There are basic guidelines for each of our leads as far as ethnicity is concerned:

• Naturally, Styx should be played by someone of Indian/Southern Asian ethnicity.
• Garanos can be a little more ambigious as far as race, but I often think of Greek/Mediterranean features when I picture a real-life version of her.  Either way, her skin is slightly darker than typical Caucasian coloring.  I suppose the actress could get around this by simply tanning.  Gara also shouldn’t be too pretty.  Her face should be striking, but not too conventionally pretty, if you get what I mean by that.
• The same goes for Senberan and Ethreden and all the rest of the Caywienites.
• Maryoku is pretty much Caucasian.  There’s no getting around that one.  The actress is allowed to be fairly pretty, preferably in a timeless way, given the immortality and all.
• Lucas, Jack, and the other Kaigan villagers are also Caucasian.
• Gharsena is a darker-skinned Asian.  Cambodian, Indonesian, or Laotian.
• Feel free to suggest actors for other characters if they occur to you.

And I’ve already cast Geilen.  It actually just occurred to me recently: Jenna Fischer.

If you follow my blog at all, it’s pretty easy to tell I’m a huge fan of the American adaption of The Office.  I think Jenna certainly has the chops to play Geilen very well, not to mention she’s the perfect stature.  (Read: short.)  She could probably gain a little weight for the role, since Geilen’s not an especially slender woman.

I found this picture of Jenna in a bustier, and with some slight Photoshopping to test the proper hair and eye colors, I’d say she’s pretty much perfect:

Throw out some ideas for other actors in the comments!  I’m interested to see what you come up with. ^_^

11/10/09 Edit: It occurred to me that back in 2006 when I was putting fresh coats of paint on character designs to start this comic, I referenced Sarah Chalke for some of Maryoku’s features.  Sealing the deal on Sarah, here she is with Maryoku’s coloring:

Now, she’s mostly a comedy actor, but if she ever feels like taking on a dramatic role, I’ll be waiting! ^_~

11/12/09 Edit:  I now present Greek actress Xristina Mantisi for the role of Garanos. :D

Keep ‘em coming! ^_^