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One of us tells the truth, and one of us always lies.
-The doorsLabyrinth
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 Born on June 28 1966, Evanston, Illinois. Brother of Joan Cusack, Ann Cusack, Susie Cusack and Bill Cusack. Son of Dick Cusack (actor, documentary filmmaker) and Nancy Cusack (teacher). Last name is pronounced Q-zack.
Has a production company called New Crime Productions (that produced Grosse Pointe Blank 97, Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas 98'', and The Jack Bull 99'' among various stage productions) which he founded with two of his high school buddies Steve Pink & D.V. DeVincentis. Education: Piven Theatre Workshop Evanston, Illinois, run by the parents of actor Jeremy Piven. One semester at NYU. Attended Evanston Township High School, Evanston, Ill. Turned down Woody Harrelson's role in Indecent Proposal (1993). Dated Neve Campbell.
Dated Lili Taylor. Dated Alison Eastwood. Dated Claire Forlani. Dated Minnie Driver.Turned down Bill Paxton's role in Apollo 13. Close friends with actor Jeremy Piven. They have done 10 movies together: One Crazy Summer 1986, Elvis Stories 1989, Say Anything... 89'', The Player 1992, Floundering 94'', The Grifters 90'', Grosse Pointe Blank 97'', Serendipity 2001 and Runaway Jury. Is the product of a passionately liberal Irish Catholic family, visited the radical Berrigan brothers when he was growing up, and, like them, his mother still gets arrested for her anti-militarism and pro- human rights protests.
On free time likes to go "Helecopter Snowboarding" and kickboxing with stunt cordinator Benny Urquidez. Tested for the role of Madmartigan in Willow (1988) but lost to Val Kilmer. Is the subject of the song "Honorable Mention" by the band Fall Out Boy. The novel "Love In The Time Of Cholera" by author Gabriel Garcia Marquez is prominently referenced in two John Cusack movies (High Fidelity 2000 and Serendipity 2001.
Sister Joan Cusack appeared in 10 of his movies:Class 1983, Sixteen Candles 1984, Grandview, 1984, Broadcast News 1987, Say Anything... 1989, Grosse Pointe Blank 1997, Cradle Will Rock 1999, High Fidelity 2000, Martian Child 2007 and War, Inc. 2008.
Was originally set to play Walter Eberhart in the The Stepford Wives 04''. Due to conflicts, he had to drop out and Matthew Broderick got the role.Was once roommates with Jeremy Piven.
Attended a theatre school in Chicago with sisters Joan Cusack and Ann Cusack. The theatre school was run by the parents of his best friend, Jeremy Piven. Irish-American. His favorite group is the punk rock band, The Clash. He is also a big fan of The Specials, Fishbone, Bob Dylan and Elvis Costello. Ranked #15 on Tropopkin's Top 25 Most Intriguing People (Issue #100). Die-hard Chicago Cubs fan. Some kind of reference to his favorite bands (usually The Clash, The Ramones or The Specials) makes at least one appearance in most of his films.
Most of the time, he wears a t-shirt of one of the bands (Say Anything... 1989 High Fidelity 2000, Must Love Dogs 2005, but sometimes (Grosse Pointe Blank 1997 he works in a poster of one of the bands. These bands are typically in the soundtracks to his New Criminal's productions as well. Member of the "Brat Pack", the name for the actors who tended to star in teen movies of the 80's. Others include Emilio Estevez, Molly Ringwald, Anthony Michael Hall, Demi Moore, Charlie Sheen and Diane Lane. Most famous member of the Cusack family. He and his good friend Tim Robbins made 6 movies together: Bob Roberts (1992), Cradle Will Rock (1999), High Fidelity (2000), The Player (1992), The Sure Thing (1985) and Tapeheads (1988).
Was, for a long time, attached to play the role of "Nite Owl" in the doomed movie adaptation of Alan Moore's comic-book mini-series, Watchmen. Was originally the actor chosen to play John Bender in the The Breakfast Club (1985). At the last minute, things changed and Judd Nelson ended up in the role. Was good friends with Hunter S. Thompson and nearly got to play him in Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas (1998). Was considered for the role of "Paul Brenner" in The General's Daughter (1999), but was deemed too young at the time, so the role went to John Travolta instead.
His performance as "Lloyd Dobler" in Say Anything... (1989) is ranked #72 on Premiere Magazine's 100 Greatest Movie Characters of All Time. Apocalypse Now (1979) is one of his favorite films. During the famous "boom box serenade" scene in Say Anything... (1989), he is actually playing his favorite Fishbone tape on the boom box, while Peter Gabriel's "In Your Eyes" is played in the movie. Growing up John and his siblings often put on plays at their home.
He has mentioned that his older sister Ann once staged a production of "Cinderella" in their living room in which she played Cinderella, sister Joan played the Ugly Stepsister, brother Bill played Prince Charming and John played the dog. Considers the scripts to Max (2002/I) and Being John Malkovich (1999) the best he has read. Featured as #22 on VH1's 100 Greatest Teen Stars countdown. Beat out Christian Slater for the role of "Lloyd" in Say Anything... 89'.
Choosen by Empire Magazine as one of the 100 Sexiest Movie Stars in the world (#70) 2007. Was considered for the role of "Billy Flynn" in Chicago (2002). However, he ended up losing the role to Richard Gere. In 2006 when Total Film magazine asked him for a "Top 5" list of his movies, he answered with The Grifters (1990), Grosse Pointe Blank (1997), The Thin Red Line (1998), High Fidelity (2000) and Max 2002.
In 1994, he attended his 10th year high school reunion in Illinois. He and the producers of the film had made a bet that if they came up with financing for Grosse Pointe Blank (1997), they would all attended their high school reunions. Good friends with professional volleyball player, Gabrielle Reese.
Has homes in Malibu, California, and Chicago.Was a supporter and follower of U2 frontman Bono's DATA campaign (Debt, AIDS, Trade, Africa).He was awarded the 1990 Joseph Jefferson Award Citation for Director of a Play for "Methusalem" at the New Crime Productions Theatre in Chicago, Illinois.
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