John Cusack Quotes

Well, acting itself is a form of rebellion, always. Getting up there in front of people, telling stories - you're kind of going against the grain to begin with, wanting to do that, don't you think? Why else would you do it? Except maybe as kind of a way to affirm your very existence.

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 didn't before.

Good actors can sort of see into people and immediately you have a chemistry with them or not. It's like an affair with no mess.

I wanted to just be a filmmaker, and I thought I wanted to do all the aspects, and it seemed like as a producer was the best way to do it, because I could have... You never have control on a movie, but you have as much control as you can. You can push it through, and you can hire the right people.

I grew up in Evanston and lived in Chicago for a long time, in Old Town and Wrigleyville. I did three films when I was in high school. The first was 'Class,' with Rob Lowe. I had a supporting role in that.

You can only really judge yourself in comparison to other people. How bad you are, but you're not as bad as someone else. So it's degrees of losing.

I think that taking night trains or meeting someone on the road is pretty romantic. I've done a couple of things like that. I've surprised someone in Paris. And hopefully, when you surprise someone, they're happy to see you.

No, actors go out with actresses as a form of self-flagellation.

I think that Poe is so resonant because he represents that part of us that is in misery or sorrowful or wants to explore the darkness. He wrote a great story called 'The Imp of the Perverse' about the instinct towards self-destruction. Poe is the godfather of Goth literature and that whole movement.

I was never interested in being an overly public person.

I was raised Irish Catholic, but I don't consider myself Irish Catholic: I consider myself me, an American.

I always liked it when people go back in time to discover things about themselves, like with 'A Christmas Carol' and you're getting a tour of your life by the ghosts of Christmas past, present and future.

It's a very frightening time when something as basic as due process is seen as somehow radical.

I kept saying that I'd never live in L.A., and I didn't think I would. But that's where the work is, and I ended up making a lot of friends there, and my old friends moved out to Los Angeles too. And also, I think when you're famous, its hard to live in a small town.

People try to keep their past, like kind of holding on to their past. Every Springsteen song talks about that.

I think when you get to the point where you don't need to be in love, then you could be in love. You have to just be OK with yourself-and that's a long process.

I try not to dwell on the past. I'm not a big go-back-and-try-to-relive-your-past kinda person.

I just love the process of working with other actors.

Being on a movie set is like one long financial crisis.

The ages two to 15 I spent at different stages of shortness. I didn't become a tall person until I was 16.

If people are constantly reading about you, and you're overexposed, they've got no reason to go see your movies. Also, it's not pleasant or nice to have your privacy invaded.

Usually I play people who just keep babbling on and on and on.

The British keep employing me, and that makes me like them. It also makes me think they're very intelligent.