John Cusack filmography and biography
Date of birth: 28 June 1966, Evanston, Illinois, USA
John Cusack biography
John Cusack is, like most of his characters, an unconventional hero.
Wary of fame and repelled by formulaic Hollywood fare, the Chicago-born
actor has built a successful career playing underdogs and odd men
out--all the while avoiding the media spotlight. With the exception of
mom Nancy (a former math teacher), the Cusack clan is all show
business: father Dick Cusack is an actor and filmmaker, and
John's siblings Joan Cusack, Ann Cusack,
Bill Cusack and Susie Cusack are all thespians by trade.
Like his brother and sisters, John became a member of Chicago's Piven
Theatre Workshop while he was still in elementary school. By age 12, he
already had several stage productions, commercial voice overs and
industrial films under his belt. He made his feature film debut at 17,
acting alongside Rob Lowe (I) and Andrew McCarthy (I) in
the romantic comedy Class. His next role, as a member of
Anthony Michael Hall's geek brigade in
Sixteen Candles, put him on track to becoming a
teen-flick fixture. Cusack remained on the periphery of the Brat Pack,
sidestepping the meteoric rise and fall of most of his contemporaries,
but he stayed busy with leads in films like
The Sure Thing and Better Off Dead....
Young Cusack is probably best remembered for what could be considered
his last adolescent role: the stereo-blaring romantic Lloyd Dobler in
Say Anything.... A year later, he hit theaters as a
grown-up, playing a bush-league con man caught between his manipulative
mother and headstrong girlfriend in The Grifters.
The next few years were relatively quiet for the actor, but he filled in
the gaps with off-screen projects. He directed and produced several
shows for the Chicago-based theater group The New Criminals, which he
founded in 1988 (modeling it after Tim Robbins (I)' Actors' Gang
in Los Angeles) to promote political and avant-garde stage work. Four
years later, Cusack's high school friends Steve Pink and
D.V. DeVincentis joined him in starting a sister company for
film, New Crime Productions. New Crime's first feature was the sharply
written comedy Grosse Pointe Blank, which touched off a
career renaissance for Cusack. In addition to co-scripting, he starred
as a world-weary hit man who goes home for his ten-year high school
reunion and tries to rekindle a romance with the girl he stood up on
prom night (Minnie Driver). In an instance of life imitating
art, Cusack actually did go home for his ten-year reunion (to honor a
bet about the film's financing) and ended up in a real-life romance
with Driver. Cusack's next appearance was as a federal agent (or, as he
described it, "the first post-Heston, non-biblical action star in
sandals") in Con Air, a movie he chose because he felt it
was time to make smart business decisions. He followed that with
Clint Eastwood's
Midnight in the Garden of Good and Evil, in which he
played a Yankee reporter entangled in a Savannah murder case.
Cusack has always favored offbeat material, so it was no surprise when
he turned up in the fiercely original
Being John Malkovich. Long-haired, bearded and
bespectacled, he was almost unrecognizable in the role of a frustrated
puppeteer who stumbles across a portal into the brain of actor
John Malkovich. The convincing performance won him a Best Actor
nomination at the Independent Spirit Awards. In 2000, Cusack was back
to his clean-shaven self in High Fidelity, another New
Crime production. He worked with Steve Pink and
D.V. DeVincentis to adapt Nick Hornby (I)'s popular novel
(relocating the story to their native Chicago), then starred as the
sarcastic record store owner who revisits his "Top 5" breakups to find
out why he's so unlucky in love. The real Cusack has been romantically
linked with several celebs, including Driver, Alison Eastwood,
Claire Forlani and Neve Campbell. He's also something of
a family man, acting frequently opposite sister Joan Cusack and
pulling other Cusacks into his films on a regular basis. He seems
pleased with the spate of projects on his horizon, but admits that he
still hasn't reached his ultimate goal: to be involved in a "great
piece of art".
John Cusack trivia
- Brother of Joan Cusack, Ann Cusack, Susie Cusack
and Bill Cusack. Son of Dick Cusack (actor, documentary
filmmaker) and Nancy Cusack (teacher).
- Last name is pronounced Q-zack.
- Has a production company called New Crime Productions (that produced
Grosse Pointe Blank,
Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas, and
The Jack Bull (1999) (TV) among various stage productions) which
he founded with two of his high school buddies Steve Pink &
D.V. DeVincentis.
- Education: Piven Theatre Workshop (Evanston, Illinois), run by the
parents of actor Jeremy Piven. One semester at NYU.
- Attended Evanston Township High School, Evanston, Ill.
- Turned down Woody Harrelson's role in
Indecent Proposal.
- (2001) Dated Neve Campbell.
- Dated Lili Taylor (I).
- Dated Alison Eastwood.
- Dated Claire Forlani.
- Dated Minnie Driver.
- Turned down Bill Paxton's role in Apollo 13.
- Close friends with actor Jeremy Piven. They have done 10 movies
together: One Crazy Summer, Elvis Stories,
Say Anything..., The Player,
Floundering, The Grifters,
Grosse Pointe Blank, Serendipity and
Runaway Jury.
