John Cusack Biography

JOHN CUSACK

Date of Birth: June 28, 1966

Born in Evanston, Illinois, John Cusack is one of the few actors who managed to successfully graduate from the "Brat Pack" of the '80s by proving he can effectively carry a film. He feels his success in Hollywood is a result from his refusal to sell out: "I haven't sold out so far, although I have made bad movies. By selling out, I mean crashing cars, pulling out guns, killing people, idiotic stories. If you see the words 'there's an eerie silence' a few times in a script, that's a clue."

Cusack was only seven when he became a member of the Piven Theatre Workshop, a breeding ground for Chicago's theater stars. At 17 Cusack landed his first feature role in the teen sex comedy Class. A slew of teen flicks like Sixteen Candles, Better Off Dead, and The Sure Thing made the boyish-looking actor a thinking-girl's heartthrob but it was his portrayal of Lloyd Dobbler in 1989's Say Anything that established him as a cult hero of the genre.

The Grifters in 1990 was Cusack's first grown-up dramatic lead but it wasn't until 1997 that things heated up considerably for him: he co-wrote, co-produced and starred in Grosse Pointe Blank, co-starred in Con Air opposite Nicolas Cage, provided a voice for the animated romance Anastasia; and also starred in the adaptation of John Berendt's best-selling novel, Midnight in the Garden of Good and Evil. In 2001 he received a Golden Globe nomination for his performance in the critically acclaimed High Fidelity (2000). Some of his other films include Hot Tub Time Machine (2010), The Factory (2011) and the role of famed writer Edgar Allen Poe in The Raven (2012). He starred in Lee Daniels' The Butler (2013) alongside Forest Whitaker and Oprah Winfrey. He also appeared in the documentary film, Salinger (2013). The following year, he landed a slew of roles in Grand Piano, The Bag Man, Maps to the Stars, Drive Hard, The Prince, Love & Mercy, and Reclaim.

More recently, Cusack starred in Hot Tub time Machine 2 (2015), Chi-Raq (2015), and Cell (2016).

A self-admitted hater of celebrity-dom, Cusack avoids Hollywood, choosing to spend time in Chicago instead where he lends his producing and directing skills, not to mention financial support, to his Chicago-based theater group, the New Criminals, and to its companion film production company, New Crime Productions.

Filmography

Southern Fury (2017)
American Undercover (2017)
Misfortune (2017)
Cell (2016)
Chi-Raq (2015)
Hot Tub Time Machine 2 (2015)
Dragon Blade (2015)
Reclaim (2014)
Love & Mercy (2014)
The Prince (2014)
Drive Hard (2014)
Maps to the Stars (2014)
The Bag Man (2014)
Grand Piano (2014)
Salinger (2013)
Lee Daniels' The Butler (2013)
The Paperboy (2012)
The Raven (2012)
The Factory (2011)
Hot Tub Time Machine (2010)
Shanghai (2010)
2012 (2009)
Igor (2008) (voice)
War, Inc. (2007)
Martian Child (2007)
1408 (2007)
Grace Is Gone (2007)
The Contract (2006)
A Doll's House (2005)
Ice Harvest (2005)
Must Love Dogs (2005)
Runaway Jury (2003)
School of Rock (2003)
Identity (2003)
Cosmic Banditos (2002)
Max (2002)
Adaptation (2002)
Serendipity (2001)
America's Sweethearts (2001)
High Fidelity (2000)
Being John Malkovich (1999)
Pushing Tin (1999)
Cradle Will Rock (1999)
Chicago Cab (1998)
The Thin Red Line (1998)
This Is My Father (1998)
Anastasia (1997) (voice)
Midnight in the Garden of Good and Evil (1997)
Con Air (1997)
Grosse Pointe Blank (1997)
City Hall (1996)
Bullets Over Broadway (1994)
Floundering (1994)
The Road to Wellville (1994)
Money for Nothing (1993)
Roadside Prophets (1992)
The Player (1992)
Shadows and Fog (1992)
Bob Roberts (1992)
Map of the Human Heart (1992)
True Colors (1991)
The Grifters (1990)
Elvis Stories (1989)
Fat Man and Little Boy (1989)
Say Anything... (1989)
Eight Men Out (1988)
Tapeheads (1988)
Broadcast News (1987)
Hot Pursuit (1987)
One Crazy Summer (1986)
Stand by Me (1986)
Better Off Dead (1985)
The Journey of Natty Gann (1985)
The Sure Thing (1985)
Sixteen Candles (1984)
Grandview, U.S.A. (1984)
Class (1983)