The American film actor, screenwriter and producer John Cusack (filmography has 60 works) gained worldwide fame in 1997. As a rule, he starred in avant-garde films “not for everyone”, in which he often appears before the audience as an antihero. John Cusack is the most successful member of his acting family, but his personal life remains a mystery to many fans and fans.
Childhood
John Cusack (birth name John Paul) was born on June 28, 1966 in Evanston, Illinois, north of Chicago. Even in his childhood, he had a strong reputation as a brilliant improviser and eccentric. For these features, many people like films with John Cusack.
He was born into a liberal Catholic family of Irish Americans. Mother - Anne Paula (Nancy) - worked as a mathematics teacher, participated in the political life of the city. The father of the family - Richard - successfully engaged in advertising and documentary films (in the piggy bank of his awards - “Emmy”), appeared on the big screen in feature films. All the younger Kyusaki became actors. From childhood, John was direct, cheerful, and was able, according to the memoirs of relatives and friends, to "get out of any situation." His talent manifested itself already at the age of 3, when the sisters organized a home performance with the participation of the whole family.
The beginning of an acting career
At the age of 8, John was already studying at the theater school, where the teachers of the senior Kyusakov's friends, Bern and Joyce Pivena, worked as teachers. Their son Jeremy, who became John's best friend, mastered the basics of skill there. The first serious work of the young school staff was Chekhov's play “Darling”, in which Kyusak got the main role. Having become a star, he more than once admitted that in his childhood he dreamed of playing baseball, and not on stage.
At 12, Cusack, like many teenagers, survived the crisis of adolescence. Already in those years, he did not want to be like his peers; he gained a reputation as an outcast and rebel all rolled into one. But John’s career was successful, despite the oddities of his character. By the age of 14, he managed to work at a local radio station and took part in the productions of a theater school.
The very first films featuring John Cusack
The film career began in 1983-1984. John was 17 years old, he graduated from high school in Evanston, enrolled at New York University, where he studied for only a year. His debut film was the youth comedy "Class" (1983). The film was greeted coolly by film critics.
The screen image created by Cusack, a stately figure (187 cm tall), an open, lively face and undoubted acting talent interested Hollywood directors. Rising movie star began to invite to the shooting. Works of those years:
- “16 Candles” (1985);
- "Grandview" (1984);
- "The Journey of Natty Gun" (1985);
- "Television News" (1987) and others.
Soon, all of America already knew that there was a talented young actor John Cusack. The filmography for the first 7 years is 15 major works. Favorably, viewers and film critics accepted the love story “Say Something” (1989). The most famous scene from this film is the Boombox Serenade. In his spare time, Cusack enthusiastically worked behind the scenes - he was the director and producer of his theater group.
1990s. Selected Filmography
In the 1990s, the actor was busy in 24 films, he was less and less interested in roles in youth melodramas. Among the works of the 1990s there are successful and mediocre paintings. In 1997, the movie “Gross Point Murder” was released. The acting biography of John Cusack after this event went up steeply. He played the role of a killer fed up with his work, participated in the creation of the script, and was also the producer of the picture. Filmed the film company "New Crime", founded by John along with his friends at the acting school in 1992. At the box office, the box office of black comedy totaled more than $ 28 million.
In the same year, viewers saw the action movie Air Prison, in which Cusack played a federal agent. His partners were Nicholas Cage and John Malkovich. The picture was a great rolling success not only in the United States, but throughout the world. Cusack from the very beginning of his career attracted an unusual film material. In the film "Being John Malkovich" (1999) he got the role of a puppeteer-loser. The creators of the parable had problems with the script, but the film paid off at the box office and earned positive reviews from critics.
Films with John Cusack (2000–2013)
The role of the impulsive eccentric was fixed to the actor. So Cusack appeared in the comedy “America’s favorites”, where his talent was not lost against the brilliant play of Billy Crystal, Catherine Zeta-Jones and Julia Roberts. After a two-year vacation, John Cusack again won the hearts of women by playing in the romantic film Love for Dogs is obligatory. Another romantic melodrama followed - Intuition (2001). Cusack starred in the thrillers Max (2002), Identification (2003) and other films. He is the producer of 10 films, by 5 he wrote scripts.
The decade (from 2003 to 2013) was marked by a number of successful films in which John Cusack starred. The filmography for this period has 16 main films, among them completely different films:
- John Cusack wrote the screenplay The Big Game (2008), was the producer of this picture and the 2010 fiction pun, The Jacuzzi Time Machine.
- The critics praised the thriller "1408" (2007), created on the basis of the story of Stephen King. Actor John Cusack brilliantly played the role of a journalist in this mystical film, so unlike his comedic tapes.
- Blockbuster “2012” (2009) Roland Emmerich with a budget of 200 million raised almost 770 million dollars at the box office! In the sensational science-fiction film, the actor plays the role of a driver saving his former family from a planetary flood.
- John Cusack played serial killers in the 2012–2013 dramas Newspaper and Frozen Land.
- In the action movie Numeric Radio Station, the actor appeared as a secret agent that prevents a political crisis.
Awards and Achievements
John Cusack is awarded the Chicago Film Critics Association Award for his role in Say Something. In 2000, the award of this organization was awarded to the entire acting family. But John does not like to recall his youth work, he says that being a “teen movie star” is not very pleasant.
The Guild of Actors awarded the prize “Being John Malkovich” for the best cast (2000). John Cusack was nominated for a Golden Globe for his role in the film The Zealot. In the same year, the British Academy presented this film for the award for the best adapted script.
The thriller “1408” attracted the attention of the jury of the Saturn Prize (2008), which is awarded annually for works in the field of science fiction. Among the other creators of the picture was nominated John Cusack. The filmography of the most successful (according to the actor himself) paintings has 10 films. He calls this outcome “normal” and is full of new plans.
Hobbies of the actor
John has several preferred activities besides the movie. In his free time, he is engaged in kickboxing (black belt), riding a snowboard. Among his favorite literary works is Marquez's book Love during Cholera. Cusack considers the scripts for the films “Being John Malkovich” and “Max” to be the best. In 2006, the actor answered questions from correspondents and journalist reporters. He called the most successful tape in his career:
- "Scammers";
- Gross Point Murder;
- "Thin red line";
- "Fanatic";
- "Max".
Later, John Cusack noted that the work on the thrillers “The Newspaper” and “Raven” was considered the hardest. The state of the actor in 2012 was estimated at 50 million dollars. Cusack lives modestly (compared to other Hollywood stars). He acquired a three-bedroom mansion in Malibu in 2000, and in 2005 an apartment in Chicago. These purchases took more than $ 5 million.
Personal life
John Cusack usually plays in the movies of losers, mentally unstable and strange people. In everyday life, he also does not behave according to the pattern: he believes in mysticism, in every possible way avoids the attention of the media, publicity and glory of the Hollywood star. The actor voiced the principle of his work in an interview. The phrase reads something like this: "I did my job - and again into the shadows." In 2007, Empire Magazine named Cusack one of the 100 sexiest movie stars (70th place).
Who is John Cusack married to? Actor's wife - who is she? He was never married, but broke the hearts of many beauties. He is credited with several novels with colleagues in the acting department (Minnie Driver, Neve Campbell, Meg Ryan, Jody Lin O`Keefe, Brooke Burns). But in an interview, the actor does not like to share his personal experiences. He says that he was lucky in life. He has everything he needs to be happy: favorite job, family and friends.