John Cusack
John Paul Cusack (born
June 28,
1966) is an
American film actor and
writer, born in
Evanston, Illinois to an
Irish-Catholic family. His father
Dick Cusack, as well as his siblings Ann, Bill,
Joan, and Susie have also been actors. His mother, Nancy, is a former teacher and political activist.
Cusack began acting in childhood. He attended the Piven Theatre Workshop in
Chicago and he did many voice-overs for commercials and appeared in some stage productions by the age of 12. His first film was the comedy
Class in
1983. Later, he was given the role of John Bender in John Hughes' film
The Breakfast Club but was replaced by
Judd Nelson. In
1988, he founded a
theatre group ("The New Criminals"), for which he has directed several productions.
After success at an early age as the star of several teen-oriented films, Cusack has generally sought roles which cast him as an ethically conflicted
everyman. He is often cast as an
anti-hero who can be very neurotic, but has played a wide variety of characters. He frequently appears in films with members of his family (particularly his older sister,
Joan) and with long-time best friend
Jeremy Piven, whose parents, Byrne and Joyce Piven, founded and continue to run the Piven Theatre Workshop.
After playing mostly character roles for a number of years, Cusack became an A-list star in
1997 with the widely acclaimed
black comedy Grosse Pointe Blank (which he also co-wrote and produced) and the
action movie Con Air, both of which were very commercially successful. He continues to choose roles in movies outside the mainstream, however, such as
Being John Malkovich and
High Fidelity; the latter of which is largely considered to be a definitive role for the actor, as a troubled record store owner with too many relationship hangups. Among some of the films he has turned down include
Indecent Proposal,
Crash and
Apollo 13.
Cusack spent a year at
New York University before dropping out, reasoning that he had "too much fire in [his] belly."
Since May
2005 he's been a contributing
blogger at
The Huffington Post.
He is not married, but has been romantically linked to a number of women. Cusack is fiercely protective of his private life and rarely makes public appearances between his films or events. He has said that "celebrity is the worst thing that can happen to an actor."
He is rumoured to be tapped to the role of District Attorney
Harvey Dent in 2008's
The Dark Knight.
*Cusack made a cameo in the 1988 music video for "Trip At The Brain" by
Suicidal Tendencies.
*Cusack is an avid fan of
The Clash.
*Trained in kickboxing by
Benny Urquidez for
Grosse Pointe Blank. He still continues his training with Benny.
*In the comic book magazine
Wizard, they described their dream-cast for a possible
Justice Society of America movie. They picked John Cusack for the role of
Starman.
1408 pre-production as Mike
* American Dog (2008)
* Grace is Gone (2006) **filming as Stanley Phillips
* The Contract (2006) **post-production
* The Martian Child (2006) **post-production
* The Ice Harvest (2005) as Charlie Arglist
* Must Love Dogs (2005) as Jake
* Breakfast With Hunter (2003) as Interviewee
* Runaway Jury (2003) as Nicholas Easter
* Identity (2003) as Ed
* Max (2002) as Max Rothman
* Serendipity (2001) as Jonathan Trager
* America's Sweethearts (2001) as actor Eddie Thomas
* High Fidelity (2000) as record store owner Rob Gordon
* Cradle Will Rock (1999) as Nelson Rockefeller
* Being John Malkovich (1999) as Craig Schwartz
* Pushing Tin (1999) as Nick Falzone
* This Is My Father (1999) as Eddie Sharp (The Pilot)
* The Jack Bull (1999) as Myrl Redding
* The Thin Red Line (1998) as Captain John Gaff
* Anastasia (1997) as Dimitri (voice)
* Midnight in the Garden of Good and Evil (1997) as reporter John Kelso
* Con Air (1997) as U.S. Marshal Vince Larkin
* Grosse Pointe Blank (1997) as hitman Martin Q. Blank
* City Hall (1996) as Deputy Mayor Kevin Calhoun
* The Road To Wellville (1994) as Charles Ossining
* Floundering (1994) as JC
* Bullets Over Broadway (1994) as David Shayne
* Money For Nothing (1993) as Joey Coyle
* Map of the Human Heart (1993) as The Mapmaker
* Bob Roberts (1992) as Cutting Edge Host
* Roadside Prophets (1992) as Caspar
* Shadows and Fog (1992) as Student Jack
* The Player (1992) as Himself
* True Colors (1991) as Peter Burton
* The Grifters (1990) as Roy Dillon
* Say Anything... (1989) as Lloyd Dobler
* Fat Man and Little Boy (1989) as Michael Merriman
* Tapeheads (1988) as Ivan Alexeev
* Eight Men Out (1988) as baseball player Buck Weaver
* Hot Pursuit (film) (1987) as Dan Bartlett
* Stand By Me (1986) as Denny Lachance
* One Crazy Summer (1986) as Hoops McCann
* Better Off Dead... (1985) as Lane Meyer
* The Journey of Natty Gann (1985)
* The Sure Thing (1985) as college student Walter "Gib" Gibson
* Sixteen Candles (1984) as Bryce
* Grandview, U.S.A. (1984) as Johnny Maine
* Class'' (1983) as Roscoe Maibaum
*
*
Interview with Cusack on
NPR's
Fresh Air*
Cusack's writings on the Huffington Post
* Being John Cusack - The Guardian'',
July 1,
2000. Interview and profile.
