Joan Cusack
About
Biography
Filmography
Family & Companions
Notes
"For years the line on Cusack has been: Why isn't she getting better roles?'A lot of it has to do with [the fact] there are way more different character roles for men than there are for women . . . With women, it's usually you're the babe or you're the supportive friend [who's] sort of brassy and obnoxious, cracking jokes. I'm not the babe." --From "Joan of Spark" by Lewis Beale in DAILY NEWS, September 16, 1997
"I'm not at Joanie's level as an actor." --John Cusack quoted in THE NEW YORK TIMES, September 14, 1997
Biography
Despite living in the shadow of her superstar brother, John Cusack, actress Joan Cusack carved out a substantial career with memorable supporting roles. But unlike her better known sibling, she earned an Academy Award nomination for her performance in "Working Girl" (1988), which came hot on the heels of her breakout role in "Broadcast News" (1987). From there, she accumulated a long list of credits where she played the best friend, sidekick or scourge, most notably in "Say Anything" (1989), "My Blue Heaven" (1990) and "Addams Family Values" (1993). While she did land the occasional dramatic role, as happened with "Arlington Road" (1999) and "The Cradle Will Rock" (1999), Cusack seemed content with her position as a character actress. Though her career was not without its setbacks - a failed sitcom run in early 2001 paid testament to that - Cusack nonetheless remained secure in herself and career, becoming by the late 1990s and early 2000s, one of the most dependable supporting players working in Hollywood.
Born Oct. 11, 1962 in Evanston, IL, Cusack was raised in an Irish Catholic home headed by her father, Richard, a screenwriter, actor and advertising executive, and her mother, Nancy, a math teacher. She was encouraged by her parents to be creative, which led her to join the Piven Theater Workshop as a child. After learning improvisation at the Story Theatre, Cusack made her feature film debut in "My Bodyguard" (1980), before joining another improv group, The Ark, where she honed her latent comedy skills. She continued to land small roles in Chicago-based movies, including "Sixteen Candles" (1984), while attending the University of Wisconsin at Madison, where she earned her bachelor's degree in English in 1985. After graduation, she hit the big time by joining the cast of "Saturday Night Live" (NBC, 1975- ) for its 1985-86 season, though like many of the female players during its early years, she was vastly underused. Cusack departed the show after one season and returned her focus toward feature films, co-starring in the teen comedy "The Allnighter" (1987) before announcing her arrival as a comic force to be reckoned with in "Broadcast News" (1987). In the classic James L. Brooks film, she delivered a strong supporting turn as a harried, sprinting production assistant who memorably says to her boss (Holly Hunter), "Except for socially, you're my role model." Her rush to get a tape dub back to the studio in time for a live broadcast - including her manic slide under an opening file cabinet - became one of the most famous scenes in the film.
In "Married to the Mob" (1988), Cusack was featured as a Long Island Mafia wife who helps gang up on the wife of a hitman (Michelle Pfeiffer) in a memorable grocery store scene. Cusack then gave an Oscar-nominated performance in Mike Nichols' winning romantic comedy, "Working Girl" (1988), playing a big-haired Staten Island secretary who can not fathom why an executive (Sigourney Weaver) would pay thousands of dollars for a dress when "it's not even leatha." After co-starring with younger brother John - playing his sister, of all things - in his breakout film, "Say Anything" (1989), she continued to build her reputation with an atypical dramatic portrayal of a mature seductress in "Men Don't Leave" (1990). Cusack was the perfect comic foil to Steve Martin's wisecracking mobster-turned-state's evidence in "My Blue Heaven" (1990), playing a stick-in-the-mud district attorney who grudgingly falls for a nerdy FBI agent (Rick Moranis) protecting him. Becoming pigeonholed as a comic sidekick or supporting player, Cusack nonetheless continued to impress with roles in "Hero" (1992), "Toys" (1992) and particularly "Addams Family Values" (1993), playing a voluptuous blonde nanny who is less benign than she seems to be.
