Joan Cusack, who is getting rave reviews for her lead voice performance in Toy Story 5, revealed this week just how much she hates being in Los Angeles.
The 63-year-old actress explained that she didn’t want to live anywhere but Chicago, where she and her husband, Richard Burke, raised their two sons.
“I never lived anywhere else,” she told People in an interview published Thursday. “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.’”
“Everyone’s so beautiful. It’s too sunny. I don’t even like the sun, so I couldn’t do it,” she added.
Cusack previously told Variety that living in Chicago helped her to be “a normal person.”
“It’s also great to live your life and raise your kids and be in Chicago and be a normal person,” she said.
The ‘90s star, who received Oscar nominations for her roles in Working Girl and In & Out, is making a comeback with Toy Story 5, the latest installment in Pixar’s hit film series. Cusack returns to the franchise to voice cowgirl Jessie, who first appeared in Toy Story 2, released in 1999. The voice role is also her first acting stint in six years.
Of her red carpet appearance at the movie’s premiere, Cusack told People, “In my life, I haven’t really done that many of those things. I think I turned the corner with my husband and was like, ‘Whoa. What’s going on here?’ And then those guns popped the confetti out and I was like, ‘Whoa. What’s happening?’”
“It’s been kind of crazy to be part of it, a red carpet thing. It’s just not what I do. I don’t even dress up that much,” the reclusive star admitted.
The Emmy-winning actress said that there was “nothing more important” to her than raising her kids in Chicago.
When her boys were younger, she said she struggled with thoughts of, “‘I should be home.’ And then I’d be home and I’d be like, ‘I should be at work.’”
Despite her distance from Hollywood, Cusack has deep roots in the industry, particularly with her brother, John Cusack, with whom she appeared in 10 films, including Say Anything..., Grosse Point Blank, and High Fidelity.
