Cusack was born on June 28, 1966 at St. Joseph Hospital in Chicago\'s Lakeview neighborhood and grew up in Evanston, Illinois. He was born into an Irish Catholic family and fourth of five children. His mother, Ann Paula "Nancy" (née Carolan), is a former mathematics teacher and political activist. His father, Richard Cusack (1925–2003), was an actor, along with John\'s siblings Ann, Joan, Bill, and Susie. They moved from Manhattan, New York to Illinois. Richard was also a documentary filmmaker who owned a film production company and was a friend of activist Philip Berrigan. Cusack graduated from Evanston Township High School in 1984, where he met Jeremy Piven, and spent a year at New York University before dropping out, saying that he had "too much fire in his belly".\n', '

Cusack began acting in films in the early 1980s. He made his breakout role in Rob Reiner\'s The Sure Thing (1985). He also starred in Cameron Crowe\'s directorial debut film, Say Anything... (1989). Cusack played a con artist in Stephen Frears\' 1990 neo-noir film The Grifters. After establishing New Crime Productions, Cusack co-wrote the screenplay for and starred in George Armitage\'s crime film Grosse Pointe Blank (1997).\n', '

In Spike Jonze\'s fantasy film Being John Malkovich (1999), Cusack played a puppeteer who finds a portal leading into the mind of the eponymous actor, John Malkovich. The film was nominated for three Academy Awards, including Best Director, Best Original Screenplay and Best Supporting Actress. Cusack was nominated for a Golden Globe Award for Best Actor – Motion Picture Musical or Comedy for his performance in High Fidelity (2000). In Roland Emmerich\'s disaster film 2012 (2009), he played a family novelist who attempts to survive the apocalypse and save mankind. Cusack played Edgar Allan Poe in James McTeigue\'s biopic film The Raven (2012) and starred in David Cronenberg\'s Maps to the Stars (2014).\n', '

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