Tommy Lee Jones
The very first actor cast for the film was Tommy Lee Jones. His laconic, emotionally complex opening monologue sets the stage for all to come and immediately raises the stakes on the subject of authenticity. A native of Texas himself, Jones has a natural accent that draws the viewer into the reality of the setting to a degree which likely cannot be calculated. That calculation must take into account that even though Jones receives top billing, his on-screen time is actually less than that of both Javier Bardem and Josh Brolin.
Javier Bardem
The role of the psychopath with the worst haircut in film history transformed Javier Bardem from respected but little-known actor into a superstar capable of being cast a Bond villain. Bardem’s good fortune began when Heath Ledger decided to take a pass on the role and ended with running the board on every major Best Supporting Actor award of the year. Interesting trivia note: both Bardem and Jones (as Harvey Dent/Two-Face) have played characters who leave the option of violence up to the fate of a coin flip.
Josh Brolin
Luck (and extreme motivation) also seemed to be on Brolin’s side in his first encounter with the Coen Brothers. His lust for the role was such that while on the set of Grindhouse, he convinced Quentin Tarantino to direct a high-quality audition video of a scene between Moss and his wife. He ultimately won out over co-star Garret Dillahunt (Wendell, the deputy sheriff) only to suffer a major shoulder injury in a motorcycle accident just before shooting. Fortunately, the injured shoulder was the very same one in which his character gets shot, thus making little negative impact on his ability to play the part. Interesting trivia: Brolin plays the younger version of the character played by Tommy Lee Jones in the Men in Black film series.
Kelly MacDonald
Kelly MacDonald came to prominence as Diane in Trainspotting and most of her roles prior to that of Carla Jean Moss were set in the United Kingdom, home to her native Scotland. One of the most impressive acting aspects of the entire film for many critics and fans is the utterly believable Texas accent MacDonald adopts for the tragic role of a seemingly very decent young woman called up to sit face-to-face with the incarnation of random evil in the word.
Woody Harrelson
No Country for Old Men was one of five different films released in 2007 in which Woody Harrelson appeared. Although his part as Carson Wells is small, Harrelson as usual manages to modulate his performance to just the right pitch to somehow make what isn’t known about the character more interesting than what is being shown. Interesting side note: Harrelson’s real-life father was—somewhat like Chigurh—a hired assassin. He was eventually imprisoned for killing a Texas federal judge.
