The following is a list of significant characters who feature in the 2008 film Gran Torino, directed by Clint Eastwood.
Casting calls were held in Fresno, California, Detroit, Michigan, and Saint Paul, Minnesota, from which Eastwood selected ten Hmong American lead actors and supporting actors. Of them, only one was not a first time actor. Of the Hmong cast, five, including Bee Vang, one of the principal actors, were from the state of Minnesota. Ahney Her comes from Lansing, Michigan. The casting agency Pound & Mooney recruited thirty actors and over 500 extras. The firm recruited many Hmong actors from a Hmong soccer tournament in Macomb County, Michigan. Sandy Ci Moua, a Hmong actress based in the Minneapolis-St. Paul area, assisted with the film's casting of Hmong actors.
One actor who auditioned praised how the casting avoided the typical Asian stereotypes in favor of authenticity, saying "They could have walked down Hollywood and looked for some Korean, Chinese, whatever, Asian-American actors, and say, 'Hey, can we teach you a few Hmong (words),' like they do in other movies, just mimic the words. But no, they said, 'We want real Hmong-speaking actors.' Asian Americans, we can tell, 'That guy's not Chinese! That guy's not Korean!' So, stop trying to fool us."
Walt Kowalski
Walter "Walt" Kowalski (portrayed by Clint Eastwood) is a Polish-American former auto worker who becomes embroiled in a conflict involving a Hmong family and a gang. Walt Kowalski had served in the Korean War and had killed a Korean boy who had been trying to surrender to him. Walt Kowalski has bitter memories of the conflict. He is a retiree who formerly worked at a Ford automobile plant for much of his life, and he owns a Gran Torino he had personally built. He also owns an M1 Garand rifle as well as a Colt 45 ACP pistol. Walt's wife, Dorothy Kowalski, is dead by the beginning of the film.
Thao Vang Lor
Thao Vang Lor (portrayed by Bee Vang) is a 15-year-old Hmong American boy who is coerced by a Hmong gang to attempt to steal Walt Kowalski's Gran Torino. Walt often calls Thao "Toad." With no father in the family, he is expected to be the man of the house, but he lacks direction and initially does chores at the direction of his sister Sue. Thao is soon coerced into joining the Hmong gang by his gangster cousins. After Thao clumsily attempts to steal Walt's car as part of his forced gang initiation, he returns home instead of fleeing with the gang. After confessing the attempted crime to his family, Thao's mother and sister bring him to Walt to apologize and make amends to the community as Walt's servant. Walt also sees Thao helping an elderly neighbor with her groceries after she is ignored by several Asian kids that pass by. Through Walt, he learns how to do construction work and labor, and how to act like a man, even getting help in his romantic pursuit of Youa. Initially perceived as a coward by Walt, their growing relationship gradually changes the older man's impression of Thao, with Walt ultimately entrusting the Ford Gran Torino to Thao.
Tania Modleski, author of "Clint Eastwood and Male Weepies," says that Thao is "pacific by nature." Jeff Baenen of the Associated Press said that Thao was "weak-willed." Louisa Schein and Va-Megn Thoj, authors of "Beyond Gran Torino’s Guns: Hmong Cultural Warriors Performing Genders", said that when Walt masculinizes Thao, he "liberat[es] him from the effeminacy apparently imposed on him by his domineering mother and sister (and implicitly his race)."
Schein in Hmong Today said in regards to Vang that "With a mild-mannered countenance and a slight build, he’s equipped to fill the role of neighborhood wimp."<ref name="ScheinFamily">Schein, Louisa. "Hmong Actors Making History Part 2: Meet the Gran Torino Family ." Hmong Today at New America Media. October 4, 2008. Retrieved on March 17, 2012.</ref> Schein added that Vang "is as humble as" Thao, but "not quite as bookish." The creators selected Vang for the role because, in the words of Baenen, "his innocent looks and slight build." Vang said that the height difference between him and Eastwood (Vang as Thao was and Eastwood as Walt was ) was intentional and illustrates how "Tao is literally ‘looking up’ to Walt." Vang said that while he had the same culture Thao had, he did not experience violent incidents like Thao did. Vang added that he and Thao "were quite alike. We are both loners but I think I am more outgoing."