John Paul Cusack was later on famous simply as John Cusack. At 8 he joined the Piven Theatre Workshop and gradually became a commercial voiceover actor by the age of 12. When he was 17, he got the chance to make his first feature film appearance in the teen comedy "Class". With effacing humor as his trademark, he was billed to star in numerous films then, including "Sixteen Candles" (1984), "Better Off Dead" (1985), and "One Crazy Summer" (1986). In 1989, his starring role as Lloyd Dobler in "Say Anything" won him Chicago Film Critics Association Award for Most Promising Actor category.

He began receiving wider recognition since, resulting in offers to star in more promising features. In 1990, he starred opposite Angelica Houston and Annette Benning in "The Grifters" which witnessed him getting into the shoes of his first ever mature role, as Roy Dillon. During early 1990s he appeared in a series of flicks, but it wasn't until he co-produced, co-wrote and starred in "Grosse Point Blank" (1997) that he experienced career breakthrough. Cusack's other feature films among others were "Con Air", "Midnight in the Garden of Good and Evil", "The Thin Red Line", "Being John Malkovich", "Serendipity", "America's Sweethearts", "Identity", "% m2012%", "The Raven", "Maps to the Stars", "Cell", and "Dragon Blade".

Born in Evanston, Illinois on June 28, 1966, Cusack is politically conscious and has expressed his opposition to the war in Iraq. He is the fourth of five children. His two sisters, Joan and Anne Cusack, are actresses. His actor father, Richard Cusack, died of pancreatic cancer in June 2003.