Claude Brasseur

as Guy de Maupassant

Jean Carmet

as François

Miou-Miou

as Gisèle d'Estoc

Simone Signoret

as Maupassant's mother

Véronique Genest

as Fanny

Jacques Fabbri

as Daremberg

Anne-Marie Philipe

as Comtesse Potocka