John Cusack talks about why he’s largely stayed away from Hollywood.
The 60-year-old “Being John Malkovich” star said he wanted to tell stories without the intervention of studio executives, which inspired him to write his new graphic novel “Momo.”
“I always thought[graphic novels]were the closest thing to movies, really,” he told Variety at San Diego Comic-Con on Friday. “You’re picking your shots. It’s very cinematic.”
Cusack explained that he turned to writing because he “didn’t want to (don’t) negotiate telling the story.”
“When you ask someone to put $20 million or $30 million into a bank account (for a movie), they want an opinion and they get scared,” he said.
Instead, they teamed up with illustrator Ignacio Noe to create “Momo” in a unique way.
“It was just like, I wrote it and I said, ‘I love the story,’ and then I had this beautiful, amazing artist, Ignacio Noe, illustrate it. So no one edited what I wrote or what he drew,” Cusack said.
“So this is actually a two-person production. It was just me and Ignacio, but that’s not going to happen today.”
“There’s no bull, there’s no committee. There’s no computer in Seattle to test the polls,” he added.
Cusack’s first graphic novel, Momo, is scheduled for release on September 29th.
The story follows two fugitives who attempt to recover an ancient artifact for TV icon Jackie Gleason in 1972.
The actor spent decades as one of Hollywood’s most famous leading actors, starring in Grosse Pointe Blank, High Fidelity and Con Air, but his acting career has become increasingly selective in recent years.
After appearing in the 2024 Chinese spy thriller Decoded, she appeared in the 2025 film Fog of War and the Mandarin film Detective Chinatown 1900.
Prior to that, his only on-screen credits since 2020 were the action thriller The Chase and Amazon’s dystopian series Utopia.
Cusack has long been outspoken about the state of Hollywood.
“My friend Joe Roth ran Disney[until 2000],” he told the Guardian in 2014. “He made things like ‘The Rock’ and ‘Con Air’ to please his shareholders, but then he gave six or seven slots to people he liked.”
“I got to make ‘High Fidelity’ and ‘Grosse Pointe Blank.’ Spike Lee got to make ‘Summer of Sam.’ Wes Anderson ended up making “Rushmore.” I had a memory of the movie, but it’s gone. ”
“Now it’s six for them — because a committee that wasn’t involved in the production ended up cutting the film — and probably one for you guys,” he added.
Cusack isn’t the only member of the family to stay out of the spotlight.
His sister, actress Joan Cusack, 63, attended the Toy Story 5 premiere in London in May, making her first red carpet appearance since 2015 and ending an 11-year absence from public events.
“I’m so honored to have worked in this industry for so long,” the actress told Variety in June. “But it’s also nice to live your life, raise your kids, be in Chicago and be a normal person.”
