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. Continuing the romantic comedy trend in 2001 with both America's Sweethearts and Serendipity, Cusack would next gear up for a re-teaming with Being John Malkovich director Spike Jonze in Adaptation (2002). ~ Rebecca Flint, All Movie Guide

Filmography

Runaway Jury, The (2003) .... Nicholas Easter/Jeff Kerr
School of Rock, The (2003) .... Principal Mullins
Identity (2003) .... Ed
Adaptation. (2002) (uncredited) .... Himself
Max (2002/I) .... Max Rothman
Concert for New York City (2001) (TV) .... Himself
America: A Tribute to Heroes (2001) (TV) .... Himself
Serendipity (2001) .... Jonathan Trager
America's Sweethearts (2001) .... Eddie Thomas
High Fidelity (2000) .... Rob Gordon
Being John Malkovich (1999) .... Craig Schwartz
Cradle Will Rock (1999) .... Nelson Rockefeller
Pushing Tin (1999) .... Nick Falzone
... aka Turbulenzen - und andere Katastrophen (2000) (Germany)
Jack Bull, The (1999) (TV) .... Myrl Redding
Thin Red Line, The (1998) .... Capt. John Gaff
This Is My Father (1998/I) .... Eddie Sharp, the Pilot
Chicago Cab (1998) .... Scary Man
... aka Hellcab (1998) (USA: video title)
Anastasia (1997) (voice) .... Dimitri
Midnight in the Garden of Good and Evil (1997) .... John Kelso
Eastwood on Eastwood (1997) (TV) .... Narrator
Con Air (1997) .... U.S. Marshal Vince Larkin
Grosse Pointe Blank (1997) .... Martin Blank
City Hall (1996) .... Deputy Mayor Kevin Calhoun
Floundering (1994) .... JC
Road to Wellville, The (1994) .... Charles Ossining
"Baseball" (1994) (mini) TV Series (voice) .... Himself
Bullets Over Broadway (1994) .... David Shayne
Money for Nothing (1993/I) .... Joey Coyle
Map of the Human Heart (1992) .... The Mapmaker
Roadside Prophets (1992) (as John Cusak) .... Casper
Bob Roberts (1992) .... Cutting Edge Host
Player, The (1992) .... Himself
Shadows and Fog (1992) .... Student Jack
True Colors (1991) .... Peter Burton
Grifters, The (1990) .... Roy Dillon
Elvis Stories (1989) .... Corky
Fat Man and Little Boy (1989) .... Michael Merriman
... aka Shadow Makers (1989) (UK)
Say Anything... (1989) .... Lloyd Dobler
... aka ...Say Anything... (1989) (USA: promotional title)
Tapeheads (1988) .... Ivan Alexeev
Eight Men Out (1988) .... Buck Weaver (3B)
Broadcast News (1987) (as John Cusak) .... Angry Messenger
Hot Pursuit (1987) .... Dan Bartlett
One Crazy Summer (1986) .... Hoops McCann
Stand by Me (1986) .... Denny Lachance
Better Off Dead... (1985) .... Lane Myer
... aka Better Off Dead (1985) (USA: DVD title)
Journey of Natty Gann, The (1985) .... Harry
Sure Thing, The (1985) .... Walter (Gib) Gibson
Grandview, U.S.A. (1984) .... Johnny Maine
Sixteen Candles (1984) .... Bryce
Class (1983) .... Roscoe Maibaum
Making of 'Class', The (1983) (TV) .... Himself

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