Joan Cusack wasn’t cut out for the Los Angeles lifestyle.
The Toy Story actress explained why her distaste for City of Angels led her to abandon Hollywood and put down roots with her family in Chicago.
“I think a few times I tried to go out to Los Angeles and I was in a coffee shop and the waitress was like, ‘Oh my God, I just blah blah blah got a role,'” she said in an interview with People published Thursday.
“Everyone is so beautiful. It’s so sunny,” Cusack added. “I don’t like the sun either, so I couldn’t do it.”
The 63-year-old New York City-born star said she has “never lived” outside of Chicago and decided to raise her two sons Dylan, 29, and Miles, 26, with her husband, lawyer Richard Burke.
But Cusack admitted that she struggled to balance her Hollywood career with her modest family life in Chicago, especially during her stint on Shameless from 2011 to 2015.
“When (the boys) were little, there was always this (struggle) of, ‘I should go home,'” she said.
“And then I get home and I’m like, ‘I have to go to work,'” she added.
Cusack will reprise his role as Jesse in Toy Story 5, marking his first major film role since 2019’s Toy Story 4.
She attended the premiere of her new film in London on May 28, marking her first red carpet appearance in nearly 11 years.
Her husband and sons also attended the film’s premiere in Los Angeles on June 9th.
“I’ve never done so many things in my life,” she told the British premiere of People of People. “When my husband and I turned the corner, I think I was like, ‘Whoa, what’s going on here?’
“Then the gun shot confetti and I was like, ‘Oh my god, what’s going on?’
Cusack said red carpets are “not my thing” as she prefers to stay out of the spotlight.
“I’ve raised my children in Chicago, and nothing is more important to me,” she explained. “And it was kind of crazy to be at an event like a red carpet.”
Cusack added, “I don’t even dress up that much.”
