Cusack, John (1966– )

US actor. A versatile talent who excels particularly in roles as off-beat heroes in edgy, satirical films, he has starred in the crime thriller The Grifters (1990), the hit-man satire Grosse Pointe Blank (1997; which he also wrote and co-produced), and the World War II film The Thin Red Line (1998).

He has also appeared in the crime drama Midnight in the Garden of Good and Evil (1997), the Charlie Kaufman fantasy Being John Malkovich (1999), the Nick Hornby adaptation High Fidelity (2000), and the Iraq war drama Grace is Gone (2007).

Cusack was born in Evanston, Illinois, where his father was a director and actor. He began acting at the age of eight with the Piven Theater Workshop, and he performed voiceovers for a number of commercials before reaching his teens. His feature film debut was in the comedy Class (1983), and he went on to appear in other teen films such as Sixteen Candles during the 1980s. His quirky, off-beat humour helped him make a smooth transition into a variety of roles in more mature films. In 1988 he founded The New Criminals, a theatre group in Chicago for which he directed and produced several stage performances.

Other films include the romantic comedies The Sure Thing (1985), Say Anything (1989), America's Sweethearts (2001), and Serendipity (2001); the dramasEight Men Out (1988), City Hall (1996), The Cradle will Rock (1999), and Pushing Tin (1999); and the thrillers Con Air (1997) and Runaway Jury (2003).

His sister is US actor Joan Cusack (1962– ).