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John Cusack has offered some insight into why he has mostly moved away from major studio films in recent years.
The actor rose to fame in the 1980s with roles in films such as John Hughes’s Sixteen Candles (1984) and Better Off Dead (1985).
He went on to enjoy a successful film career with credits including High Fidelity, Being John Malkovich, Serendipity, Con Air, 1408, Say Anything, and Grosse Pointe Blank.
More recently, however, Cusack has largely turned away from Hollywood films in favour of smaller projects. He has also focused on his interests beyond acting, such as writing.
Promoting his forthcoming graphic novel Momo at Comic-Con this week, Cusack suggested that an increase in film studio intervention was a key reason behind his pivot.
“[This graphic novel] was just like I wrote it. And I said, ‘I like this story,’” he said, as per People magazine. “Nobody edited anything I wrote or that he [Ignacio Noé] drew. So it’s really a piece of work that was just done by two people.”
“It was just me and Ignacio’s story, and that doesn’t happen today,” Cusack said, noting that he appreciated there was “no committee” on the project.
“I didn’t want to negotiate telling a story really,” continued the actor. “When you ask somebody to put like $20 to $30 million into a bank account [for a film budget], they want to have an opinion, and they’re afraid and all that stuff.”
John Cusack appeared via video call at special 30th anniversary screening of ‘Say Anything’ in 2019 (Getty)
Cusack’s recent comments echo those he gave more than 10 years ago. Speaking to The Guardian in 2014, he said: “My friend Joe Roth ran Disney [until 2000]. He made things like The Rock and Con Air to make shareholders happy, but then he also gave six or seven slots to people he liked.
“I got to make High Fidelity and Grosse Point Blank. Spike Lee got to make Summer of Sam. Wes Anderson got to make Rushmore. I had that memory of film and that’s gone.”
He explained that there was once a “one for you, one for them” system. “Now it’s six for them – with a committee cutting the film who weren’t part of making it – and maybe one for you,” the actor said.
John and Joan Cusack attend the Roger Ebert Memorial Tribute at Chicago Theatre on 11 April, 2013 (Getty)
While Cusack does not star in as many high-profile films as he once did, he did appear in two movies last year: Fog of War and the Mandarin-language hit film Detective Chinatown 1900. In 2024, Cusack appeared in one movie, the war drama Decoded, which was preceded by 2022’s Pursuit.
His sister, fellow actor Joan Cusack, has similarily shunned the spotlight in recent years. She recently made her first public appearance in 11 years at the London premiere of Toy Story 5, for which she reprised her role as cowgirl Jessie.
As a writer, Cusack co-wrote the 2016 book Things That Can and Cannot Be Said with Arundhati Roy about his conversations with whistleblower Edward Snowden.