- Clint Eastwood as Walt Kowalski
- Bee Vang as Thao Vang Lor, a 15-year-old Hmong teenager
- Ahney Her as Sue Lor, Thao's older sister
- Christopher Carley as Father Janovich
- Doua Moua as Fong "Spider", Thao's cousin
- Sonny Vue as Smokie, Spider's right-hand man
- Elvis Thao as Hmong Gangbanger No. 1
- Brian Haley as Mitch Kowalski, Walt's older son
- Brian Howe as Steve Kowalski, Walt's younger son
- Geraldine Hughes as Karen Kowalski, Mitch's wife
- Dreama Walker as Ashley Kowalski, Mitch and Karen's daughter
- Michael E. Kurowski as Josh Kowalski, Mitch and Karen's son
- John Carroll Lynch as Martin, an Italian-American barber friend of Walt's
- Chee Thao as Grandma Vang Lor, the matriarch of Thao's family
- Choua Kue as Youa, Thao's eventual girlfriend
- Scott Eastwood as Trey, Sue's date
After holding casting calls in Fresno, California; Detroit, Michigan; and Saint Paul, Minnesota, Eastwood selected ten Hmong lead actors and supporting actors. Of them, only one was not a first-time actor.[7] Of the Hmong cast, five, including Bee Vang,[4] one of the principal actors,[8] were from the state of Minnesota.[4] Ahney Her comes from Lansing, Michigan. The casting agency Pound & Mooney recruited thirty actors and over five hundred extras. The firm recruited many Hmong actors from a Hmong soccer tournament in Macomb County, Michigan.[8] Sandy Ci Moua, a Hmong actress based in the Twin Cities, assisted with the film's casting of Hmong actors.[9]
