After several appearances in teen-oriented movies in the 1980s, John Cusack proved himself to be a reliable, if unconventional, leading man in the '90s in such films as The Grifters (1990), Being John Malkovich (1999, also starring Cameron Diaz) and High Fidelity (2000, with Jack Black). On screen he's usually smart and ironic, able to play charming as well as callous, and off screen he's known for his wise career choices and dedication to the theater. Like his pal Tim Robbins, Cusack does both quirky, independent films and mainstream Hollywood features. His films include Say Anything (1989), Grosse Pointe Blank (1997), Con Air (1997, with John Malkovich), Max (2002), Identity (2003) and Runaway Jury (2003, with Rachel Weisz and Gene Hackman).
Cusack's sister Joan has appeared in some of his films, including High Fidelity and Cradle Will Rock (1999).
Career Highlights: Being John Malkovich, The Grifters, Say Anything...
First Major Screen Credit: Better Off Dead (1985)
Biography
The son of actor Richard Cusack and younger brother of comic actress Joan Cusack, John Cusack started his career at the age of eight, under the guidance of his theatrically active mother. He made his stage bow with Evanston's Pivan Theatre Workshop and quickly went on to do commercial work, becoming one of Chicago's busiest commercial voice-over artists.
Although Cusack began to emerge as an actor during the heyday of the Brat Pack, and appeared in a number of "teen" movies, he managed to avoid falling into the narrowly defined rut the phenomenon left in its wake. After making his film debut in 1983's Class, he had a brief but painfully memorable appearance as a member of Anthony Michael Hall's nerd posse in Sixteen Candles (1984). Bigger and better opportunities came Cusack's way the following year, when he achieved a measure of stardom with his portrayal of a sexually anxious college freshman in The Sure Thing (1985). The same year, he gained further recognition with his starring roles in Better Off Dead (which also granted him a degree of cult status) and The Journey of Natty Gann.
Cusack spent the rest of the 1980s carving out a niche for himself as both a solid performer and something of a lust object for unconventional girls everywhere, a status aided immeasurably by his portrayal of lovable underachiever Lloyd Dobler in Cameron Crowe's 1989 ....Say Anything. He also began winning critical acclaim for his parts in more serious films, notably as a disgraced White Sox third baseman in John Sayles' Eight Men Out (1988) and as a con artist in Stephen Frears' The Grifters (1990).
Cusack enjoyed steady work throughout the 1990s, with particularly notable roles in Woody Allen's Bullets Over Broadway (1994), which featured him as a struggling playwright; Midnight in the Garden of Good and Evil (1997), in which he starred as a journalist investigating a murder; Grosse Pointe Blank (1997), which cast him as the film's protagonist, a neurotic hit man; and the impressively cast The Thin Red Line, in which he played a World War II soldier. Just about all of Cusack's roles allowed him to showcase his quirky versatility, and the films he did to close out the century were no exception: in 1999 he first starred as an air-traffic controller in the comedy Pushing Tin and then appeared as Nelson Rockefeller in Cradle Will Rock, Tim Robbins' exploration of art and politics in 1930s America; finally, in perhaps his most unique film to date, he starred in Spike Jonze's Being John Malkovich as a puppeteer who discovers a way to enter the mind of the famous actor. The wildly original film turned out to be one of the year's biggest surprise hits, scoring among both audiences and critics. Cusack had yet another triumph the following year with High Fidelity, Stephen Frears' adaptation of Nick Hornby's novel of the same name. The actor, who co-wrote the script for the film in addition to starring in it, earned some of the best reviews of his career for his heartfelt comic portrayal of Rob, the film's well-meaning but oftentimes emotionally immature protagonist. ~ Rebecca Flint, All Movie Guide
Cusack first became famous in the mid-1980s for appearing in teen movies such as Better Off Dead, The Sure Thing and
One Crazy Summer. Cusack made a cameo in the 1988 music video for "Trip At The
Brain" by Suicidal Tendencies. His biggest success in that genre is arguably his
starring role as Lloyd Dobler in Cameron Crowe's Say Anything. He began broadening his choice of roles in the late 1980s and early 1990s with
more serious-minded fare, such as the political satire True Colors and
the noir thriller The Grifters.
His sister, Joan, and his close friend Jeremy Piven, have appeared in many of his films.
He and Joan Cusack appeared as two geeks in the brat pack film Sixteen Candles: John as one of Farmer Ted's henchmen, and Joan as the geek with the neck brace.
Joan and John also appear together in the 2007 movie The Martian Child, as well
as High Fidelity, Grosse Pointe Blank, and Say Anything.
Personal life
Cusack is fiercely protective of his private life and rarely makes public appearances between his films or events.[citation needed] He has said that "celebrity is the
worst thing that can happen to an actor".
Since May 2005, he has been an occasional contributing blogger at The Huffington Post, most recently interviewing
Naomi Klein. He has written extensively on his opposition to the war in Iraq and his disdain for the Bush administration,
calling their worldview "depressing, corrupt, unlawful, and tragically absurd".[7]
Cusack is an avid fan of The Clash and often appears in films with a Clash T-shirt.
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