Why Hollywood Gave Up On John Cusack

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Equally adept at playing the action man ("Con Air," "2012"), romantic lead ("Serendipity," "Must Love Dogs") wisecracker ("Better Off Dead," "Hot Tub Time Machine"), noirish criminal ("The Grifters," "Grosse Point Blank") and sociopathic oddball ("Being John Malkovich," "Maps to the Stars"), John Cusack deservedly used to be one of the most in-demand men in Hollywood. But since earning rave reviews for playing Beach Boys legend Brian Wilson in 2014's "Love and Mercy," the Illinois native's career appears to have fallen off a cliff.

Take a look at Cusack's career over the past ten years, and you'll struggle to find a film that has any major name recognition or box office success. So, what exactly happened to the man who, for a good 20 years, was barely off the big screen? From political persuasions and prestige TV debut flops to social media controversies and superhero swerving, here's a look at the reasons behind his surprising decline. 

John Cusack could never be described as lacking self-awareness. "I haven't really been hot for a long time," the star admitted in a candid interview with The Guardian when asked about the state of his career. And the "High Fidelity" star also admitted that he was now struggling to get certain films greenlit, now that he was no longer Hollywood's bright, young thing.

Despite serving as producer on "Hot Tub Time Machine," the goofy time travel comedy which proved to be a surprise smash at the box office, Cusack admitted that his name alone is no longer enough to bankroll a film. "In the last few years, I haven't been able to get projects financed. That could be a function of getting older. Or it could be a function of being cold."

Cusack did, however, put to bed one rumor which left many believing his latter-day career could have been a whole lot more fruitful. The star had been dogged by reports that he'd rejected the iconic role of Walter White in "Breaking Bad," a part which changed Bryan Cranston's life gave him an Emmy, Golden Globe, and pretty much every major award he was eligible for. But Cusack was never in contention, as he discovered when he directly asked showrunner Vince Gilligan: "No, I never was, and it was one of those things where I heard it so many times I started to think maybe it was true" (via Screen Rant).

Up until recently, John Cusack's small screen career had been limited to a cameo in classic sitcom "Frasier," a leading role in 1999 TV movie "The Jack Bull," and a guest appearance in short-lived comedy "Doll and Em." Yet, in 2020, the actor decided it was about time he joined the prestige TV revolution.

Cusack was cast as Kevin Christie, the nefarious biotech firm founder Kevin Christie in "Utopia," the American remake of the same-named British cult classic. And speaking to The Guardian, he argued that the knotty thriller, which was coincidentally set during a pandemic, was the perfect show for our times. "Given the convergence of dystopian realities that we've had, whether it's food and water shortages, endless war, global warming, it didn't feel like it was too much of a stretch to imagine it happening."

Unfortunately, the general public, no doubt wanting a break from all the doom, gloom, and conspiracies of the real world, didn't take to the show. "An immaculately restored classic car with no gas in the tank," noted Rolling Stone. "A decently entertaining version of stories that have been told before," came the lukewarm response from Variety. And just like its source material, "Utopia" never made it to a second season. 

From "Sixteen Candles" to "Say Anything," John Cusack appeared in some of the most iconic films of the 1980s. And he managed to parlay his teen idol success into more adult fare, earning critical acclaim for performances in "The Grifters," "Grosse Point Blank," and "High Fidelity," even getting nominated for a Golden Globe for the latter.

But while his famous name used to be a guaranteed mark of excellence, Cusack's high standards appear to have significantly slipped over the last decade. Like Nicolas Cage, the oft-shady John Travolta, and several other former Hollywood hotshots now firmly in the throes of advanced age, Cusack has adhered to the quantity, not quality approach to filmmaking. Take a look at his filmography over the past decade, and it's littered with forgettable thrillers with nondescript titles like "Cell," "Arsenal," and "Pursuit" that have bypassed theaters entirely.

In fact, the last time that Cusack's face graced an American cinema screen with a Hollywood production was back in 2019 when he appeared in the western "Never Grow Old," and even that struggled to make more than $100,000 at the box office. As a result, he has often been dismissed as an actor whose glory days are far behind him. 

In 2019, the oft-controversial John Cusack got himself into hot water when he uploaded an image to X (formerly Twitter) in which a small crowd was crushed by a Star of David-stamped hand. "To learn who rules over you, simply find out who you are not allowed to criticize," came the caption (via Deadline), which many interpreted as antisemitic.

Cusack later apologized for the post, claiming that the offending material didn't align with his own values. "I have always believed that all people should live in equality, freedom, and peace and I am deeply saddened that an account with which I am associated could perpetuate anything less."

However, it doesn't appear as though Cusack learned his lesson. Six years later, the "1408" star uploaded a meme to social media platform Bluesky, which many followers also interpreted as antisemitic. The image involved Ghislaine Maxwell, Jeffrey Epstein, and ex-United States Secretary of State Antony Blinken, along with the Star of David, insinuating that those in positions of power are all part of a Jewish conspiracy. Although the star quickly hit the delete button, he has yet to express remorse for making the post in the first place.

