinney. Because he's cool. (Picture for reference here.)
Natasi Daala — I was always going to fan-cast Dana Delany for this part. (Picture for reference here; yes, Daala really is that young, which actually explans quite a bit about her behaviour and decisions...) Daala's features are described as being very sharp and angular, so the casting doesn't exactly match the description, but I'm confident it's the right choice.
Thrackan Sal-Solo — James Brolin, no doubt about it. Look at this picture. Despite obviously being a completely different guy, something about his look resembles Harrison Ford. I don't know what it is, but I can buy them portraying relatives, and people commenting on the family resemblance.
Young Jedi Knights
The idea of imagining hypothetical films and series created at a time when all the actors were the right age puts YJK in 23/24 ABY (corresponding to 1999/2000), with Jacen and Jaina at age 14/15. Obviously, it's a bit tricky to find actors who were already active back then, who were/are the right age to play these characters, and who also look the part. Anyway, I imagine YJK as a mini-series, based on the 'Second Imperium' and 'Diversity Alliance' arcs. (The third arc in the book series always felt a bit tacked-on, and I'd prefer not to include it here). I envision the mini-series as covering two years (1999 and 2000), with each year seeing a few episodes of 45 to 60 minutes. Anyway, here are my would-have-been casting choice for the main characters, and for the bad guys of the first season (a.k.a. the Second Imperium arc):
Jaina Solo — Mary Elizabeth Winstead. Always my number one choice for this role. Just look at the picture. That's YJK-era Jaina to a tee. (And she'd make a great Jaina in films or series set later, too.)
Jacen Solo — Corey Sevier. (Picture for reference here, sadly in low quality.) Really fits the way Jacen is described, and as far as looks go, easily a shoe-in for the role. (When it comes to acting talent, Francois Arnaud definitely also makes my short-list for this part, but he only started acting in 2007. That rules him out for YJK.)
Tenel Ka — Scarlett Johansson. (Picture for reference here.) In hindsight, actually a pretty obvious choice, now that we've all seen her as an ass-kicking warrior lady with red hair.
Zekk — Sean Faris. (Picture for reference here.) Lots of people seem to think of Zekk as this kind of thin emo kid type that proliferated in the early 2000s. He's explicitly described as a tough street kid who's gotten into a lot of fights and can stand his ground. Faris would be great for the part, with the only draw-back being that he doesn't have green eyes.
Old Peckhum — Christopher Lloyd. (Picture for reference here.) Famous for accepting lots and lots of tiny roles, he'd be both a realistic candidate for the role and a really great choice.
Brakiss — Aaron Eckhart. (Picture for reference here.) The character is technically described as a sparkling pretty-boy, but that always came across as a bit weird to me. Eckhard could convincingly play the evil guy in a really hammy way, so that's what I'm aiming for here.
Tamith Kai — Lucy Lawless. The character is basically evil space Xena, so why not just cast actual Xena? (Picture for reference, as if anybody needs it, is here.)
Vonnda Ra — Adrienne Wilkinson. (Picture for reference here.) Evil Space Xena's second in command, and we just cast another Xena actress. She was also in The Force Unleashed, so there's an actual Star Wars connection. (Not that this would matter in a hypothetical reality where all these different films and series are getting made...)
Garowyn — Zoe Saldana. (Picture for reference here.) Garowyn is described as having "brown skin", which probably meant that she's just tanned, but this mid-'90s series is so overwhelmingly white that any excuse to cast someone who isn't white is good enough.
Vilas — Eddie Cahill. (Picture for reference here.) I have little to say about this. He's the right age and he fits the very limited description we get of the character.
Qorl — James Remar. (Picture for reference here.) He accepted a lot of bit roles around that time, and he'd really fit the visual for the grizzled ex-TIE Fighter pilot.
(Lowie could basically be portrayed by anyone tall enough, because he'd obviously be in costume all the time. Em Teedee similarly just needs a voice actor. The only problem I have is finding an actor for the role of Raynar Thul. I just have absolutely no clue there.)
This pretty much concludes my big EU fan casting. Everything that takes place after YJK, I'd prefer to liberally re-imagine (and then I'd just fan-cast my re-imagining. I'll probably get to that at one point...) There are some other fan-castings I've made, but those are pretty much separate. More along the lines of "What if instead of the sequel trilogy, they'd released a KotOR film in 2015?" I feel that's best left for another post.
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