John Cusack
John Cusack | |
---|---|
Cusack at the 2014 Cannes Film Festival | |
Born |
John Paul Cusack June 28, 1966 Evanston, Illinois, United States |
Residence | Chicago, Illinois |
Occupation | Actor, producer, screenwriter |
Years active | 1983–present |
Parent(s) |
Dick Cusack Nancy Cusack |
Family |
Ann Cusack (sister) Joan Cusack (sister) Bill Cusack (brother) |
John Paul Cusack (/ˈkjuːsæk/; born June 28, 1966) is an American actor, producer and screenwriter. He began acting in films during the 1980s. Cusack starred in films, including Better Off Dead (1985), Say Anything... (1989), Grosse Pointe Blank (1997), Being John Malkovich (1999), High Fidelity (2000), 1408 (2007), 2012 (2009) and The Raven (2012).
Early life
Cusack was born on June 28, 1966 at St. Joseph Hospital in Chicago's Lakeview neighborhood and grew up in Evanston, Illinois. He was born into an Irish Catholic family and fourth of five children.[1][2][3] His mother, Ann Paula "Nancy" (née Carolan), is a former mathematics teacher and political activist.[4][5] His father, Richard Cusack (1925–2003), was an actor, along with John's siblings Ann, Joan, Bill, and Susie. They moved from Manhattan, New York to Illinois.[6] Richard was also a documentary filmmaker[7] who owned a film production company[8] and was a friend of activist Philip Berrigan.[9] Cusack graduated from Evanston Township High School in 1984, where he met Jeremy Piven,[10] and spent a year at New York University before dropping out, saying that he had "too much fire in his belly".[11]
Career
Cusack began acting in films in the early 1980s. He made his breakout role in Rob Reiner's The Sure Thing (1985). He also starred in Cameron Crowe's directorial debut film, Say Anything... (1989). Cusack played a con artist in Stephen Frears' 1990 neo-noir film The Grifters. After establishing New Crime Productions, Cusack co-wrote the screenplay for and starred in George Armitage's crime film Grosse Pointe Blank (1997).[12]
In Spike Jonze's fantasy film Being John Malkovich (1999), Cusack played a puppeteer who finds a portal leading into the mind of the eponymous actor, John Malkovich. The film was nominated for three Academy Awards, including Best Director, Best Original Screenplay and Best Supporting Actress. Cusack was nominated for a Golden Globe Award for Best Actor – Motion Picture Musical or Comedy for his performance in High Fidelity (2000). In Roland Emmerich's disaster film 2012 (2009), he played a family novelist who attempts to survive the apocalypse and save mankind. Cusack played Edgar Allan Poe in James McTeigue's biopic film The Raven (2012) and starred in David Cronenberg's Maps to the Stars (2014).[13]
Later, he starred in video on demand films, including The Factory, The Numbers Station, The Frozen Ground, Drive Hard (2014), The Prince (2014), Reclaim (2014), Cell (2016), Arsenal (2017), Blood Money (2017) and Singularity (2017).
Politics
Between 2005 and 2009, Cusack wrote blogs for The Huffington Post, which included an interview with Naomi Klein. He blogged on his opposition to the war in Iraq and his hatred for the Bush administration, calling its worldview "depressing, corrupt, unlawful, and tragically absurd".[14] He also appeared in a June 2008 MoveOn.org advertisement, where he made the claim that George W. Bush and John McCain have the same governing priorities.[15]
Cusack criticized the Obama administration for its drone policy in the Middle East and its support of the National Defense Authorization Act, and became one of the initial supporters of the Freedom of the Press Foundation in 2012. In June 2015, he stated in an interview with The Daily Beast that "when you talk about drones, the American Empire, the NSA, civil liberties, attacks on journalism and whistleblowers, (Obama) is as bad or worse than Bush".[16] However, he later scolded the publication for misquoting him in order to make an interesting headline.[17][18]
In 2015, Cusack, Daniel Ellsberg and Arundhati Roy met Edward Snowden, a fugitive from the US because of his leaks of classified information, at a Moscow hotel room.[19] This meeting was converted into a book co-authored with Roy titled Things That Can and Cannot Be Said.[20] The book is mainly a transcript of the conversation between Snowden, Roy, and Cusack, with a selection of relevant photos and illustrations as well as a detailed list of references.
In November 2017, Cusack became a member of the Democratic Socialists of America.[21]
Personal life
Cusack is a fan of both the Chicago Cubs and the Chicago White Sox, for which he says he is "in trouble" in Chicago due to the longstanding rivalry between the teams. He led the crowd in a performance of "Take Me Out to the Ball Game" at Wrigley Field. He was in attendance—along with fellow Cubs fans Bill Murray, Eddie Vedder and Bonnie Hunt—during the Cubs' historic Game Seven victory during the 2016 World Series. Cusack appeared in multiple Chicago Bears games and attended many Stanley Cup Finals games in support of the Chicago Blackhawks.