- Is the product of a passionately liberal Irish Catholic family, visited
the radical Berrigan brothers when he was growing up, and, like them,
his mother still gets arrested for her anti-militarism and pro- human
rights protests.
- On free time likes to go "Helecopter Snowboarding" and kickboxing with
stunt cordinator Benny Urquidez.
- Tested for the role of Madmartigan in Willow but lost to
Val Kilmer.
- Is the subject of the song "Honorable Mention" by the band Fall Out Boy.
- The novel "Love In The Time Of Cholera" by author Gabriel Garcia Marquez
is prominently referenced in two John Cusack movies
(High Fidelity and Serendipity.
- Sister Joan Cusack appeared in 10 of his
movies:Class, Sixteen Candles,
Grandview, U.S.A., Broadcast News,
Say Anything..., Grosse Pointe Blank,
Cradle Will Rock, High Fidelity,
Martian Child and War, Inc..
- Was originally set to play Walter Eberhart in the
The Stepford Wives. Due to conflicts, he had to drop out
and Matthew Broderick (I) got the role.
- Was once roommates with Jeremy Piven
- Attended a theatre school in Chicago with sisters Joan Cusack and
Ann Cusack. The theatre school was run by the parents of his
best friend, Jeremy Piven
- Is Irish-American. The name Cusack is not Slavic as many may believe. It
is a Norman name, brought to Ireland when the Normans invaded in 1169.
"Cussac" is a city in South Central France.
- His favorite group is the punk rock band, The Clash. He is also a big
fan of The Specials, Fishbone, Bob Dylan and
Elvis Costello.
- Ranked #15 on Tropopkin's Top 25 Most Intriguing People [Issue #100]
- Die-hard Chicago Cubs fan.
- Some kind of reference to his favorite bands (usually The Clash, The
Ramones or The Specials) makes at least one appearance in most of his
films. Most of the time, he wears a t-shirt of one of the bands
(Say Anything..., High Fidelity,
Must Love Dogs, etc), but sometimes
(Grosse Pointe Blank) he works in a poster of one of the
bands. These bands are typically in the soundtracks to his New
Criminal's productions as well.
- Member of the "Brat Pack", the name for the actors who tended to star in
teen movies of the 80's. Others include Emilio Estevez,
Molly Ringwald, Anthony Michael Hall, Demi Moore,
Charlie Sheen (I) and Diane Lane (I).
- Most famous member of the Cusack family.
- He and his good friend Tim Robbins (I) made 6 movies together:
Bob Roberts, Cradle Will Rock,
High Fidelity, The Player,
The Sure Thing and Tapeheads
- Was, for a long time, attached to play the role of "Nite Owl" in the
doomed movie adaptation of Alan Moore (III)'s comic-book
mini-series, Watchmen.
- Was originally the actor chosen to play John Bender in the
The Breakfast Club. At the last minute, things changed
and Judd Nelson ended up in the role.
- Was good friends with Hunter S. Thompson and nearly got to play
him in Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas.
- Was considered for the role of "Paul Brenner" in
The Generals Daughter, but was deemed too young at the
time, so the role went to John Travolta instead.
- His performance as "Lloyd Dobler" in Say Anything... is
ranked #72 on Premiere Magazine's 100 Greatest Movie Characters of All
Time.
- Apocalypse Now is one of his favorite films.
- During the famous "boom box serenade" scene in
Say Anything..., he is actually playing his favorite
Fishbone tape on the boom box, while Peter Gabriel's "In Your
Eyes" is played in the movie. (source: Cameron Crowe (I)
commentary on the DVD).
- Growing up John and his siblings often put on plays at their home. He
has mentioned that his older sister Ann once staged a production of
"Cinderella" in their living room in which she played Cinderella,
sister Joan played the Ugly Stepsister, brother Bill played Prince
Charming and John played the dog.
- Considers the scripts to Max (2002/I) and
Being John Malkovich the best he has read.
- Featured as #22 on VH1's 100 Greatest Teen Stars countdown.
- Beat out Christian Slater for the role of "Lloyd" in
Say Anything....
- Choosen by Empire Magazine as one of the 100 Sexiest Movie Stars in the
world (#70) 2007.
- Was considered for the role of "Billy Flynn" in Chicago.
However, he ended up losing the role to Richard Gere.
- In 2006 when Total Film magazine asked him for a "Top 5" list of his
movies, he answered with The Grifters,
Grosse Pointe Blank, The Thin Red Line,
High Fidelity and Max (2002/I).
- In 1994, he attended his 10th year high school reunion in Illinois. He
and the producers of the film had made a bet that if they came up with
financing for Grosse Pointe Blank, they would all
attended their high school reunions.
- Good friends with professional volleyball player, Gabrielle Reese.
- Has homes in Malibu, California, and Chicago.
- Was a supporter and follower of U2 frontman Bono's DATA campaign (Debt,
AIDS, Trade, Africa).
