I remember the 80s being about the Cold War and Reagan and the homeless problem and AIDS. To me, it was kind of a dark, depressing time. – John Cusack
With acting, you wanna see if you can get into trouble without knowing how youre gonna get out of it. Its like the exact opposite of war, where you need an exit strategy. When youre acting, you should get all the way into trouble with no exit strategy, and have the cameras rolling. – John Cusack
I was a teen star. Thats disgusting enough. – John Cusack
The film is not a success until it makes money. Its only good when theres a dollar figure attached to the box office. – John Cusack
I feel close to Lloyd in Say Anything. He was like a super-interesting version of me. Only Im not as good as him. Whatever part of me is romantic and optimistic, I reached into that to play Lloyd. – John Cusack
But no, I dont really like romantic comedies, so I dont really care. I never go see em. – John Cusack
Acting can be pretty challenging. I cant say making a romantic comedy is challenging, but to do anything well, you have to put yourself into it. – John Cusack
Its something we, guys, have all done. Made tapes for girls, trying to impress them, to meet them on a shared plane of aesthetics. Read them someone elses poetry because they do poetry better than you could do it, because youre too awkward to do it. – John Cusack
Do I listen to pop music because Im miserable or am I miserable because listen to pop music? – John Cusack
I love these movies where its just about the film. You dont have my face on the poster. Its all about the movie. I like that. – John Cusack
The movies have got more corporate, theyre making fewer movies in general, and those they are making are all $200-$300m tent-pole releases that eat up all the oxygen. – John Cusack
I dont want to produce anymore small or independent movies because its just too hard these days. – John Cusack
I was never into the popular school or clique or anything. Then I started doing movies when I was in high school, so then I got popular. Then the girls paid attention to you who didnt before. – John Cusack
I think being self-referential is really narcissistic. Whos to say anybodys even thinking of you that much? But some of these movies that Ive done, people still recite lines to me, even 20 years later. – John Cusack
Its like those high-school yearbook photos that everyone would rather not see: Oh my God, look at that mullet hair. I have those photos too, but for me, theyre, like, entire movies. And they show them on cable. – John Cusack
Most movies, once the action starts theres no more characters. You say a couple of dumb lines and then theres just explosions until the end. – John Cusack
If people are constantly reading about you, and youre overexposed, theyve got no reason to go see your movies. Also, its not pleasant or nice to have your privacy invaded. – John Cusack
Any time you stop looking at evil as a black and white thing, its helpful. So the fact that there wont be any obligatory Islamic terrorist stereotypes in movies any more, thatd be helpful. – John Cusack
There are some good people. But a good chunk of them will lie for no reason at all – itll be ten oclock and theyll tell you its nine. Youre looking at the clock and you cant even fathom why theyre lying. They just lie because thats what they do. – John Cusack
I force people to have coffee with me, just because I dont trust that a friendship can be maintained without any other senses besides a computer or cellphone screen. – John Cusack
