When the time came to begin casting, the filmmakers needed actors who could not only embody the characters, but also convincingly portray the strong bond between the friends that sustains them through their loneliness and frustration and forms the core of their story.
Dreamcatcher benefited from Kasdan’s expertise in bringing together a strong ensemble. "This movie is full of wonderful young actors," the director attests. "I feel I’ve been very lucky in finding terrific actors all through my career, and this is a new crop of great guys."
Thomas Jane plays Henry, whom we find at the beginning of the film has reached the end of his rope. "Henry is slightly telepathic," explains Jane. "He’s a psychiatrist, which is a difficult profession to be in for someone with the ability to read people’s thoughts, because he always knows when you’re lying; to him, to yourself, to your wife. It becomes difficult for Henry to be of service because he so desperately wants to help that he eventually gets himself into trouble telling people what they don’t want to hear, and ends up doing more harm than good. So Henry is pretty suicidal when we meet him at the beginning of the film."
"I’d seen Thomas in Deep Blue Sea, Magnolia and Boogie Nights," says Kasdan, "and recognized that he’s a wonderful, adventurous young actor and leading man."
Jason Lee plays Beaver, a toothpick-gnawing carpenter with the dubious gift of maddeningly vague precognitive powers; he can feel when something bad is coming, but can’t see clearly enough to do anything about it.
"I’d worked with Jason in Mumford," says Kasdan, "and I’d admired his performance very much in Cameron Crowe’s movie Almost Famous. He’s just incredible in this movie. He’s funny and surprising – when I was writing Beaver I thought, this is Jason Lee."
"Beaver is the kind-hearted, good-natured one," says Lee. "Larry is the rare director who encourages actors to make character choices. For instance, when I thought about Beaver, I just felt that he likes 1950s music; his kind of a good time is going to the bar, having a beer or two and hearing a 1950s song come on the radio. He’s that guy; doesn’t smoke cigarettes, he’s got the Leatherman tool, the toothpick holder, looks a little like Buddy Holly. And Larry said, ‘Done,’ and it was great because it was my first time defining a character to that degree. He’s definitely one of the more unique characters I’ve played."
Kasdan cast Damian Lewis as Jonesy, who is the victim of a terrible accident early on in the film, the bizarre repercussions of which even he cannot fully grasp.
"Jonesy is a sensitive, rather sincere guy," Lewis muses. "Not necessarily serious, but gentle and thoughtful. At the beginning of the movie, he gets hit by a car, which is the first time Stephen King wrote of his own accident in dramatic form. He gave that retelling of his own life to Jonesy, who goes through a difficult transition where he’s lost quite a bit of his confidence. Jonesy is harboring a secret through much of the film, and he grows increasingly fragile as the movie goes on."
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