| John Cusack | |
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Headshot of Cusack from the set of Grosse Point Blank |
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| Born | John Paul Cusack June 28, 1966 Evanston, Illinois, U.S. |
| Occupation | Actor Screenwriter |
| Years active | 1983–present |
John Paul Cusack (born June 28, 1966) is an American film actor and screenwriter. He has appeared in more than 50 films, including The Journey of Natty Gann, Say Anything..., Grosse Point Blank, The Thin Red Line, Stand by Me, Con Air, Being John Malkovich, High Fidelity, Serendipity, Runaway Jury, The Ice Harvest, 1408, Igor, 2012 and Hot Tub Time Machine.
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Cusack was born in Evanston, Illinois, to an Irish Catholic family.[1][2] His father, Dick Cusack (1925–2003), was also an actor, as are his siblings Ann, Joan, Bill and Susie. His father was also a documentary filmmaker,[3] owned a film production company,[4] and was a friend of activist Philip Berrigan.[5] Cusack's mother, Nancy (née Carolan), is a former mathematics teacher and political activist.[6] Cusack spent a year at New York University before dropping out, saying that he had "too much fire in [his] belly".[7]
Cusack gained fame in the mid-1980s after appearing in teen movies such as Better Off Dead, The Sure Thing, One Crazy Summer, and Sixteen Candles. Cusack made a cameo in the 1988 music video for "Trip At The Brain" by Suicidal Tendencies. In 1989 he starred as Lloyd Dobler in Cameron Crowe's Say Anything.... His roles broadened in the late 1980s and early 1990s with more serious-minded fare such as the politically themed True Colors and the film noir thriller The Grifters. He was later offered the role of the title character of Fred in the film Drop Dead Fred, but dropped out due to a death in his family.
Cusack experienced box office success with his roles in the dark comedy Grosse Pointe Blank and the Jerry Bruckheimer blockbuster Con Air. In the years since, his range of films has diversified, appearing in roles such as an obsessive puppeteer in Being John Malkovich, a lovelorn record store owner in High Fidelity, and a Jewish art dealer mentoring a young Adolf Hitler in Max. He starred in the horror film 1408, based on Stephen King's short story of the same name. He next appeared as a widowed father in the Iraq War-themed drama Grace is Gone and as assassin Brand Hauser in the dark political satire, War, Inc., along with Hilary Duff and Marisa Tomei.
His sister Joan Cusack and close friend Jeremy Piven have appeared in many of his films. The siblings appeared as two geeks in Sixteen Candles: John as one of Farmer Ted's posse, and Joan as the geek with the neck brace. They also appeared together in Say Anything, Grosse Pointe Blank, High Fidelity, Cradle Will Rock, Martian Child, and War, Inc.. Piven and Cusack played opposite one another in One Crazy Summer, Serendipity, Say Anything, and Grosse Pointe Blank. Cusack also had a brief cameo, seen from behind but speaking a line of dialogue, in Broadcast News, in which Joan also appeared. Piven also had roles in The Grifters and Runaway Jury.[8]
Cusack was next seen in Roland Emmerich's disaster film, 2012, which was released in theaters November 13, 2009; he played Jackson Curtis, a book writer and limo driver, with his Identity and Martian Child co-star Amanda Peet. Most recently Cusack was seen in Hot Tub Time Machine, opposite Rob Corddry, Clark Duke, and Craig Robinson, which came out in March 2010.
Cusack has an allegiance to both the Chicago Cubs and the Chicago White Sox, for which, he says, he is "in trouble there for that."[9] He has led the crowd in a performance of "Take Me Out to the Ball Game" at Wrigley Field.[9] He has also been spotted at multiple Chicago Bears games and attended many of the Stanley Cup Finals games in support of the Chicago Blackhawks.[10]
Cusack has trained in kickboxing for over 20 years under former world kickboxing champion Benny “The Jet" Urquidez. He began training under Urquidez in preparation for his role in Say Anything and currently holds the rank of Level 6 black belt in Urquidez’ Ukidokan Kickboxing system.[11]
Since May 2005, John Cusack has been an avid blogger at The Huffington Post, including an interview with Naomi Klein. He has written extensively on his opposition to the war in Iraq and his disdain for the Bush administration, calling its worldview "depressing, corrupt, unlawful, and tragically absurd".[12]
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.[13]
In March 2008, police arrested Emily Leatherman outside Cusack's home for stalking the actor. On October 10, 2008, Leatherman pled 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 10 years.[14]