John Cusack

John Paul Cusack (born June 28, 1966) is an American film actor and writer, born in Evanston, Illinois to a liberal 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.

Early life and career

Cusack attended Piven Theatre Workshop while growing up in Evanston.^{[citation needed]}

Cusack spent a year at New York University before dropping out, reasoning that he had "too much fire in [his] belly."

He first became famous in the mid-1980s for appearing in teen movies such as Better Off Dead, The Sure Thing and One Crazy Summer. 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.

Cusack became a proven box office success with his roles in the black comedy Grosse Pointe Blank and the Jerry Bruckheimer blockbuster Con Air. He has since chosen a diverse range of 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 will next appear as a widowed father in the Iraq War-themed drama Grace is Gone and as a terrified writer in the horror film 1408, based on Stephen King's short story of the same name.

Personal life

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."

Since May 2005 he's been a contributing blogger at The Huffington Post, although his latest post is dated later that year. 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."^[1]

Trivia

• He and older sister 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....

• 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 and often appears in films with a Clash T-shirt.

• He was trained in kickboxing by Benny Urquidez for Grosse Pointe Blank. He still continues his training with Urquidez. He began training as a kickboxer for the film Say Anything in which Cusack's character, Lloyd Dobler, is an amateur kickboxer who has just graduated from high school.

• In the comic book magazine Wizard, the editors described their dream-cast for a possible Justice Society of America movie. They picked Cusack for the role of Starman.

• Cusack is the subject of the Fall Out Boy song "Honorable Mention".

• Is a huge fan of the Chicago Cubs, and has led the crowd singing "Take Me Out To The Ball Game" during the 7th Inning Stretch at Wrigley Field on at least one occasion.

• Poetry slam artist Big Poppa E references Cusack in his performance poem "The Wussy Boy Manifesto".

• Cusack is called girl names by his friend and neighbour John C. McGinley, which has been adapted into the TV series Scrubs.^[2]

Filmography

• Class (1983)
• Sixteen Candles (1984)
• Grandview, U.S.A. (1984)
• The Sure Thing (1985)
• The Journey of Natty Gann (1985)
• Better Off Dead (1985)
• Stand by Me (1986)
• One Crazy Summer (1986)
• Hot Pursuit (1987)
• Broadcast News (1987)
• Eight Men Out (1988)
• Tapeheads (1988)
• Elvis Stories (1989) (short subject)
• Say Anything (1989)
• Fat Man and Little Boy (1989)
• The Grifters (1990)
• True Colors (1991)
• Shadows and Fog (1992)
• The Player (1992) (Cameo)
• Bob Roberts (1992)
• Roadside Prophets (1992)
• Map of the Human Heart (1993)
• Money for Nothing (1993)
• Floundering (1994)
• Bullets Over Broadway (1994)
• The Road to Wellville (1994)
• City Hall (1996)
• Grosse Pointe Blank (1997)
• Con Air (1997)
• Anastasia (1997) (voice)
• Midnight in the Garden of Good and Evil (1997)
• Chicago Cab (1998)
• This Is My Father (1998)
• The Thin Red Line (1998)
• Pushing Tin (1999)
• Cradle Will Rock (1999)
• Being John Malkovich (1999)
• The Jack Bull (1999)
• High Fidelity (2000)
• America's Sweethearts (2001)
• Serendipity (2001)
• Max (2002)
• Adaptation. (2002) (Cameo)
• Identity (2003)
• Breakfast With Hunter (2003) (documentary)
• Runaway Jury (2003)
• Must Love Dogs (2005)
• The Ice Harvest (2005)
• Buy the Ticket, Take the Ride: Hunter S. Thompson on Film (2006) (documentary)
• Summerhood (2006) (documentary) (narrator)
• The Contract (2006)
• The Martian Child (2006)

Upcoming:

• Cosmic Banditos (2007)
• Grace Is Gone (2007)
• 1408 (2007)
• War, Inc. (2007)
• Talking with Dog (2008)

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