- He was awarded the 1990 Joseph Jefferson Award Citation for Director of
a Play for "Methusalem" at the New Crime Productions Theatre in
Chicago, Illinois.
- Frequently works with his sister Joan Cusack. They've appeared in
10 pictures together.
John Cusack quotes
- I was a teen star. That's disgusting enough.
- [on celebrity] "I have a healthy fear of it. I'm not into the celebrity
culture aspect of being an artist. To me it represents extinction. The
more people know about you, the less they want to try to figure out
what you have to say in your movies, and the less credibility you have.
To me it seems: Go do your thing, then get out. That's the best way to
do it." (January 14, 2004)
- "Nope, no sex scandals yet. But I am open to offers!" (January 14, 2004)
- I won't call myself a child actor because that sounds psychotic.
- I'm aware of the affection those characters inspired. I feel close to
Lloyd in Say Anything.... He was like a super-interesting
version of me. Only I'm not as good as him. Whatever part of me is
romantic and optimistic, I reached into that to play Lloyd. Of course,
now it's all gone. Now I'm just bitter.
- I've made 10 good films. The ones that suck I tend to blank out. It's
like I never even made them. Well, there aren't 40 that are great, put
it that way. But that's fine. Ten is a good batting average. (2007)
- You think about the hundreds of thousands of Iraqis who have died and
all the soldiers who have come back wounded and maimed. You read the
paper and four more soldiers last week died and mercenaries have killed
27 people in Baghdad, mercenaries who are getting money from our tax
dollars that should be going to protect the troops, and I'm depressed
about the Cubs game. There's a disconnect there. My point in all
seriousness is that it's such an abstraction, and this government has
asked us to sacrifice nothing for this. The troops are sacrificing
everything. It just seems like an obscenity.
- (1998 - On his career and life) I feel very blessed, very fortunate,
very happy. I love my work, I love my friends, I love my family. There
was a period when I didn't work for about two years when I was about
25, 26, and I couldn't imagine what I would do with my life and that
was scary. But now I have other things I love. I'm a pretty good kick
boxer; I'm a pretty good writer; there are things I could fall back on.
And you know how it is--the minute you realize that your options are
unlimited, things just start falling into place all around you.
- (On why he lives in L.A.) I kept saying that I'd never live in L.A., and
I didn't think I would. But that's where the work is, and I ended up
making a lot of friends there, and my old friends moved out to Los
Angeles too. And also, I think when you're famous, its hard to live in
a small town. Not that Chicago is a 'small' town, but when I'm there,
which I am it lot because I love it and I still have an apartment
there, people stare at me. It's like I'm more famous in Chicago. In
L.A. and New York, nobody gives a fuck; in a big city, you can quietly
do your thing."
- (On if he prefers Chicago or L.A.) Chicago's a great city - definitely
my favorite. But I'm more at home in L.A. because so many of my old
friends are here now. I mean, I feel at home in both. What's hard in
Chicago is that I'm more conspicuous when I'm there. It's harder to
coast around.
- Martian Child was just a movie the studio [New Line Cinema] offered me
and it was the best job I could get at the time. It was about a
relationship between a guy and another kid, and I thought that was
good. It was a sweet movie. They offered it to me and that was the
extent of that. Grace Is Gone was something I REALLY wanted to do.
- I don't like doing them. If it was up to me, I'd just put the movies out
there. Or maybe I'd do a couple - I'd think of some smart things to say
so people think, 'Oh, he's cool.' It doesn't seem polite to try to be
in the limelight more. I don't even know if I was invited in to begin
with. I'm well aware that I might have worn out my welcome already. --
on giving interviews
- If I feel they're playing with the tiger too much, I'm like: don't go
there. Don't get into it. That stuff only goes one way. If people are
constantly reading about you, and you're overexposed, they've got no
reason to go see your movies. Also, it's not pleasant or nice to have
your privacy invaded.
- Uh, I don't think so. Acting can be pretty challenging. I can't say
making a romantic comedy is challenging, but to do anything well, you
have to put yourself into it. But no, if I'm doing some commercial
movie just to keep my name in the public eye, then it's just a job. You
don't have to sweat it too hard. -- on if acting has become more of a
distraction
- I probably believed in it a bit when I was younger. Actors are weird
enough as it is. We don't need to act tortured. I'm probably tortured
enough. -- on actors being 'tortured' people
- Sure. Depends on the film. I like to take risks. With acting, you wanna
see if you can get into trouble without knowing how you're gonna get
out of it. It's like the exact opposite of war, where you need an exit
strategy. When you're acting, you should get all the way into trouble
with no exit strategy, and have the cameras rolling. -- on if he enjoys
acting
- It's sort of the way the business is. If you do one type of movie it
makes it a lot easier to do other kinds of movie that you want to do.
It's just reality. But it's nice to get that call. 'It's Sony's big
release of the year, you've got the lead role.' I thought, 'Why not?'
-- on doing "2012"
- The movies have got more corporate. They're making fewer movies in
general, and those they are making are all $200m-$300m tent-pole
releases that eat up all the oxygen.