Above is the cover for my epic fantasy/alternate history book The Long Guest. Today, I’m going to tell you which actors I would cast for The Long Movie. I got this idea from Riddhi, who “cast” a favorite book here.

N.b.: This list is really a fantasy for a number of reasons. One reason is that many of these actors would have to be younger than they are now to play these characters, and they would have to conveniently not age until the movie was ready to be made. The character Nimri, for example, is 130 years old, but in the world of TLG that’s only middle-aged. Zillah starts the book in her early 60s, practically a spring chicken. Zillah’s children, of course, are even younger.

Also, sorry I’m only picking mostly big-name stars. One wrinkle with “casting” an imaginary movie is that I’m limited to actors I actually know about.

Nimri: the antihero

Denzel Washington has the look and the gravitas to play Nimri, an arrogant aristocrat related to the Assyrians and Egyptians (he’s “Cushite”) who is taken in by a group of strangers when he suffers paralysis.

Washington usually plays morally upright characters, but he’s a great actor who has been known to play against type, such as in the movie Training Day:

Washington would need a wig, since Nimri has long, curly hair, like the Assyrians.

Update: Ben has suggested Jason Momoa for Nimri. This is a brilliant idea. I didn’t think of Momoa, because I’ve never watched anything he’s been in. But he has the hair, and the roguish vibe.

Imagine this dude screaming at you unintelligibly to take him back to the Tower.

Zillah: the wise matriarch

Widowed at the beginning of the story, Zillah acts as the conscience of her family as they navigate the postapocalyptic chaos. It is she, in fact, who insists they save the life of Nimri, even though he is paraplegic, doesn’t speak their language, and appears to hate them.

Zillah and her family are “Japhethites,” which in my book means they belong to the group that became the ancestors of both Europeans and Asians. They can look like modern-day Europeans, Central or East Asians, or (later) Native Americans. Zillah has medium-fair skin and straight black hair so long that anyone playing her would need a wig.

Any of these ladies could play Zillah:

Sandra Oh

Maura Tierney

Mariska Hargitay. She starred in Law and Order: Special Victims Unit for so many years that I’m sure playing Zillah would actually seem like a nice break by comparison.

Golgal: Zillah’s dead husband

Golgal is killed right before the story opens, but if we needed to portray him in flashbacks, he could be played by Liam Neeson sporting long black hair and a long black beard. And dark contacts.

Enmer: the hyper-responsible son

With his father dead, it’s up to Enmer to get his family out of the riots in the city of Babel. Enmer never really gets over the apocalypse, but he does his best throughout the rest of the book, guided by Zillah.

Kiowa Gordon is an American Indian (Hualapai) actor who played Jim Chee, among other roles. This tense, tragic look on his face is perfect for Enmer.

Ninshi: Enmer’s uptight wife

Lucy Liu has exactly the take-no-nonsense face that Ninshi is usually sporting.

Endu: the cocky young prince

Endu, the second son of Zillah and Golgal, is handsome and cocky. He doesn’t mind letting Enmer lead the group of refugees, but he’d like to have his own kingdom some day.

I only ever saw Johnathan Schaech in That Thing You Do, and never again. But the character he played in that movie was pretty close to Endu’s.

Endu could also be played by a much younger Robert Downey Junior, or by a much younger:

Michael Greyeyes.

Endu is quite a bit darker complected than all these guys, though.

Sari: Endu’s mousy wife

Late in the book, Endu marries a sweet, shy widow who he thinks should be really glad to get him.

I’ve always thought Grace Dove would do a fantastic job as Sari.

Sut: the sunny third child

Sut doesn’t make it very far in the book, but he could be played by either of these handsome young fellers.

Timothee Chalamet

Frank Dillane

Ninna: the little sister

Ninna is only sixteen when the apocalypse happens. She remains a player in the family story throughout the entire trilogy.

Mindy Kaling looks exactly like I picture Ninna (and, in fact, her daughter Magya): dark, pretty, short, sweet, super feminine.

Hur: the slave turned brother

Golgal acquired Hur as a slave when Hur was fourteen. Hur’s father had gotten into debt, and the family was being sold off to pay it. Hur is the same age as Enmer (31) when The Long Guest opens. He is a very capable person, and it doesn’t take him long to insist to Enmer that he be given his freedom and made one of the family, or he will take his skills elsewhere.

Hur is the only member of the initial cast who does not have black hair.

Jeremy Renner looks more or less as I have always pictured Hur. In Wind River, he plays a character who is similar to Hur, as well.

You May Now Complain

Okay, that’s it! If you have actually read The Long Guest, you may have found this post enjoyable (or, perhaps, repulsive). If you haven’t read it yet, I trust that my casting choices have not ruined the mental images you will develop while reading it.

And yes, The Long Guest could be cast almost entirely with American Indian actors, Korean actors, or Bollywood actors. I’m just not knowledgeable enough about the industrie(s) to assemble such a cast in a blog post.