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Lupin is a French crime thriller series created by George Kay and François Uzan and inspired by the Arsène Lupin stories written by Maurice Leblanc. The series premiered on Netflix on 8 January 2021.

Key

•    Main role (credited)
•    Recurring role (appears in at least three episodes)^[1]
•    Guest role (appears in one to two episodes)
• † Character is deceased in the present timeline
• Several characters are played by different actors in the present timeline and in the 1990s flashback sequences. Where applicable, the actor who plays the present-day version of the character is listed on top, with their flashback counterpart in smaller lettering below.

• played by:
  • Omar Sy — present timeline
  • Mamadou Haïdara — 1990s flashbacks
• appears in: part 1 (all episodes); part 2 (all episodes); part 3 (all episodes)

Assane Diop is the protagonist of the series. He was born on 13 May 1981 to Babakar and Mariama Diop, and spent his early years in his native Senegal before emigrating to Paris with his father. His mother had initially intended to join them, but troubles with the law forced her to stay behind. When Assane was fourteen years old, Babakar was framed by his employer, the wealthy entrepreneur Hubert Pellegrini, for the theft of a necklace that had originally belonged to Marie-Antoinette, and died in prison shortly thereafter. At around the same time, Assane discovered the Arsène Lupin books, and was immediately captivated by the adventures of the gentleman thief. Taking Lupin as his inspiration, Assane has grown up to become a wily, resourceful master criminal, who uses his charm, guile, and flair for spectacle to stage complicated and daring heists. Identifying with the label of "gentleman", he is an expert in winning his victims over before ultimately swindling them.

Though Assane cares deeply about his loved ones, particularly his best friend Benjamin Férel, his estranged wife Claire Laurent, and his and Claire's son Raoul, he also demonstrates a tendency to behave in an egocentric manner. In particular, Assane has struggled to remain a consistent presence in Raoul's life, and often fails to account for how his son is impacted by his criminality, much to Claire's distress. In contrast, Assane maintains a decidedly disdainful attitude towards the police, with his more elaborate crimes often including practical jokes which undermine their authority while also insulting their intelligence. The only police officer Assane has come to respect is Youssef Guédira, a detective who also has a strong interest in Arsène Lupin.

Assane typically adopts personas while carrying out thefts, doing so by modifying his voice, using makeup and wigs to alter his physical appearance, and wearing flamboyant costumes. His various alternate identities have included Luis Perenna (a janitor at the Louvre Museum), Paul Sernine (a multimillionaire American tech CEO), Salvator (an elderly whistleblower), Sam Delangle (an ex-convict), and Alex (a youth basketball coach). The names of these characters are frequently, though not always, inspired by aliases used by Arsène Lupin.

• played by:
  • Ludivine Sagnier — present timeline
  • Ludmilla Makowski — 1990s flashbacks
• appears in: part 1 (all episodes); part 2 (all episodes); part 3 (all episodes)

Claire Laurent is Assane's estranged wife and the mother of their son Raoul, whom she is raising on her own while working at Paris' Lariboisière Hospital. Claire is a compassionate and forgiving woman who loves Assane and desires that he be more attentive to Raoul, but is also concerned about the negative effects of his actions on Raoul's safety and well-being. Disagreements arise between Assane and Claire over the former's perilous criminal lifestyle; Claire often begs Assane to be honest with her, or to be careful, though her pleas tend to fall on deaf ears. Even so, she is generally willing to offer him chances to redeem himself and to improve his relationships with both her and their child.

Claire first met Assane shortly after his father's death, when the two were teenagers. Assane's interest in the Arsène Lupin books endeared him to Claire, while her strongly pacifistic leanings led her to act as a moral compass for him during this time, for instance discouraging him from getting into fights with other boys and expressing concerns about the violence promoted by Jean-Luc Keller in his boxing gym. Despite her principled nature, Claire is shown to have a cunning and mischievous side to her personality: on multiple occasions she has successfully tricked others into revealing information to her, and has also been able to manipulate Assane's foes into leaving her and Raoul alone.

