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John Cusack | |
Cusack in 2012. | |
Born | John Paul Cusack June 28, 1966 (age 46) Evanston, Illinois |
Occupation | Actor, producer, writer |
Years active | 1983–present |
Worked in | Being John Malkovich Adaptation. (as himself) |
Characters portrayed | Craig Schwartz |
Other works | 2012 High Fidelity Grosse Pointe Blank 1408 |
John Paul Cusack (born June 28, 1966) is an American actor, producer and screenwriter. He has appeared in more than 50 films, including Say Anything..., Grosse Pointe Blank, High Fidelity, Con Air, Being John Malkovich, and 2012.
Biography[]
John Cusack is, like most of his characters, an unconventional hero. Wary of fame and repelled by formulaic Hollywood fare, the Chicago-born actor has built a successful career playing underdogs and odd men out--all the while avoiding the media spotlight. With the exception of mom Nancy (a former math teacher), the Cusack clan is all show business: father Dick Cusack is an actor and filmmaker, and John's siblings Joan Cusack, Ann Cusack,Bill Cusack and Susie Cusack are all thespians by trade. Like his brother and sisters, John became a member of Chicago's Piven Theatre Workshop while he was still in elementary school. By age 12, he already had several stage productions, commercial voice overs and industrial films under his belt. He made his feature film debut at 17, acting alongside Rob Lowe and Andrew McCarthy in the romantic comedy Class. His next role, as a member of Anthony Michael Hall's geek brigade in Sixteen Candles, put him on track to becoming a teen-flick fixture. Cusack remained on the periphery of the Brat Pack, sidestepping the meteoric rise and fall of most of his contemporaries, but he stayed busy with leads in films like The Sure Thing and Better Off Dead.... Young Cusack is probably best remembered for what could be considered his last adolescent role: the stereo-blaring romantic Lloyd Dobler in Say Anything.... A year later, he hit theaters as a grown-up, playing a bush-league con man caught between his manipulative mother and headstrong girlfriend in The Grifters.
The next few years were relatively quiet for the actor, but he filled in the gaps with off-screen projects. He directed and produced several shows for the Chicago-based theater group The New Criminals, which he founded in 1988 (modeling it after Tim Robbins's Actors' Gang in Los Angeles) to promote political and avant-garde stage work. Four years later, Cusack's high school friends? Steve Pink and D.V. DeVincentis joined him in starting a sister company for film, New Crime Productions. New Crime's first feature was the sharply written comedy Grosse Pointe Blank, which touched off a career renaissance for Cusack. In addition to co-scripting, he starred as a world-weary hit man who goes home for his ten-year high school reunion and tries to rekindle a romance with the girl he stood up on prom night (Minnie Driver). In an instance of life imitating art, Cusack actually did go home for his ten-year reunion (to honor a bet about the film's financing) and ended up in a real-life romance with Driver. Cusack's next appearance was as a federal agent (or, as he described it, "the first post-Heston, non-biblical action star in sandals") in Con Air, a movie he chose because he felt it was time to make smart business decisions. He followed that with Clint Eastwood's Midnight in the Garden of Good and Evil, in which he played a Yankee reporter entangled in a Savannah murder case.
Cusack has always favored offbeat material, so it was no surprise when he turned up in the fiercely original Being John Malkovich. Long-haired, bearded and bespectacled, he was almost unrecognizable in the role of a frustrated puppeteer who stumbles across a portal into the brain of actor John Malkovich. The convincing performance won him a Best Actor nomination at the Independent Spirit Awards. In 2000, Cusack was back to his clean-shaven self in High Fidelity, another New Crime production. He worked with Steve Pink and D.V. DeVincentis to adapt Nick Hornby's popular novel (relocating the story to their native Chicago), then starred as the sarcastic record store owner who revisits his "Top 5" breakups to find out why he's so unlucky in love. The real Cusack has been romantically linked with several celebs, including Driver, Alison Eastwood, Claire Forlani and Neve Campbell. He's also something of a family man, acting frequently opposite sister Joan Cusack and pulling other Cusacks into his films on a regular basis. He seems pleased with the spate of projects on his horizon, but admits that he still hasn't reached his ultimate goal: to be involved in a "great piece of art".[1]
Personal life[]
