Cusack's road to super stardom

John Cusack is, like most of his characters, an unconventional hero. Wary of fame and repelled by formulaic Hollywood fare, the Chicago-born actor has built a successful career playing underdogs and odd men out, all the while avoiding the media spotlight. Now, he stars in the latest disaster flick "2012," which is currently roaming the cinemas in China. Let's find out more about the star.

With the exception of his mother Nancy, a former math teacher, the Cusack family is all show business. Father Dick Cusack is an actor and filmmaker, and John's siblings are all thespians by trade.

Like his brother and sisters, Cusack became a member of the theatre workshop while he was in elementary school. He made his film debut in 1983 at age 17, acting alongside Rob Lowe and Andrew McCarthy in the romantic comedy "Class". He gained fame in the mid-1980s after appearing in teen movies such as "Better Off Dead," "The Sure Thing," "One Crazy Summer" and "Sixteen Candles."

In 1987, Cusack starred in the romantic comedy drama "Broadcast News", by director James L. Brooks. The film concerns a virtuoso television news producer who has daily emotional breakdowns, a brilliant yet prickly reporter and his charismatic but far less seasoned rival. The film put Cusack in an A-list cast of Hollywood big shots including Albert Brooks, William Hurt, and Jack Nicholson. The young Cusack is probably best remembered for what could be considered his last adolescent role: the stereo blaring romantic Lloyd Dobler in 1989's "Say Anything."

Cusack founded the Chicago-based theatre group The New Criminals in 1988 to promote political and avant-garde stage work. Four years later, Cusack's high school friends joined him in starting a sister company for film, New Crime Productions. New Crime's first feature was the sharply written comedy "Grosse Pointe Blank" in 1997, which touched off a career renaissance for Cusack. His next appearance was as a federal agent in "Con Air," a movie he chose because he felt it was time to make smart business decisions. He followed that with Clint Eastwood's "Midnight in the Garden of Good and Evil," in which he played a Yankee reporter entangled in a Savanna murder case.

Cusack has always favored offbeat material, so it was no surprise when he turned up in the fiercely original "Being John Malkovich" in 1999. The convincing performance won him a Best Actor nomination at the Independent Spirit Awards. His vast experience has enabled him to cruise through different types of roles in "America's sweethearts," "Serendipity" and "High Fidelity."

Cusack reappeared in this year's 2012, whose director Roland Emmerich also directed disaster flicks such as "The Day After Tomorrow" in 2004, "The Patriot" in 2000 and "Godzilla" in 1998. Let's hope that "2012" can realize Cusack's ultimate goal of being involved in a "giant piece of art".

John Cusack