My Take
John Cusack is one of those guys who defined what it meant to be a certain kind of cool in the '80s and '90s — not the flashy action-hero kind, but the quietly earnest, slightly off-kilter kind. Growing up in Evanston, Illinois, he got his big break in Sixteen Candles and never really looked back, stringing together this remarkable run of films — Say Anything, Grosse Pointe Blank, Being John Malkovich, High Fidelity — that felt smarter and more human than the average Hollywood fare. He's the guy holding the boombox outside your window, but he's also the guy who'll argue film theory with you at 2am. What I genuinely respect is that he never chased the blockbuster machine whole-heartedly; he kept making weird, interesting choices. His outspoken politics on social media made him a polarizing figure later in his career, but honestly, the lack of a filter feels very on-brand for someone who always seemed allergic to playing it safe.
Overview
John Paul Cusack ( KEW-sak; born June 28, 1966) is an American actor. With a career spanning over four decades, he has appeared in over eighty films. He began acting in films during the 1980s, appearing in coming-of-age dramedies such as Sixteen Candles (1984), Better Off Dead (1985), The Sure Thing (1985), Stand by Me (1986), and Say Anything... (1989).
1. Profile
- Name (English)
- John Cusack
- Name (Japanese)
- ジョン・キューザック
- Reading
- じょん・きゅーざっく
- Born
- June 28, 1966 (age 59)
- Zodiac / Chinese zodiac
- Cancer / Horse
- Origin
- Evanston, Illinois, United States
- Blood type
- Private
- Height
- Private
- Agency
- Private
- Occupation
- actor / film actor / film producer / voice actor / blogger
2. Background
- Elementary school
- Private
- Junior high
- Private
- High school
- Evanston Township High School
- University
- New York University Tisch School of the Arts
Awards & achievements
- 1999 Satellite Award for Best Cast – Motion Picture
- star on Hollywood Walk of Fame
3. Relationships
- Spouse
- Private
- Children
- Private
- Parents
- Private
- Siblings
- Private
4. Personality
Motto
Private
6. Links
7. About this entry
Tags
- Last updated
- 2026-06-02
Facts are limited to publicly available information up to 2024; non-public items are marked "Private / Unknown". English text is machine-assisted (facts translated by Sonnet, "My Take" written by Opus 4.8). The Japanese page is the source of record.