• played by:
  • Antoine Gouy — present timeline
  • Adrian Valli de Villebonne (parts 1–3), Brice Derouéné (part 4) — 1990s flashbacks
• appears in: part 1 (episodes 1–2, 4–5); part 2 (all episodes); part 3 (all episodes)

Benjamin Férel has been Assane's best friend since their school days. A methodical, affable and extremely loyal man, Benjamin is the owner of an antique shop, in which he has been known to sell various items that Assane has stolen. His technological expertise, encyclopedic knowledge on jewelry, and ability to quickly generate copies of priceless works of art have helped Assane on many occasions. Benjamin tends to be the only person whom Assane keeps fully informed about his plans, in whose execution he almost always lends a hand. He is also close with Claire and Raoul, and at times voices his concerns about the toll that Assane's criminal activity is taking on them.

In his youth Benjamin was a student at the expensive Andrésy school. It was there that he met Assane, whose education at the school had been paid for in secret by Anne Pellegrini. The two quickly became inseparable, sometimes skipping classes in order to explore various sites in Paris, including its Catacombs.

• played by Soufiane Guerrab
• appears in: part 1 (all episodes); part 2 (all episodes); part 3 (all episodes)

Youssef Guédira is a detective who works at the Paris police precinct. Regarded as geeky and even somewhat eccentric by his colleagues, Guédira is nevertheless an astute officer whose primary skill set lies in the more cerebral aspects of police work. Like Assane, Guédira is a huge fan of Arsène Lupin, and is thus instantly able to spot Assane's criminal inspirations. Although his theories are met with skepticism and dismissal from the other officers, Guédira stubbornly continues to investigate them on his own, and eventually manages to catch up to Assane in the town of Étretat. Despite operating on opposite sides of the law, Guédira and Assane form a bond based on their shared love of the Lupin stories, with Assane often teasing Guédira by leaving coded messages and clues for him as to his whereabouts. On several occasions, Guédira and Assane have agreed to a temporary truce while teaming up in pursuit of a common goal. In these situations Assane refers to Guédira as "Ganimard", the name of Arsène Lupin's arch-nemesis police officer, who is Guédira's favorite character in the stories.

In part 3 it is revealed that Guédira has a crush on his colleague Sofia Belkacem. He also attracts romantic interest from Fleur Bélanger, a journalist with whom he shares his theories about Assane's various exploits and their connections to the Arsène Lupin books.

• played by Shirine Boutella
• appears in: part 1 (episodes 2–5); part 2 (episodes 1–2, 4–5); part 3 (all episodes)

Sofia Belkacem is a police lieutenant (as of part 3, captain) who, like Guédira, works for the Parisian police force. Belkacem is a headstrong and ambitious policewoman who believes in upholding the rule of the law, and as such feels great pressure to bring Assane to justice. However, her tendency to dismiss Guédira's ideas as unrealistic has resulted in her consistently struggling to track Assane down, much to her frustration. Belkacem possesses a choleric and pugnacious temperament, and as such is highly prone to bursting into fits of rage whenever Assane outsmarts the police. Nevertheless, she occasionally displays a softer side to her personality in her interactions with Guédira, though she is exasperated by his many idiosyncrasies and his unusual relationship with Assane.

• played by:
  • Clotilde Hesme — present timeline
  • Léa Bonneau — 1995 flashbacks
• appears in: part 1 (episodes 1–2, 4–5); part 2 (episodes 2–5); part 3 (episodes 2 & 7)

Juliette Pellegrini is the daughter of the wealthy entrepreneur Hubert Pellegrini. She and Assane first met while Babakar was working for Hubert, and the two carried out an on-again, off-again affair until 2006, when Claire became pregnant with Raoul. Juliette is shown to be generally well-intentioned but also spoiled and naive, while her status as the "other woman" in Assane's life is a source of considerable jealousy for her. At the start of the series, Juliette is collaborating with her father on various business ventures, most notably a foundation intended to provide opportunities for disadvantaged children. She and Hubert have always been very close, with Juliette being largely unaware of her father's long list of misdeeds until Assane urges her to extract the truth from her mother, Anne.

• played by Nicole Garcia
• appears in: part 1 (episodes 1–3); part 2 (episode 3)

Anne Pellegrini is the wife of Hubert Pellegrini and the mother of Juliette Pellegrini. A polite but passive woman, Anne knew about Hubert's crimes in the 1990s but kept quiet about them, largely out of concern for how any criminal proceedings brought against him would affect Juliette. However, Anne felt terrible about what happened to Babakar, and secretly paid for Assane to be educated at the elite Andrésy school following his father's death. In the present day, she and Hubert live separately. Anne is ultimately convinced by Juliette to give evidence about Hubert to the police.

