| Cast overview, first billed only: | |||
| John Cusack | ... | Craig Schwartz | |
| Cameron Diaz | ... | Lotte Schwartz | |
| Ned Bellamy | ... | Derek Mantini | |
| Eric Weinstein | ... | Father at Puppet Show | |
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Madison Lanc | ... | Daughter at Puppet Show |
| Octavia Spencer | ... | Woman in Elevator (as Octavia L. Spencer) | |
| Mary Kay Place | ... | Floris | |
| Orson Bean | ... | Dr. Lester | |
| Catherine Keener | ... | Maxine Lund | |
| K.K. Dodds | ... | Wendy | |
| Byrne Piven | ... | Captain Mertin | |
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Judith Wetzell | ... | Tiny Woman |
| John Malkovich | ... | John Horatio Malkovich | |
| Kevin Carroll | ... | Cab Driver | |
| Willie Garson | ... | Guy in Restaurant | |
Puppeteer Craig Schwartz and animal lover and pet store clerk Lotte Schwartz are just going through the motions of their marriage. Despite not being able to earn a living solely through puppeteering, Craig loves his profession as it allows him to inhabit the skin of others. He begins to take the ability to inhabit the skin of others to the next level when he is forced to take a job as a file clerk for the off-kilter LesterCorp, located on the five-foot tall 7½ floor of a Manhattan office building. Behind one of the filing cabinets in his work area, Craig finds a hidden door which he learns is a portal into the mind of John Malkovich, the visit through the portal which lasts fifteen minutes after which the person is spit into a ditch next to the New Jersey Turnpike. Craig is fascinated by the meaning of life associated with this finding. Lotte's trips through the portal make her evaluate her own self. And the confident Maxine Lund, one of Craig's co-workers who he tells about the ... Written by Huggo
... but without it you'd be unconscious or you wouldn't be you, or are you, you? Exploring identity, appearance, choice and fame in the most original and entertaining of ways, this esoterically amusing vision of what makes us who we are manages to keep you engaged and amused while encouraging a little self reflection upon completion - that is if it is you doing the reflecting, pulling your own strings, grinding your own organ, dancing to your own tune.