John Cusack: Child stardom is ‘brutal. It’s different now. It’s worse than it was’

John Cusack is a strange cat (yet not as odd as his sister, Joan). He came to 1980s fame in movies like Sixteen Candles and Say Anything. Do you know how many times I’ve watched Sixteen Candles? A hundred times at least, thanks to HBO summer reruns and permissive parents. I’m not joking. (Call me, Jake Ryan.) John made several movies during his late teenage years, so I guess he qualifies as a former child star.

John’s career these days is all about indies with an occasional (ridiculous) blockbuster like 2012 to pad the wallet. He had a big TIFF week. He stars with Elisabeth Banks in Love and Mercy (John plays Brian Wilson of Beach Boys; Liz plays his wife, Melinda Ledbetter). John also stars alongside Sparkles in Map to the Stars, which is a satire on Hollywood. (John plays a therapist who does “rolfing,” a deep-tissue massage method). John gave a few TIFF interviews that I’ve cobbled together. He’s not impressed with the fate of today’s former child stars. Dude seems concerned about Justin Bieber. I think he’s critiquing the media’s obsession with Swaggy rather than coming out as pro-Swag. John probably doesn’t realize all of Bieber’s dangerous antics, but the message still stands:

Is Map of the Stars far from the truth? “The satire and absurdity is a logical extension of current truth and trends. Maybe [the film]’s a look into the future. There’s nothing less obscene or crazy than the stuff you see every day.”

The film’s child stars have it rough: “Yeah, it’s brutal. I got into films [at the age] where it can do a lot of damage — 16. I started with people who got damaged. It’s different now. It’s much worse than it was. Back then, there was expectation of a private life. There were areas you could go and make mistakes [without media attention], because what else are you going to do between 16 and 25 but make mistakes? It’s like the Eye Of Sauron. Here we are in Toronto , and there’s a TV channel doing live ‘breaking news’ coverage that is tracking — in real time — Justin Bieber’s movements into a mall. I mean, like, what the (hell) is that? It’s just madness. The ship has sailed on me believing in any of that. This movie is tame in comparison.”

In Map, he plays a rolfing therapist: “I’m into that stuff. I’ve done Rolfing. As an actor you’re into it because you look into how you internalise emotion. Your whole body is your ‘thing.’ right? One part I think is true is that your emotions, memories and trauma get stored in your body — if you press into them then you can release them. But then the emotions come back up. There are always truths in these hustles.”

Why hasn’t he played a superhero? “I’ve done a couple of huge movies, but it’s a strange thing, hard to quantify. Nowadays I do some journeyman-ish films that are the best that I can get, then I take that money and use it to develop other things. It’s like two totally different careers. If you can get a superhero movie, you get it, but they aren’t offering me one …”

His Twitter obsession: “I see it as a place to f*** around, but it’s interesting to hear from people who are into what you’re doing. Some of them are fans in a freaky way… You can also curate content. I get my news feed from people I’m interested in. If I want to know about foreign affairs or politics, I follow journalists I think are awesome. You can create this eclectic mulch. Or just f*** around and post sh*t.”

[From Vancouver Sun & Shortlist]

Every actor wants a superhero role, don’t they? There are so many superhero films these days, and the actors who don’t do them stand out. It’s clear that John wouldn’t mind playing one of those roles so we should create one for him. How about Mr. Sardonic? Help me out here, folks.

Oh, and John’s talk about Twitter isn’t mere lip service. The dude tweets so much, and he follows civilians who suit his fancy. That’s pretty cool, right? Be careful if you interact with him. Never correct his grammar, or he will happily block you.

I tweet fast and loose from I -don't care about spelling in twitter – I block grammar nazis anyway @skedag @jakecovo @ggreenwald

— John Cusack (@johncusack) June 12, 2013

Photos courtesy of Fame/Flynet & WENN