• played by Hervé Pierre
• appears in: part 1 (all episodes); part 2 (all episodes); part 3 (episode 7)

Hubert Pellegrini is an unscrupulous businessman who serves as the main antagonist for the first two parts of the series. Hubert is one of the richest and most powerful men in France, and frequently uses his money and connections with the government and law enforcement to get his way. Although he presents himself as a patriotic philanthropist, his true motivations lie in protecting his wealth for himself and his daughter Juliette. Hubert has no qualms about ruining the lives those standing in the way of his goals, sometimes even arranging for them to be murdered by hired hitmen.

In 1995, having fallen into financial trouble, Hubert came up with a scheme to claim the insurance payout for the theft of the Queen's Necklace, employing Babakar Diop as his chauffeur with the intention of setting him up to take the fall for stealing it. In doing so, Hubert made a permanent enemy of Assane, then a teenager. Twenty-five years later, Assane is able to get his revenge by exposing the entrepreneur's many crimes. Hubert is arrested at the end of part 2; in the final episode of part 3 he is briefly seen occupying a prison cell.

• played by Vincent Londez
• appears in: part 1 (all episodes); part 2 (episodes 3–5)

Romain Laugier is a police captain who leads the squad that includes Belkacem and Guédira. He is a demanding, hierarchically-oriented and somewhat close-minded officer who, like Belkacem, initially displays a great deal of disdain for the Lupin-related ideas that Guédira has been coming up with. However, after Guédira is continuously proved correct when it comes to Assane's exploits, Laugier becomes more open to hearing his perspective. Laugier is only present in the first two parts of the series; his absence in part 3 is unexplained.

• played by Etan Simon (parts 1–3) and Théo Christine (part 4)
• appears in: part 1 (episodes 1–2, 4–5); part 2 (all episodes); part 3 (all episodes)

Raoul Diop is the son of Assane and Claire. He was born on 11 December 2006, sharing his birthday with Arsène Lupin author Maurice Leblanc. Although he was the result of an unplanned pregnancy, both Claire and Assane adore him. Raoul is fifteen years old as of the end of part 3, and is depicted as a phlegmatic, socially withdrawn Generation Z teenager who spends much of his free time reading and playing video games. When Assane introduced him to the Lupin books, he took to them in much the same way as his father did. Raoul is also shown to have an interest in sports, joining a local youth basketball team to some success. Assane's chaotic and frequently dangerous lifestyle has ensured that Claire retains full custody of Raoul, who nevertheless idolizes his father, and wishes that his parents would get back together.

• played by Fargass Assandé
• appears in: part 1 (episodes 1–2); part 2 (episode 5); part 3 (episode 6) — 1995 flashback sequences only

Babakar Diop was Assane's late father. An upstanding, industrious man, Babakar moved from Senegal to France with Assane when the latter was a boy, with the two settling in the Parisian suburb of Montreuil. Babakar quickly gained employment with Hubert Pellegrini as a chauffeur and sometime housekeeper; however, unbeknownst to him, Hubert intended to frame him for stealing an expensive necklace once owned by Marie-Antoinette, in order to collect the insurance money. Shortly after being imprisoned for the crime, Babakar was found hanging from a noose in his prison cell. Although his death was initially ruled a suicide, it is revealed that he was actually murdered by Hubert's associate Léonard Koné.

• played by:
  • Vincent Garanger — present timeline
  • Johann Dionnet — 1990s flashbacks
• appears in: part 1 (all episodes); part 2 (episodes 3–5); part 3 (episode 7 — 1998 flashback sequence only)

Gabriel Dumont is the commissioner of the Paris police precinct in parts 1 and 2 of the series. In 1995, Dumont was the detective placed in charge of overseeing the Babakar Diop case, which drew him into the orbit of Hubert Pellegrini. Ultimately Dumont allowed himself to be bribed by the businessman, and his tenure as commissioner was subsequently marred by corruption and deceit, which is eventually uncovered by Laugier, Belkacem and Guédira. He is taken into custody in the final episode of part 2.

• played by Adama Niane
• appears in: part 1 (episodes 1, 4–5); part 2 (episodes 1–2, 4)

Léonard Koné was a hitman and a close associate of Hubert Pellegrini whose specialty was murders staged to appear like suicides by hanging. At Hubert's instruction, Léonard killed both Babakar Diop and Fabienne Bériot, and was also responsible for the kidnapping and attempted murder of Raoul. Léonard demonstrated a tendency to behave in an impulsive and erratic manner, which Hubert grew wary of; ultimately, at his orders, Léonard was strangled to death by Pascal Oblet in Assane's apartment.