After a fine turn as a loyal secretary to a youthful hit man (John Cusack) in "Grosse Point Blank" (1997), Cusack graduated to leading lady in Frank Oz's "In & Out" (1997). Scripted by Paul Rudnick, "In & Out" provided the actress with a rich role as the trusting fiancée of a fellow teacher (Kevin Kline) who is exposed as being gay by a former student (Matt Dillon) at the Academy Awards. In a role that could have devolved into a cartoon, Cusack imbued the character - a 30ish, formerly overweight and still insecure woman - with equal amounts of warmth and empathy. Meanwhile, Cusack ventured into more straightforward dramatic territory, appearing as Tim Robbins' wife in the paranoiac thriller "Arlington Road" (1999) and working with Robbins the director in "The Cradle Will Rock" (1999), playing a clerk whom an anti-Communist ventriloquist (Bill Murray) attempts to seduce while coaching to inform on her left-leaning superiors. But Cusack also kept her comedic chops sharp, playing Julia Roberts' best friend Peggy, a hair stylist who reads omens in the flights of geese, in director Garry Marshall's "Runaway Bride" (1999), then received kudos for her voice performance as the lonely cowgirl puppet, Jesse, in Disney/Pixar's winning CGI-animated sequel, "Toy Story 2" (1999).
Rejoining her brother in "High Fidelity" (2000) for a brief, but nicely etched role as Liz, best friend to the ex-girlfriend of a romantically challenged record shop owner (John Cusack), Cusack followed up with a strong co-starring turn as a hard-boiled talent agent in the otherwise meandering comedy, "Where the Heart Is" (2000). In a return to regular series work - her first stint since he days on "SNL" - Cusack starred in her own sitcom produced by James L. Brooks, "What About Joan?" (ABC, 2000-02). Shot entirely in her native Chicago, the show focused on Cusack as high school teacher Joan Gallagher, who deals with problems through close friends and co-workers while putting the breaks on a quickly-developing romance with a fellow teacher (Kyle Chandler). While the mid-season replacement series received some critical support, Cusack was also criticized for playing too big for television's intimate scale. The series failed to lure many viewers and was axed just a few months into the fall season, despite a summertime revamp. Turning to a sweet-natured TV movie project, Cusack next appeared in "It's a Very Merry Muppet Christmas Movie" (NBC, 2001), playing miserly banker Rachel Bitterman, who gives the Muppets till Christmas Eve to come up with the money they owe or else she will foreclose on the beloved Muppet Theater.
After an absence from major screen roles, Cusack made a welcome return in the excellent comedy, "School of Rock" (2003), playing a seemingly stern and imperious private school principal whose humanity and insecurities are revealed after she is tricked into hiring wannabe rocker (Jack Black) as a substitute teacher who recruits his students to form a rock band. Following an appearance as Mother in the lackluster live action-animated feature, "Loony Tunes: Back in Action" (2003), she provided a brittle comedic edge to the lightweight comedy "Raising Helen" (2004), playing the disapproving older sister of Helen (Kate Hudson), a party girl who finds herself raising three children of their late sibling. After voicing a character in the animated "Chicken Little" (2005), she played the mother of a teenage girl (Michelle Trachtenberg) who dreams of becoming a championship skater against her mother's wishes in "Ice Princess" (2005). Cusack followed with a supporting role in the adult comedy of manners, "Friends With Money" (2006), then co-starred alongside her brother once again in "War, Inc." (2008), an irreverent satire about war profiteering in a Middle Eastern country. After joining young star Abigail Breslin for the family-oriented "Kit Kittredge: An American Girl" (2008) and the Nick Cassavetes' drama "My Sister's Keeper" (2009), Cusack reprised the voice of Jessie the Yodeling Cowgirl for the animated hit "Toy Story 3" (2010). Back on the small screen, she made a guest appearance in an episode of "Law & Order: Special Victims Unit" (NBC, 1999- ) while playing the recurring role of Sheila Jackson on "Shameless" (Showtime, 2011- ), an agoraphobic who serves as the love interest to an unabashed alcoholic and head of a dysfunctional family (William H. Macy). Her role on "Shameless" earned Cusack an Emmy Award nomination for Outstanding Guest Actress on a Drama Series. While appearing in this series, Cusack also maintained her big-screen presence in films including teen comedy-drama "The Perks of Being A Wallflower" (2012), Kristen Wiig's "Welcome To Me" (2014) and the David Foster Wallace biopic "The End of the Tour" (2015).
