John Cusack
John Cusack | |
---|---|
Born | John Paul Cusack June 28, 1966 Evanston, Illinois, U.S. |
Occupation(s) | Actor, producer, screenwriter |
Years active | 1983–present |
Parent(s) | Dick Cusack Nancy Cusack |
Relatives | Joan Cusack (sister) Ann Cusack (sister) |
John Paul Cusack (/ˈkjuːsæk/, born June 28, 1966) is an American actor, producer and screenwriter. He made one of his earliest film roles in the mid-1980s, before he starred in Cameron Crowe's film Say Anything... (1989), for which he gained teen idol status. He was nominated for a Golden Globe Award for Best Actor – Motion Picture Musical or Comedy for his performance in High Fidelity (2000). Other films including Grosse Pointe Blank (1997), Being John Malkovich (1999), 1408 (2007), 2012 (2009), Hot Tub Time Machine (2010), and The Raven (2012).
Early life
Cusack was born to a Catholic Irish-American family in Evanston, Illinois.[1][2] He is the fourth of five children.[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, as are Cusack's siblings Ann, Joan, Bill and Susie. They were from Manhattan, New York and moved to Illinois before his birth.[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
After his film debut Class, Cusack made his breakout role for 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. After establishing New Crime Productions,[12] Cusack experienced box office success with his roles in Grosse Pointe Blank and Con Air. He played an air traffic controller in Pushing Tin, an obsessive puppeteer in Being John Malkovich, a lovesick record store owner in High Fidelity and a Jewish art dealer mentoring Adolf Hitler in Max.
Cusack starred in Mikael Håfström's horror film 1408, based on Stephen King's short story of the same name. He played a widowed father in James C. Strouse's Iraq War film Grace Is Gone and the assassin in Joshua Seftel's political film War, Inc.. In 2009, Cusack played Jackson Curtis, a struggling novelist and limo driver in Roland Emmerich's disaster film 2012. He played Adam Yates in Steve Pink's Hot Tub Time Machine, Edgar Allan Poe in James McTeigue's thriller film The Raven, Richard Nixon in Lee Daniels' 2013 historical film The Butler and Stafford Weiss in David Cronenberg's 2014 satirical film Maps to the Stars, a dark comic look at Hollywood excess.[13] Cusack played older Beach Boys founding member Brian Wilson in the biopic, Love and Mercy.
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.[14] He led the crowd in a performance of "Take Me Out to the Ball Game" at Wrigley Field.[14] 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. He has also been spotted at multiple Chicago Bears games and attended many Stanley Cup Finals games in support of the Chicago Blackhawks.
According to Lisa Hampton from NBC Nightly News, Cusack has a vigorous daily wake-up routine. He told her: "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 till three in the afternoon, I welcome that appealing lifestyle - all day."
Cusack trained in kickboxing under former world kickboxing champion Benny Urquidez for over 20 years. He began training under Urquidez in preparation for his role in Say Anything... and currently holds the rank of a level six black belt in Urquidez's Ukidokan Kickboxing system.[15]
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 disdain for the Bush administration, calling its worldview "depressing, corrupt, unlawful, and tragically absurd".[16] 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.[17]
Cusack criticized President Barack Obama's 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's] as bad or worse than Bush".[18] However, he later scolded the publication for misquoting him in order to make an interesting headline.[19][20]
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.[21]
In 2015, he "thought up and organized" a meeting with Edward Snowden, Daniel Ellsberg and Arundhati Roy in Snowden's Moscow hotel room.[22] This meeting was also converted into a book titled "Things That Can and Cannot Be Said" which he listed as co-authoring with Arundhati Roy.[23] The book is mainly a transcript of the conversation had between Edward Snowden, Arundhati Roy, and John Cusack, with a selection of relevant photos and illustrations as well as a detailed list of references.
Cusack is a follower of the Transcendental Meditation movement, introduced in the mid-1950s by Maharishi Mahesh Yogi. He stated that he is able to more thoroughly explore the depths of his characters through the use of TM.
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 | One Crazy Summer | Hoops McCann | |
1986 | Stand by Me | Denny Lachance | |
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 | The Player | Himself | Cameo |
1992 | Roadside Prophets | Caspar | |
1992 | Map of the Human Heart | The Mapmaker | |
1992 | Bob Roberts | Cutting Edge Live 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[citation needed] |
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 | Summerhood | Narrator | Uncredited |
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 | Adult World | Rat Billings | |
2013 | The Frozen Ground | Robert Hansen | Direct-to-VOD |
2013 | The Butler | Richard Nixon | |
2013 | Grand Piano | Clem | |
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 and Mercy | Brian Wilson in the 1980s | |
2014 | Reclaim | Benjamin | Direct-to-VOD |
2015 | Dragon Blade | Lucius | |
2015 | Hot Tub Time Machine 2 | Adam Yates | Cameo (uncredited); unrated extended cut only[citation needed] |
2015 | Chi-Raq | Fr. Mike Corridan | |
2016 | Cell | Clayton Riddell | Direct-to-VOD |
2017 | Arsenal | Sal |
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; executive producer |
2014 | Doll & Em | John | Episode 1.3 |
Awards and nominations
References
- ^ John Cusack interview
- ^ "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.
{{cite web}}
:|last1=
has generic name (help) - ^ "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.
- ^ a b Inside the Actors Studio, December 2, 2007
- ^ Ukidokan Black Belts and Levels Archived 2010-03-12 at the Wayback Machine. URL accessed on March 19, 2010.
- ^ John Cusack - Politics on The Huffington Post.
- ^ "John Cusack Stars In MoveOn's New McCain Ad." 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.
- ^ Accused John Cusack stalker, Emily Leatherman, accepts plea deal. New York Daily News. October 10, 2008.
- ^ Roy, Arundhati Edward Snowden meets Arundhati Roy and John Cusack: ‘He was small and lithe, like a house cat’ "The Guardian", 28 November 2015. Accessed 30 November 2015
- ^ Things That Can and Cannot Be Said, "Penguin", 5 October 2016
External links
- 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
- John Cusack at AllMovie
- John Cusack at IMDb
- John Cusack on Twitter
- 20th-century American male actors
- 21st-century American male actors
- 1966 births
- American anti–Iraq War activists
- American bloggers
- American film producers
- American male kickboxers
- American male film actors
- American male screenwriters
- American male television actors
- American people of Irish descent
- American Roman Catholics
- American television producers
- Best Supporting Actor Genie and Canadian Screen Award winners
- Cusack family (United States)
- Evanston Township High School alumni
- Living people
- Male actors from Chicago
- Male actors from Evanston, Illinois
- New York University alumni
- Tisch School of the Arts alumni
- Writers from Chicago