• played by Anne Benoît
• appears in: part 1 (episode 4)

Fabienne Bériot was an investigative journalist who spent her entire career at the newspaper The Objector. In 1996, Fabienne published a book entitled Dirty Money – The Pellegrini System, in which she exposed Hubert Pellegrini's corrupt and unethical business practices. However, Hubert and his team of lawyers were able to successfully sue her for defamation, getting her blacklisted in the process. With her reputation ruined, a demoralized Fabienne spent the next twenty-four years living as a recluse. In 2020 she teamed up with Assane in an attempt to bring Hubert Pellegrini to justice, but their plan failed, and Fabienne was murdered by Léonard Koné after refusing to reveal Assane's location. Assane was deeply affected by her death, and subsequently adopted her dog J'accuse.

• played by Stefan Crepon
• appears in: part 2 (episodes 3–5); part 3 (episode 2)

Philippe Courbet is a young man who was first encountered by Assane and Benjamin at a library, where he was attempting to steal Arsène Lupin books. At the time they discovered him, Courbet appeared to be a part of the emo subculture; Assane re-styled him and cast him in the role of a clean-cut young stockbroker who would infiltrate Hubert Pellegrini's inner circle. The name "Courbet" is a pseudonym (an homage to Gustave Courbet), while his true surname remains unknown. Courbet makes a guest appearance in part 3, this time assuming the name "Vernes" and posing as a doctor who works at the Lariboisière hospital, where Assane is brought after he fakes his death.

• played by Martha Canga Antonio
• appears in: part 3 (episodes 1–6)

Fleur Bélanger is an ambitious young journalist who works at The Objector. Fleur is highly interested in Assane's exploits, and has made a name for herself writing articles about him. She is one of the spectators at Assane's burglary of the Maison Everlin, and following his "death" she strikes up a partnership with Guédira, who provides her with evidence regarding Assane's interest in Lupin. Fleur also becomes attracted to Guédira, though it is unclear to what extent he reciprocates her feelings.

• played by:
  • Pierre Lottin — present timeline
  • Noé Wodecki — 1998 flashbacks
• appears in: part 3 (episodes 1–4, 6–7)

Bruno is an orphaned childhood friend of Assane's who lives with his younger sister in the same Montreuil apartment building that Assane inhabited with his father prior to the latter's arrest and sentencing. He is a soccer fan, and an avid supporter of the French national team. In the summer of 1998 Bruno reconnected with Assane, and brought him to Jean-Luc Keller's boxing gym. Bruno initially viewed Keller as a surrogate father figure, but he and Assane both turned on Keller after the latter forced Bruno to shoot and kill a police officer during a robbery of a jewelry store. In the present timeline, Bruno aids Assane in his theft of the black pearl from the Maison Everlin. Assane ultimately gives Bruno the black pearl, which he sells, and uses the profits to re-open Keller's gym, with a new Arsène Lupin-inspired theme.

• played by:
  • Steve Tientcheu — present timeline
  • Salif Cissé — 1998 flashbacks
• appears in: part 3 (episodes 2–7)

Jean-Luc Keller is the primary antagonist in part 3 of the series. In the late 1990s, Keller ran a boxing gym, targeting as his clientele orphaned or otherwise disadvantaged youth—among them Assane and Bruno—and sometimes posing as their guardian in order to trick child services officials. A controlling, violent, and abusive man, Keller was known to force the minors under his supervision to pay large sums in order to retain membership to his gym, and to take part in various crimes at his behest. Following a botched robbery of a jewelry store, for which he was assisted by Assane and Bruno, Keller was caught by the police and jailed. He blamed Assane for his lengthy sentence and has carried a vendetta against him ever since. In the present timeline, Keller kidnaps Assane's mother Mariama, holding her hostage and coercing Assane into committing increasingly drastic acts in exchange for her life being spared. However, Assane ultimately gains the upper hand over Keller, and is able to get him re-arrested at the end of part 3.