Cusack once told NBC Nightly News, "I'm not lazy. I just enjoy gradually waking up in the morning. If that means sleeping in and walking around the house in my crocs and a bathrobe 'til three in the afternoon, I welcome that appealing lifestyle—all day."
He trained in kickboxing under former world kickboxing champion Benny Urquidez for over two decades. He began training under Urquidez in preparation for his role in Say Anything... and holds the rank of a level six black belt in Urquidez's Ukidokan Kickboxing system.[22]
In March 2008, police arrested Emily Leatherman outside Cusack's Malibu, California home for stalking him. On October 10, 2008, Leatherman pleaded no contest and received five years' probation and mandatory psychiatric counseling, and was ordered to stay away from Cusack, his home, and business for the next ten years.[23]
He is well known for being a bachelor. When asked in 2009 why he had never married he answered, "society doesn't tell me what to do."[24]
Filmography
Film
Year | Title | Role | Notes |
---|---|---|---|
1983 | Class | Roscoe Maibaum | |
1984 | Sixteen Candles | Bryce | |
1984 | Grandview, U.S.A. | Johnny Maine | |
1985 | The Sure Thing | Walter Gibson | |
1985 | Better Off Dead | Lane Meyer | |
1985 | The Journey of Natty Gann | Harry | |
1986 | Stand by Me | Denny Lachance | |
1986 | One Crazy Summer | Hoops McCann | |
1987 | Hot Pursuit | Dan Bartlett | |
1987 | Broadcast News | Angry Messenger | |
1988 | Tapeheads | Ivan Alexeev | |
1988 | Eight Men Out | Buck Weaver | |
1989 | Say Anything... | Lloyd Dobler | |
1989 | Fat Man and Little Boy | Michael Merriman | |
1990 | The Grifters | Roy Dillon | |
1991 | True Colors | Peter Burton | |
1991 | Shadows and Fog | Student Jack | |
1992 | Roadside Prophets | Caspar | |
1992 | The Player | Himself | Cameo |
1992 | Map of the Human Heart | The Mapmaker | |
1992 | Bob Roberts | Cutting Edge Host | |
1993 | Money for Nothing | Joey Coyle | |
1994 | Floundering | JC | |
1994 | Bullets over Broadway | David Shayne | |
1994 | The Road to Wellville | Charles Ossining | |
1996 | City Hall | Deputy Mayor Kevin Calhoun | |
1997 | Grosse Pointe Blank | Martin Q. Blank | Also co-writer and producer |
1997 | Con Air | U.S. Marshal Vince Larkin | |
1997 | Chicago Cab | Scary Man | |
1997 | Anastasia | Dimitri | Voice |
1997 | Midnight in the Garden of Good and Evil | John Kelso | |
1998 | This Is My Father | Eddie Sharp | |
1998 | The Thin Red Line | Captain Gaff | |
1999 | Pushing Tin | Nick Falzone | |
1999 | Cradle Will Rock | Nelson Rockefeller | |
1999 | Being John Malkovich | Craig Schwartz | |
2000 | High Fidelity | Rob Gordon | Also co-writer and producer |
2001 | America's Sweethearts | Eddie Thomas | |
2001 | Serendipity | Jonathan Trager | |
2002 | Max | Max Rothman | Also associate producer |
2002 | Adaptation | Himself | Uncredited cameo |
2003 | Identity | Ed Dakota | |
2003 | Runaway Jury | Nicholas Easter | |
2005 | Must Love Dogs | Jake Anderson | |
2005 | The Ice Harvest | Charlie Arglist | |
2006 | The Contract | Ray Keene | |
2007 | Grace Is Gone | Stanley Philipps | Also producer |
2007 | 1408 | Mike Enslin | |
2007 | Martian Child | David Gordon | |
2008 | War, Inc. | Brand Hauser | Also co-writer and producer |
2008 | Igor | Igor | Voice |
2009 | 2012 | Jackson Curtis | |
2010 | Hot Tub Time Machine | Adam Yates | Also producer |
2010 | Shanghai | Paul Soames | |
2012 | The Raven | Edgar Allan Poe | |
2012 | The Paperboy | Hillary Van Wetter | |
2012 | The Factory | Mike Fletcher | Direct-to-VOD |
2013 | The Numbers Station | Emerson Kent | Direct-to-VOD |
2013 | The Frozen Ground | Robert Hansen | Direct-to-VOD |
2013 | The Butler | Richard Nixon | |