Filmography
Cast (Feature Film)
Misc. Crew (Feature Film)
Cast (Special)
Life Events
1980
Screen acting debut in "My Bodyguard"; her father also had small role
1983
Made first appearance alongside brother John in "Class"
1984
Made TV-movie debut in "All Together Now"
1985
Spent a season as a cast member on NBC's "Saturday Night Live"
1988
Made Off-Broadway debut in "Road"
1989
Appeared Off-Broadway in the Circle Repertory Company's "Brilliant Traces"
1989
Played on-screen siblings with real life brother John Cusack in Cameron Crowe's "Say Anything"
1989
Played Melanie Griffith's best friend in "Working Girl," her breakout role
1993
Played a murderous nanny in "Addams Family Values"
1994
Had a rare dramatic TV role in "The Mother" (PBS) opposite Anne Bancroft
1995
Had a supporting role in the comedy, "Nine Months"
1997
Co-starred with brother John playing his secretary in the comedy "Grosse Pointe Blank"
1997
Played Kevin Kline's bride-to-be in the comedy "In & Out"
1999
Played Hazel Huffman in the Tim Robbins-directed "Cradle Will Rock"
1999
Voiced a yodeling cowgirl named Jessie, in the animated film "Toy Story 2"
2000
Had a small role in Stephen Frears' "High Fidelity" starring her brother John
2001
Starred as a Chicago high school teacher in ABC's "What About Joan"
2003
Played a prep school's straitlaced principal opposite Jack Black in the Richard Linklater directed "School of Rock"
2004
Cast as Kate Hudson's sister in the comedy "Raising Helen"
2005
Voiced Abby Mallard (aka Ugly Duckling) in the animated feature "Chicken Little"
2006
Co-starred with Frances McDormand, Jennifer Aniston and Catherine Keener in Nicole Holofcener's "Friends with Money"
2007
Once again played on-screen siblings with real life brother John in "The Martian Child"
2008
Cast opposite Abigail Breslin in the family film, "Kit Kittredge: An American Girl"
2009
Re-teamed with Abigail Breslin for "My Sister's Keeper," a Nick Cassavetes-directed adaptation of the Jodi Picoult novel
2010
Reprised the voice of Jessie the Yodeling Cowgirl in the animated feature "Toy Story 3"
2011
Co-starred in animated comedy "Mars Needs Moms"
2011
Had a recurring role on Showtime comedy-drama "Shameless"
2012
Had a supporting role in teen comedy-drama "The Perks of Being a Wallflower"
2014
Had a supporting role in Kristen Wiig comedy-drama "Welcome to Me"
2015
Had a supporting role in David Foster Wallace biopic "The End of the Tour"
2016
Cast as Peg Parker in horror comedy "Freaks of Nature"
2016
Appeared in the Lonely Island's "Popstar: Never Stop Never Stopping"
2016
Cast as Red on "The Stinky & Dirty Show"
2017
Appeared in Amy Schumer/Goldie Hawn vehicle "Snatched"
2017
Cast as justice Strauss on Netflix's "A Series of Unfortunate Events" adaptation
2018
Played Mrs. Howard in "Instant Family"
2019
Returned yet again for "Toy Story 4"
Videos
Movie Clip
Trailer
Family
Companions
Bibliography
Notes
"For years the line on Cusack has been: Why isn't she getting better roles?'A lot of it has to do with [the fact] there are way more different character roles for men than there are for women . . . With women, it's usually you're the babe or you're the supportive friend [who's] sort of brassy and obnoxious, cracking jokes. I'm not the babe." --From "Joan of Spark" by Lewis Beale in DAILY NEWS, September 16, 1997
"I'm not at Joanie's level as an actor." --John Cusack quoted in THE NEW YORK TIMES, September 14, 1997
"Watching Joan is like seeing a pot on the stove. There are all sorts of little bubbles and then bang, it's at full boil." --playwright Cindy Lou Johnson to THE NEW YORK TIMES, February 5, 1989 (Cusack co-starred in the Off-Broadway production of Johnson's play "Brilliant Traces")
Some sources list Ms. Cusack's birthdate as November 11.