• played by:
  • Sandra Parfait — present timeline
  • Sandya Touré Meite — 1998 flashbacks
• appears in: part 3 (episodes 2, 4–7)

Manon is a secondary antagonist in part 3. Like Bruno and Assane, she was drawn into Keller's circle in her youth, joining his boxing gym and ultimately becoming his girlfriend. Because Keller was able to convince Manon that Assane was solely responsible for his arrest and imprisonment, she remained an active member of his crew and viewed Assane as a traitor. As a result, she is willing to assist Keller in kidnapping Assane's mother and holding her for ransom. However, after Assane corners her on her own and explains what Keller did to him and Bruno, she turns against him and assists Assane in bringing him to justice.

• played by:
  • Naky Sy Savané — present timeline
  • Seyna Kane — 1990s flashbacks
• appears in: part 3 (episodes 2–7)

Mariama Diop is Assane's mother and Babakar's widow. She had planned to join Assane and Babakar in Paris in 1995, but was prevented from doing so after being arrested and charged with aggravated robbery when she was caught attempting to steal money from her corrupt employer. In the summer of 1998, a seventeen-year-old Assane was able to get in touch with Mariama by phone while she was serving her prison sentence in Senegal, but she discouraged him from contacting her again, as she felt that he would be better off without her in his life. Following her release from prison Mariama turned to low-level crime, becoming a proficient thief in her own right. In the present timeline, she appears in Paris after Assane fakes his death, only to be kidnapped by Keller. Though Assane makes numerous attempts to rescue her, Mariama ultimately escapes Keller on her own and manages to reunite with her son, who introduces her to Claire and Raoul.

• played by Vincent Overath
• appears in: part 3 (episode 3)

Cisco, real name Nicolas, is a gangster from Nanterre whose crew Assane infiltrates in order to steal the Edouard Manet painting Chez Tortoni, which is in their possession. Cisco possesses an odd method of dealing with those he believes to have betrayed him, ordering them to draw a card from a deck and only sparing their lives if the card in question is an ace. Despite his ruthless nature, Cisco cares deeply for his frail, sickly mother. He is last seen being arrested after a robbery he and his gang have planned is derailed by Assane's machinations.

• The loan sharks (part 1, episode 1), a group consisting of Vincent Morville (Grégoire Colin) and his acolytes Kevin (Kamel Guenford) and Rudy (Arthur Choisnet), whose assistance Assane enlists for the Louvre museum heist. The trio decide to betray Assane, but end up being arrested when their getaway goes wrong.
• Aminata (part 1, episodes 1 & 4), played by Jocelyne Vignon, the head of the janitor squad at the Louvre.
• Thibault de Quenoy (part 1, episodes 1 & 4), played by Xavier Lemaître, the auctioneer in charge of selling the Queen's Necklace at the Louvre.
• Philippe Bouchard (1995 flashback sequences only — part 1, episodes 2–3; part 2, episode 2), played by Éric Paul, a social worker charged with ensuring that teenaged Assane was looked after following his father's death.
• Étienne Comet (part 1, episode 2), played by François Creton, an inmate in failing health who had been incarcerated at the same time as Babakar. Comet directs Assane to a copy of an Arsène Lupin book which contains a coded message from his father.
• Djibril Traoré (part 1, episode 2), played by Athaya Mokonzi, an inmate whom Assane impersonates in order to enter prison.
• Bogdan and Mirko (part 1, episode 2), played by Saïd Benchnafa and Karim Lasmi respectively, two inmates who harass Assane during his stay in prison.
• The prison nurse (part 1, episode 2), played by Linda Massoz, who befriends Assane and later finds his body after his staged suicide attempt.
• Hélène Dumont (part 1, episodes 3–4; part 2, episode 5), played by Marie Barraud, Gabriel Dumont's wife, who appears to be unaware of his corruption.
• Thomas Gendre (part 1, episode 4; part 2, episode 2), played by Azzeddine Ahmed-Chaouch, the presenter of the TV programme The Other Edition.
• Agathe van der Meulen (2006 flashback sequences only — part 1, episode 5), played by Bérengère Dautun,^[2] an aristocratic elderly woman whose riches, in part acquired from the then-Belgian Congo, were stolen by Assane in 2006.
• Tania Fabre (2006 flashback sequences only — part 1, episode 5), played by Valérie de Dietrich, a therapist visited by Claire at the time she became pregnant with Raoul.

