John Cusack

It’s like those high-school yearbook photos that everyone would rather not see: Oh my God, look at that mullet hair. I have those photos too, but for me, they’re, like, entire movies. And they show them on cable.

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 think being self-referential is really narcissistic. Who’s to say anybody’s even thinking of you that much? But some of these movies that I’ve done, people still recite lines to me, even 20 years later.

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.

My dad had a commercial film company, so he had a videotape player before anyone. So he got Mel Brooks movies or Citizen Kane or some classic old movies. And every summer the revival house in Evanston would show the great films from the ’50s and ’60s and ’70s.

Usually I do everything reverse. I practice something in movies and then I try it in real life.

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