While John Cusack has been notably absent from Stateside theaters, he's recently become a regular face in China. His first project in the Far East was 2024's "Decoded," in which he played a mathematician and tutor to an autistic genius drawn into a world of code-breaking espionage.

And then a year later, Cusack showed up as a nefarious congressman in "Detective Chinatown 1900," the fourth installment of the buddy comedy franchise, which transported the action to early 20th-century San Francisco. And it proved to be one of his most successful box office hits, grossing more than $450 million worldwide.

Cusack had first embraced the region in 2010, starring opposite Yun-Fat Chow in period piece "Shanghai" before joining Jackie Chan five years later in historical blockbuster "Dragon Blade." And he appeared to start a trend with everyone from the regularly controversial Matt Damon ("The Great Wall"), Adrien Brody ("Back to 1942") and Christian Bale ("The Flowers of War") following suit. But Cusack's back-to-back ventures suggest he may now be shunning Hollywood for good.

John Cusack appears to have little fear about biting the hand that feeds him. Amid the 2023 Screen Actors Guild and Writers Guild of America strikes, which brought Hollywood to a standstill in 2023, the "Pushing Tin" star hit social media to rally against the greed of the film and TV bosses.

Cusack went on to point out the unusual financial records of "Say Anything" — the 1980s teen classic whose famous boombox scene helped launch him to stardom. The Golden Globe nominee referred to the time ten years earlier when he'd decided to dig a little deeper into the accounting books and discovered that somehow, the film, which raked in over $21 million at the worldwide box office, had lost more than twice that amount.

"I thought wow, I almost bankrupted Fox! (not really)," Cusack tweeted. "The film cost about 13 million to make — and money spent to release was minimal at the time. 30 years in — that film lost millions every year! A neat accounting trick don't ya think?" And just in case his feelings on the matter weren't crystal clear, the actor also reposted footage of Fran Drescher, the president of SAG-AFTRA, describing the conduct of the industry's bigwigs as less than graceful.

Although John Cusack had previously been linked to (deep breath) Neve Campbell, Claire Forlani, Minnie Driver, Jennifer Love Hewitt, and Uma Thurman (and there's plenty more where that came from, too) in his commercial heyday, his tabloid-baiting days now appear to be far behind him.

In fact, the only new gossip about Cusack's love life in recent years stems from an encounter at the turn of the century. Yes, in 2025, Ione Skye revealed in her memoir "Say Everything" that after divorcing Beastie Boy Adam Horovitz, she reconnected with her "Say Anything" co-star. "I had to get it out of my system," she wrote (via Yahoo! Entertainment) about the hook-up, which took place more than a decade after they first met.

Unfortunately, Cusack didn't exactly appreciate how Skye addressed their brief time together. Speaking to People, the latter revealed she'd received a text from the actor which read, "You made the experience sound so meh! It wasn't 'meh' for me." But the writer, who also made a candid sex confession about Matthew Perry, remained unrepentant, responding, "I felt a little bad, but, oh well."

John Cusack's penchant for speaking his mind on political matters has inevitably alienated certain fans. Indeed, in an interview with The Guardian, the actor revealed that he's regularly accosted by members of the public keen to inform him that he's now ruined their favorite film. But as you'd expect from such a forthright personality, he has no intention of keeping quiet.

When asked about whether those in his profession should stick to what they know, Cusack answered, "When you see children being ripped away from their mothers' arms and put into kennels, I'm sorry if you think someone speaking out against that is someone not staying in their lane."

Making his thoughts on the matter crystal clear, the Illinois native, who once had a police encounter during the Chicago protests of 2020, then added he doesn't want such people as fans anyway. "If you can't figure out that that's fascism, then we don't have anything more to say to each other, and I don't have any respect for you, and we should probably not talk. I mean!"

Whether he's rejected any roles outright or simply never been asked in the first place, John Cusack hasn't yet entered the superhero universe that has seemingly welcomed every other actor in the Hollywood glitterati. But in 2025, news emerged that the indie favorite was finally embracing the world. Only it wasn't on the big screen but in good old-fashioned comic book form.

Yes, in a surprise move, Cusack teamed up with Mad Cave Studios and artist Ignacio Noé for a self-described "road trip of cosmic stakes" graphic novel titled "Momo." "When the project's scope was first revealed to us, we knew it was unlike anything anyone was expecting," the former's editor-in-chief, Mike Marts, told The Pop Verse. "It's an honest vision John has for this project, and there is no medium more honest than comics."

And Cusack himself was just as excited about the collaboration, telling the same site, "I'm more than delighted to be working with the excellent people at Mad Cave — and have zero doubt this is the first of many creations to come." As for what "Momo" is about, well, it seems impossible to sum up in just a sentence. But it involves a pair of criminals trying to escape from their pasts, a dystopian vision of the American Dream, and a treasure hunt involving none other than Jackie Gleason.