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." He has led the crowd in a performance of "Take Me Out to the Ball Game" at Wrigley Field.[2] 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.[3]
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.[4]
Political views[]
Between 2005 and 2009, John Cusack blogged at The Huffington Post, including an interview with Naomi Klein. He has 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".[5] 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.[6]
Stalking incident[]
In March 2008, police arrested Emily Leatherman outside Cusack's Malibu home for stalking the actor. 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 10 years.[7]
Filmography[8][]
Year | Film | Role | Notes |
---|---|---|---|
1983 | Class | Roscoe Maibaum | |
1984 | Sixteen Candles | Bryce | |
Grandview, U.S.A. | Johnny Maine | ||
1985 | The Sure Thing | Walter (Gib) Gibson | |
The Journey of Natty Gann | Harry | ||
Better Off Dead | Lane Meyer | ||
1986 | Stand by Me | Denny Lachance | |
One Crazy Summer | Hoops McCann | ||
1987 | Hot Pursuit | Dan Bartlett | |
Broadcast News | Angry Messenger | ||
1988 | Eight Men Out | Buck Weaver | |
Tapeheads | Ivan Alexeev | ||
1989 | Elvis Stories | Corky | Short subject |
Say Anything... | Lloyd Dobler | Chicago Film Critics Association Award for Emerging Actor | |
Fat Man and Little Boy | Michael Merriman | ||
1990 | The Grifters | Roy Dillon | |
1991 | True Colors | Peter Burton | |
1992 | Shadows and Fog | Student Jack | |
The Player | Self | Cameo | |
Bob Roberts | Cutting Edge Host | ||
Roadside Prophets | Caspar | ||
1993 | Map of the Human Heart | The Mapmaker | |
Money for Nothing | Joey Coyle | ||
1994 | Floundering | JC | |
Bullets Over Broadway | David Shayne | ||
The Road to Wellville | Charles Ossining | ||
1996 | City Hall | Deputy Mayor Kevin Calhoun | |
1997 | Grosse Pointe Blank | Martin Q. Blank | Screenplay and co-producer Nominated — Chlotrudis Award for Best Adapted Screenplay |
Con Air | U.S. Marshal Vince Larkin | Blockbuster Entertainment Award for Favorite Supporting Actor — Action/Adventure | |
Anastasia | Dimitri | Voice | |
Midnight in the Garden of Good and Evil | John Kelso | ||
1998 | Chicago Cab | Scary man | Executive producer |
This Is My Father | Eddie Sharp, the Pilot | ||
The Thin Red Line | Capt. Gaff | Satellite Special Achievement Award for Outstanding Motion Picture Ensemble | |
1999 | Pushing Tin | Nick Falzone | |
Cradle Will Rock | Nelson Rockefeller | Nominated — Online Film Critics Society Award for Best Cast | |
Being John Malkovich | Craig Schwartz | Nominated — Independent Spirit Award for Best Actor Nominated — London Film Critics Circle Award for Best Actor Nominated — Online Film Critics Society Award for Best Cast Nominated — Screen Actors Guild Award for Outstanding Performance by a Cast in a Motion Picture | |
The Jack Bull | Myrl Redding | TV film, executive producer | |
2000 | High Fidelity | Rob Gordon<tdScreenplay and co-producer Nominated — American Comedy Award Nominated — BAFTA Award for Best Adapted Screenplay Nominated — Empire Awards>Empire Award for Best Actor Nominated — Golden Globe Award for Best Actor - Motion Picture Musical or Comedy Nominated — Teen Choice Award for Choice Hissy Fit Nominated — USC Scripter Award 2000 Nominated — Writers Guild of America Award for Best Adapted Screenplay |
|
2001 | America's Sweethearts | Eddie Thomas | |
Serendipity | Jonathan Trager | ||
2002 | Max | Max Rothman | Associate producer |
Adaptation. | Himself | Uncredited | |
2003 | Identity | Ed Dakota | |
Breakfast With Hunter | Himself | Documentary | |
Runaway Jury | Nicholas Easter | ||
2005 | Must Love Dogs | Jake Anderson | |
The Ice Harvest | Charlie Arglist | ||
2006 | Buy the Ticket, Take the Ride: Hunter S. Thompson on Film | Himself | Documentary |
The Contract | Ray Keene | ||
2007 | Joe Strummer: The Future Is Unwritten | Himself | Documentary |
Martian Child | David Gordon | ||
1408 | Mike Enslin | Nominated — Saturn Award for Best Actor | |
Grace Is Gone | Stanley Philipps | Producer | |
2008 | Igor | Igor | Voice |
War, Inc. | Brand Hauser | Also writer, producer | |
2009 | 2012 | Jackson Curtis | Teen Choice Award for Best Sci-Fi Actor |
2010 | Hot Tub Time Machine | Adam | Also producer |
Shanghai | Paul Soames | ||
2011 | The Factory | Mike Fletcher | |
2012 | The Raven | Edgar Allan Poe | |
The Paperboy | Hillary Van Wetter | ||
The Frozen Ground | Robert Hansen | post-production | |
Adult World | Rat Billings | post-production |
References[]
- ↑ Biography for John Cusack at IMDb.
- ↑ Inside the Actors Studio, December 2, 2007
- ↑ Chicago’s Own John Cusack
- ↑ Ukidokan Black Belts and Levels. 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.
- ↑ Accused John Cusack stalker, Emily Leatherman, accepts plea deal. New York Daily News. October 10, 2008.
- ↑ John Cusack at IMDb.