Nicolas Cage (Charlie Kaufman / Donald Kaufman), Meryl Streep (Susan Orlean), Tilda Swinton (Valerie Thomas), Brian Cox (Robert McKee), Maggie Gyllenhaal (Caroline Cunningham), Cara Seymour (Amelia Kavan), Chris Cooper (John Laroche), Judy Greer (Alice die Kellnerin), Ron Livingston (Marty Bowen), Doug Jones (Augustus Margary), Peter Jason (Strafverteidiger), Gary Farmer (Buster Baxley), Jim Beaver (Ranger Tony), Gregory Itzin (Staatsanwalt), Bob Stephenson (David), John Cusack (er selbst), Curtis Hanson (Orleans-Mann), Jay Tavare (Matthew Osceola), Litefoot (Russell (als G. Paul Davis)), Roger Willie (Randy), Bob Yerkes (Charles Darwin), Lynn Court (Laroches Vater), Roger E. Fanter (Laroches Onkel Jim), Sandra Lee Gimpel (Laroches Mutter), Caron Colvett (Laroches Frau), Larry Krask (Rettungssanitäter)