• Lorenzo (1995 flashback sequences only — part 2, episodes 1–2), played by Daniel Martin, the proprietor of a musical instrument shop from which Assane steals a violin to give to Claire.
• Pascal Oblet (part 2, episodes 2–5), played by Nicolas Wanczycki, one of Hubert's hired hitmen. He is responsible for Léonard's murder, and successfully frames Assane for it.
• Marc (part 2, episodes 3–4), played by Salim Kechiouche, a doctor who is briefly in a relationship with Claire.
• The blonde lady (part 2, episode 4), played by Juliette Poissonnier, a ticket saleswoman who gives Assane and Benjamin a map of the Catacombs of Paris.
• Lucas Lacroix (part 2, episodes 4–5), played by Franck Mercadal, Hubert Pellegrini's cautious stockbroker, whom he dismisses in favor of Philippe Courbet and his more radical investment proposals.

• Arnold de Garmeaux (part 3, episodes 1–2, 5), played by Julien Pestel, a journalist who works alongside Fleur Bélanger at The Objector. The pair maintain an active rivalry, competing over whose stories will make the front page of the newspaper.
• Franck Robert (part 3, episodes 1–2), played by Daniel Hanssens, the editor of The Objector.
• Nicolas Imbert (part 3, episodes 1–2), played by Xavier Robic, the proprietor of the Maison Everlin, a luxury boutique in Paris' Place Vendôme, where he keeps the black pearl which is stolen by Assane.
• Madame Simon (part 3, episode 1), played by Audrey Looten, Imbert's secretary.
• Clémentine Vidal (part 3, episodes 1–2, 4, 6), played by Adèle Wismes, a young police officer who is often seen working alongside Belkacem.
• Mathis (part 3, episodes 1, 3, 6), played by Yanis Benatallah, a boy on Raoul's basketball team.
• Anna (part 3, episodes 1 & 6), played by Pauline Huruguen as an adult and Bonnie Bouriche^[3] as a child, Bruno's younger sister.
• Daniel Martinez (part 3, episodes 2 & 4), played by Luc-Antoine Diquéro, a mortuary doctor at the Lariboisière hospital. Martinez is tricked by Benjamin and Philippe Courbet into confirming Assane's "death."
• The librarian (part 3, episodes 2 & 4), played by Édouard Michelon, who works at the Bibliothèque nationale de France.
• Ferdinand Maréchal (part 3, episodes 3–6), played by Nicolas Berno as an adult and Bartholomeus as a teenager, a member of Keller's inner circle. He ultimately turns on Keller after the latter pushes him off of a balcony in a fit of rage.
• Kad (part 3, episode 3), played by Walid Afkir, Cisco's right-hand man.
• Cisco's mother (part 3, episode 3), played by Blandine Pélissier, a frail older woman who is doted on by her son
• Max Moller and Tara Xang (part 3, episode 4), played by Antony Hickling and Xin Wang^[4] respectively, a wealthy couple who host a gala at the Château de Thoiry. They are the owners of the Red Sea, a sapphire bracelet which Assane and Benjamin make plans to steal.
• Catherine (part 3, episode 4), played by Estelle Desydol, a nurse and a colleague of Claire's at the Lariboisière hospital.
• Gérard (part 3, episode 4), played by Jean-Louis Cassarino, a cloakroom attendant at the Château de Thoiry.
• Isabella (part 3, episode 4), played by Laurence Cormerais, the event coordinator for the gala at the Château de Thoiry.
• Frédéric Lassaire (part 3, episode 5), played by Bruno Paviot, a black market art dealer. He is roped by Assane and Guédira into a scheme to illegally sell the Manet painting Chez Tortoni.
• Colonel François de Criqui (part 3, episode 7), played by Patrick Rocca, an outspoken retired military man who accompanies Assane, disguised as a Chadian ex-colonel, to a gala being hosted by the French government in honor of the nation's veterans.
• Thierry Floron (part 3, episode 7), played by Philippe Résimont, the highly corrupt minister for the interior.

• Mathieu Lamboley (part 2, episode 5)
• Aurélie Casse (part 3, episodes 1–2)
• Cécile Ollivier (part 3, episodes 1–2)

The song originated as an instrumental, apparently composed by Chris Hillman, known variously as "Universal Mind Decoder," "The Universal Decoder" or "Changes Now." The Byrds played the song live on several occasions in the summer of 1967, and it was one of the first tracks the band attempted in the studio for the album that would ultimately become The Notorious Byrd Brothers; Take 1, recorded on July 31st, was included as a bonus track on the CD reissue of the album. At the time it consisted of a repetitive, droning guitar riff in D, over which Roger McGuinn improvised a lead guitar solo on his Rickenbacker 12-string electric guitar. Sometime afterwards, McGuinn and Hillman decided to rework "Universal Mind Decoder" as a full song with verses and newly-composed choruses, at which point it transformed into "Change Is Now."

