Emmanuelle Devos as Violette Leduc

Sandrine Kiberlain as Simone de Beauvoir

Olivier Gourmet as Jacques Guérin

Frans Boyer as Le jeune paysan

Catherine Hiegel as Berthe Leduc

Jacques Bonnaffé as Jean Genet

Olivier Py as Maurice Sachs

Nathalie Richard as Hermine

Stanley Weber as Le jeune maçon

Jean Toscane as Monsieur Motté

Nicole Colchat as Madame Belaval

Fabrizio Rongione as Yvon Belaval

Erwan Creignou as Marcel

Vincent Schmitt as Un forain

Jean-Paul Dubois as Ernest

Paulette Frantz as Madame Moustier

Valérie Kéruzoré as La secrétaire des éditions Gallimard

Sylvie Jobert as La libraire

Thierry Nenez as Le concierge

Marie-Aline Thomassin as La secrétaire de Jacques Guérin

Josette Ménard as La femme de ménage

Richard Chevallier as Louis Jouvet

Florent Bigot de Nesles as L'homme sur le chemin

Isabelle Sprung as Une villageoise

Claudine Acs as La vieille dame

Pierre Gribling as Jacques, le mari de Violette

Marc Faure as Gaston Gallimard

Pierre-Alain Chapuis as Jacques Lemarchand

Laure Sirieix as La journaliste

Audrey Quoturi as Cliente librairie (uncredited)