John Cusack

“I feel close to Lloyd in 'Say Anything'. He was like a super-interesting version of me. Only I'm not as good as him. Whatever part of me is romantic and optimistic, I reached into that to play Lloyd.”

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

“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.”

“I just love the process of working with other actors.”

“My point was that it's hard to make good films, but I'm not under any illusion that you do all the time.”

“I don't want to produce anymore small or independent movies because it's just too hard these days.”

“Our parents more or less just kind of wanted us to pursue our passions. Whatever they would have been, they would have helped light the fire. They are very liberal, artistic people, but they didn't force us into acting. They let us find our own ways.”

“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.”

“Kitsch is more dangerous than it looks when taken to the extreme.”

“If you wanna give me an award, I'll take it. Just don't make me go to the party afterwards.”

“I read Noam Chomsky. I like some of Gore Vidal's stuff.”

“When applied to politics and taken to its extreme, kitsch is the mask of death. Fascism was all aesthetics. There was no core principle to it. There was no truth to it.”

“I guess maybe I'm idealistic.”

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

“I remember once acting really cool on a bus with this girl named Stephanie. When I got home, I realized that I had a really big zit on my forehead. If you have acne problems, you really shouldn't be acting like Don Juan.”

“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.”

“I think the more you expose yourself as a celebrity, the less interesting you are to watch in your work, because if you're putting yourself out there all the time, you're not holding anything back.”

“The more you expose yourself as a celebrity, the less interesting you are to watch in your work, because if you're putting yourself out there all the time, you're not holding anything back.”

“Most movies, once the action starts there's no more characters. You say a couple of dumb lines and then there's just explosions until the end.”

“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.”