According to Byrds biographer Johnny Rogan, David Crosby is the bassist on the song, while Hillman, having written the main riff, contributes rhythm guitar. While many sources credit "Old John Robertson" as the Notorious-era track on which Crosby played bass, Rogan has claimed that this is an error that originated as a result of Crosby remembering that he played bass on a song he credited as "Hillman's tune" without mentioning its name; as a result it was incorrectly assumed that the song in question was "Old John Robertson" when it was actually "Change Is Now." Rogan further notes that Crosby said that he had played an octave pattern, which accurately describes the bass part of "Change Is Now" but not that of "Old John Robertson," and that several concert reviews from 1967 mention Crosby and Hillman switching instruments when the group performed "Universal Mind Decoder."

The song's lead vocals are sung by McGuinn, Hillman, and Crosby in harmony. Its most distinctive feature is its long, complex, psychedelic guitar solo, performed by Roger McGuinn on a 6-string electric guitar processed through a Moog synthesizer, and consisting of two interlocking guitar parts. Meanwhile, the choruses feature Red Rhodes and future Byrd Clarence White on pedal steel and additional guitar, respectively.

• Omar Sy as Assane Diop, a gentleman thief who styles himself after Arsène Lupin and vows to avenge his father's death.
  • Mamadou Haïdara as young Assane Diop
• Ludivine Sagnier as Claire Laurent, Assane's estranged wife and the mother of his child, of whom she has full custody.
  • Ludmilla Makowski as young Claire Laurent
• Antoine Gouy as Benjamin Férel, Assane's best friend from his school days, who currently works as an antiquarian.
  • Adrian Valli de Villebonne (parts 1–3) and Brice Derouéné (part 4) as young Benjamin Férel
• Soufiane Guerrab as Youssef Guédira, a lieutenant detective who uses his knowledge of the Arsène Lupin books to track Assane's activity.
• Shirine Boutella [fr] as Sofia Belkacem, a lieutenant detective and colleague of Guédira's. As of part 3, she has been promoted to the rank of captain.
• Clotilde Hesme as Juliette Pellegrini (main, parts 1–2; guest, part 3), the daughter of wealthy entrepreneur Hubert Pellegrini.
  • Léa Bonneau as young Juliette Pellegrini
• Nicole Garcia as Anne Pellegrini (parts 1–2), Hubert's wife.
• Hervé Pierre as Hubert Pellegrini (main, parts 1–2; guest, part 3), an unscrupulous business tycoon who once employed Assane's father, Babakar.
• Vincent Londez [fr] as Romain Laugier (parts 1–2), a police captain tasked with retrieving the Pellegrinis' necklace.
• Etan Simon (parts 1–3) and Théo Christine (part 4)^[6] as Raoul Diop, the son of Assane and Claire

• Fargass Assandé [fr] as Babakar Diop (parts 1–3, flashback sequences only), Assane's late father, who was falsely accused of having stolen the Pellegrinis' diamond necklace.
• Vincent Garanger as Gabriel Dumont (parts 1–2), the commissioner of the Paris police department.
  • Johann Dionnet [fr] as young Gabriel Dumont
• Adama Niane as Léonard Koné (parts 1–2), an ex-convict and assassin employed by Hubert.
• Anne Benoît as Fabienne Bériot (part 1), an unjustly disgraced former journalist who had come close to exposing Hubert's villainy.
• Stefan Crepon [fr] as Philippe Courbet (parts 2–3), a young stockbroker who is not all he seems.
• Martha Canga Antonio as Fleur Bélanger (part 3), a journalist seeking to uncover the truth about Assane's activities.
• Pierre Lottin as Bruno (part 3), a former childhood friend of Assane's
  • Noé Wodecki as young Bruno
• Steve Tientcheu [fr] as Jean-Luc Keller (part 3), a man who ran a boxing club that Assane had joined as a teenager.
  • Salif Cissé [fr] as young Jean-Luc Keller
• Sandra Parfait as Manon (part 3), Keller's girlfriend
  • Sandya Touré Maite as young Manon
• Naky Sy Savané as Mariama Diop (part 3), Assane's mother
  • Seyna Kane as young Mariama Diop
• Vincent Overath as Cisco (part 3), the leader of a gang that Assane becomes involved with.

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