2013 | Grand Piano | Clem | |
2013 | Adult World | Rat Billings | |
2014 | The Bag Man | Jack | |
2014 | Maps to the Stars | Stafford Weiss | |
2014 | Drive Hard | Simon Keller | Direct-to-VOD |
2014 | The Prince | Sam | Direct-to-VOD |
2014 | Love & Mercy | Brian Wilson | |
2014 | Reclaim | Benjamin | Direct-to-VOD |
2015 | Dragon Blade | Lucius | Released in China |
2015 | Hot Tub Time Machine 2 | Adam Yates | Deleted cameo |
2015 | Chi-Raq | Fr. Mike Corridan | |
2016 | Cell | Clayton Riddell | Also executive producer, direct-to-VOD |
2017 | Arsenal | Sal | Direct-to-VOD |
2017 | Blood Money | Miller | Direct-to-VOD |
2017 | Singularity | Elias van Dorne | Direct-to-VOD |
2018 | Never Grow Old | Dutch Albert | Post-production |
2018 | River Runs Red | Horace | Post-production |
2018 | Distorted | Vernon Sarsfield | Post-production |
Television
Year | Title | Role | Notes |
---|---|---|---|
1996 | Frasier | Greg (voice) | Episode: "Our Father Whose Art Ain't Heaven" |
1999 | The Jack Bull | Myrl Redding | Television film; also executive producer |
2014 | Wall Street | Ted | Pilot; also executive producer |
2014 | Doll & Em | John | Episode: "Three" |
Awards and nominations
References
- ↑ "John Cusack interview". Iofilm.co.uk. Retrieved 27 November 2017.
- ↑ "John Cusack Interview-Max Movie". About.com Hollywood Movies. Retrieved 7 June 2015.
- ↑ Biography.com Editors. "John Cusack Biography". Biography.com. A&E Television Networks. Retrieved September 10, 2016.
- ↑ "Cusack, Richard J." Chicago Tribune. 2003-06-03. Retrieved 2010-08-27.
- ↑ "Miss Carolan, Newton Centre, Is Bride of Richard Cusack". Daily Boston Globe. February 14, 1960.
- ↑ "Newton Girl Plans February Wedding". Daily Boston Globe. December 6, 1959.
- ↑ "Being John Cusack." guardian.co.uk. July 1, 2000.
- ↑ John Cusack Biography (1966-). FilmReference.com.
- ↑ "Actor John johan on Hitler, politics and his movie 'Max'." Beliefnet.com.
- ↑ Johnson, Grace (May 12, 2009). "ETHS boasts celebrity graduates". The Daily Northwestern. Retrieved November 7, 2014.
- ↑ Duthel, C. (2012). Angelina Jolie - The Lightning Star. p. 323. ISBN 978-1-4710-8935-0.
- ↑ "Actor John Cusack." NPR.org.
- ↑ "Julianne Moore, John Cusack, Sarah Gadon Join Robert Pattinson and in Maps to the Stars". Retrieved 20 July 2013.
- ↑ John Cusack - Politics on The Huffington Post.
- ↑ "John Cusack Stars In MoveOn's New McCain Ad". Huffington Post. Associated Press. June 11, 2008.
- ↑ "John Cusack Talks 'Love & Mercy,' Drug Trips, and the Ways Obama Is 'Worse Than Bush'". The Daily Beast. Retrieved 7 June 2015.
- ↑ "John Cusack on Twitter". Twitter. Retrieved 7 June 2015.
- ↑ "John Cusack on Twitter". Twitter. Retrieved 7 June 2015.
- ↑ Roy, Arundhati (28 November 2015). "Edward Snowden meets Arundhati Roy and John Cusack: 'He was small and lithe, like a house cat'". The Guardian. Retrieved 30 November 2015.
- ↑ "Things That Can and Cannot Be Said". Penguin Books. 5 October 2016.
- ↑ @johncusack (7 November 2017). "What you mean join ;)" (Tweet) – via Twitter.
- ↑ Ukidokan Black Belts and Levels Archived 2010-03-12 at the Wayback Machine.. URL accessed on March 19, 2010.
- ↑ Accused John Cusack stalker, Emily Leatherman, accepts plea deal. New York Daily News. October 10, 2008.
- ↑ Andrew Goldman, "Being John Cusack", Elle magazine, November 23, 2009. URL accessed on January 20, 2018.
Further reading
- Barnes, Henry John Cusack: ‘Hollywood is a whorehouse and people go mad’ The Guardian, 26 September 2014. Accessed 27 February 2015
- Robinson, Tasha Onion A.V. Club interview, November 27, 2007
External links
Wikimedia Commons has media related to John Cusack. |
- John Cusack at AllMovie
- John Cusack on IMDb
- John Cusack on Twitter