Joan Cusack Reveals Why She Never Moved to Hollywood as Her Career Skyrocketed: 'I Couldn't Do It' (Exclusive)
Joan Cusack Reveals Why She Never Moved to Hollywood as Her Career Skyrocketed: 'I Couldn't Do It' (Exclusive)
Nigel SmithFri, June 26, 2026 at 12:00 PM UTC
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Joan Cusack at the Toy Story 5 world premiereCredit: Jesse Grant/Getty -
Joan Cusack stayed in Chicago throughout her career, citing Hollywood's culture and sunny weather as reasons she avoided it
The two-time Oscar nominee raised her two sons with husband Richard Burke and owns a Chicago gift shop
Cusack reprises her role as Jessie in Toy Story 5
Joan Cusack was one of the biggest stars of the 1980s and '90s, earning two Oscar nominations and memorable roles in hit comedies like Broadcast News and Addams Family Values. But despite her Hollywood success, the actress never relocated to Los Angeles.
"I never lived anywhere else," the Toy Story 5 star tells PEOPLE in this week's issue. "I think a couple times I tried to go out to L.A., and I'd be in a coffee shop and the waitress would be like, 'Oh my God, I just got a part doing blah-blah-blah.'" She laughs. "Everyone's so beautiful. It's too sunny. I don't even like the sun, so I couldn't do it."
The acclaimed character actress, 63, was born in New York City and raised in Chicago by an ad executive-turned-actor dad and homemaker mom alongside her four siblings, including John Cusack.
Richard Burke and Joan CusackCredit: Kate Green/Getty
A teenager when she got her first role, in 1980's My Bodyguard ("I couldn't believe I was in a movie!"), she appeared alongside John in 1984's Sixteen Candles and stole scenes in 1987's Broadcast News.
Her expressive voice has been one of Cusack's signatures, from her Oscar-nominated turn in 1988's Working Girl ("Can I get you anything, Mr. Trainer? Coffee, tea, me?" her big-haired secretary Cyn asked Harrison Ford) to hit movies like 1993's Addams Family Values and 1997's In & Out, which earned her a second Oscar nod.
But despite her Hollywood success, she kept her focus on her family — and her roots in Chicago — as she raised her two sons, Dylan, 29, and Miles, 26, with her husband, Richard Burke, an attorney. Since 2011, Cusack has also owned Judy Maxwell Home, a Chicago-based gift shop named for her favorite Barbra Streisand character (from What's Up, Doc?).
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"It's a crazy business and a tough business," Cusack says of her industry and why she never gravitated toward living near Hollywood. "It's hard to be around that for a long time. I love acting, but it's not just acting. It's all the other parts too."
Cusack reprises her role as cowgirl Jessie in Toy Story 5, more than 25 years after the character first galloped onto screens in 1999's Toy Story 2. The film marks her first major movie role since 2019's Toy Story 4 — and her appearance at the sequel's recent London launch event was her first red carpet outing in nearly 11 years.
Toy Story 5Credit: Disney/Pixar
When she was first approached to join Tom Hanks' Woody and Tim Allen's Buzz Lightyear in the sequel to 1995's groundbreaking Toy Story, she was delighted. Her boys were "really young and loved Buzz," she recalls.
Jessie became an audience favorite, returning in 2010's Toy Story 3, Toy Story 4 and now as the heroine of Toy Story 5, which tackles the challenges of modern parenting as Jessie squares off with a smart tablet named Lilypad for a kid's attention.
"It's a really special movie about girls and about tech and about human connection," Cusack says.
Toy Story 5 is now in theaters.
on People
Source: “AOL Entertainment”
