Newcomers Amanda Detmer and Chad E. Donella were cast as students Terry Chaney and Tod Waggner, respectively. "When I first read the script, the thing that struck me most was that the characters were well-written and the relationships between them were strong and believable," Detmer said. "That's important because you have to care about these people in order to be worried about what might happen to them". Detmer defined Terry as "very put-together seems content to defer to [Carter – to not make waves. But the stress of what happens affects their relationship and interestingly enough brings out a certain strength in her". On the other hand, Donella observed how similar his role was to himself. "I believe in fate. I think you come into this life with some things to accomplish and you're taken out earlier or later depending on the game plan".