John Cusack American Actor Known for 2012

Early life

John Paul Cusack was born on 28 June 1966 in Evanston, Illinois, a suburb of Chicago. His father, Dick Cusack, was a writer, actor, producer and documentary filmmaker, and his mother, Ann Paula "Nancy" Cusack, had worked as a mathematics teacher and political activist. He trained at the Piven Theatre Workshop in Evanston, attended Evanston Township High School, from which he graduated in 1984, and spent a year at the Tisch School of the Arts at New York University. At the high school he met Jeremy Piven, who would later appear alongside him in many films.

Career

Cusack's first screen credit is the 1980 educational short Why Is It Always Me? He had small parts in Class (1983) and Sixteen Candles (1984), and then gained leading roles in teen comedies such as The Sure Thing (1985). In 1986 he appeared briefly in Stand by Me, and in 1987 in Broadcast News. He starred in the baseball drama Eight Men Out in 1988 and in Cameron Crowe's directorial debut Say Anything... in 1989, in which he played Lloyd Dobler.

In the 1990s he moved into other genres. He played a con artist in The Grifters (1990) and starred in Woody Allen's Bullets Over Broadway (1994). After founding the production company New Crime Productions, he co-wrote and starred in Grosse Pointe Blank (1997), playing an assassin who attends his high school reunion. The same year he starred opposite Nicolas Cage in the action film Con Air and appeared in Midnight in the Garden of Good and Evil, and he also voiced a character in the animated film Anastasia. He was part of the large cast of The Thin Red Line (1998) and starred in Spike Jonze's Being John Malkovich (1999).

The 2000s began with High Fidelity (2000), based on a novel by Nick Hornby, which he co-wrote and starred in. He then appeared in the romantic comedies America's Sweethearts and Serendipity (both 2001) and Must Love Dogs (2005), and in a run of thrillers including Identity and Runaway Jury (both 2003) and 1408 (2007). He also appeared in Adaptation (2002), The Ice Harvest (2005), Grace Is Gone (2007) and War, Inc. (2008), which he co-wrote. In 2009 he starred in the disaster film 2012 as the novelist Jackson Curtis; of his titles with box-office figures on record, it has the highest worldwide total, at 791 million US dollars.

In the 2010s he starred in and produced Hot Tub Time Machine (2010) and played Edgar Allan Poe in The Raven (2012). He appeared in The Paperboy (2012), played President Richard Nixon in The Butler (2013), and portrayed the musician Brian Wilson in Love & Mercy (2014). Maps to the Stars (2014) earned him a Canadian Screen Award for supporting actor. His first television series, Utopia, came in 2020, and his more recent films include Pursuit (2022) and the Chinese production Decoded (2024). Across his career the records list roughly 80 screen credits, and he is credited as writer on three films: Grosse Pointe Blank, High Fidelity and War, Inc.

Recognition

Cusack has a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame. He shared the Satellite Award for Best Cast in a motion picture for The Thin Red Line in 1999. His nominations include a Golden Globe for Best Actor in a Motion Picture, Musical or Comedy, for High Fidelity in 2000, a BAFTA Award for Best Adapted Screenplay and a Writers Guild of America Award in the same category for that film, an Independent Spirit Award for Best Male Lead for Being John Malkovich, and cast awards from the actors' union for Being John Malkovich and The Butler. The records list two wins and seven nominations in total.

Personal life

Cusack has trained in kickboxing for more than twenty years with the former world champion Benny Urquidez, beginning in preparation for his role in Say Anything..., and holds a black belt in Urquidez's Ukidokan system.