John Cusack

Biography

John Paul Cusack (/ˈkjuːsæk/; born June 28, 1966)[1] is an American actor, producer, and screenwriter. He is the son of filmmaker Dick Cusack and the younger brother of actresses Joan and Ann Cusack.

Cusack began acting in films during the 1980s, starring in coming-of-age dramedies such as Sixteen Candles (1984), The Sure Thing (1985), Better Off Dead (1985), and Say Anything... (1989).

 He then started appearing in independent films such as Eight Men Out (1988), The Grifters (1990), True Colors (1991), and Bullets Over Broadway (1994). 

Cusack began appearing as a leading man in such films as the comedic films Grosse Pointe Blank (1997), the action thriller Con Air (1997), the animated musical Anastasia (1997), the psychological drama Being John Malkovich (1999), and the romantic comedies High Fidelity (2000), America's Sweethearts (2001), Serendipity (2001), and Must Love Dogs (2005). 

He also starred in Runaway Jury (2003), Grace Is Gone (2007), Martian Child (2007), Hot Tub Time Machine (2010), The Butler (2013), Maps to the Stars (2014), and Chi-Raq (2015). He portrayed Brian Wilson in the critically acclaimed musical biopic Love and Mercy (2015).

Cusack was born in Evanston, Illinois into an Irish Catholic family. His parents are writer-actor-producer and documentary filmmaker Richard J. "Dick" Cusack (1925–2003), originally from New York City, and Ann Paula "Nancy" Cusack (née Carolan; 1929–2022), originally from Massachusetts, a former mathematics teacher and political activist. John's older sisters, Ann and Joan, are also actors. Cusack has two other siblings, Bill and Susie. 

The family moved from Manhattan, New York, to Illinois and were friends of activist Philip Berrigan. Cusack graduated from Evanston Township High School in 1984, where he met Jeremy Piven, and spent a year at New York University before dropping out, saying that he had "too much fire in his belly".

Cusack trained in kickboxing under former world kickboxing champion Benny Urquidez for over twenty years. He began training under Urquidez in preparation for his role in Say Anything... and holds the rank of a level six black belt in Urquidez's Ukidokan Kickboxing system.

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.

When asked in a 2009 interview why he had never married, Cusack answered, “Society doesn't tell me what to do.”