Actor enjoys taking center stage to talk with fans about his movies
In the comedy-drama "High Fidelity," John Cusack plays Rob Gordon, owner of a used-records store, who compiles top-five lists for many things, including his romantic breakups.
The movie, which Cusack also helped to write and produce, makes Cusack's top-five list of his films.
"Yeah, I think it would," he said. "That was one of the ones I worked hardest on, so I’d put it up there with whatever small amount of good stuff I’ve done."
On Friday, the actor will attend a screening of "High Fidelity” (2000) at the Palace Theatre and, afterward, answer questions from the audience.
The Dispatch recently interviewed Cusack by phone.
What attracted you to “High Fidelity”?
A: Well, I liked the book, and I was offered the opportunity to adapt it by a very cool guy who ran a studio at the time. So it was a good situation all the way around.
Q: In “High Fidelity,” you spend a lot of time on screen alone interacting with the camera. Was making this movie any more difficult
than any other film?
A: When you’re writing and producing and acting, it’s a lot of energy, but I’ve done that before, so I’ve done multiple jobs on films quite often. It was about the same.
Q: The movie was released in 2000. What about the movie still resonates with audiences today?
A: I think it’s a movie about men, and it’s also about people's relationships to music — and music as kind of an autobiography ... at different times in their lives . ... Those sort of themes seem to be slightly timeless.
Q: You’re a Chicago-area native, and the book on which the film is based is set in London. I've read that you were adamant that the film be set and made in Chicago. Why was that?
A: Because I wanted to be in it, and that was the take I had on it. What I thought was interesting about the film was that the people in the record store I grew up with were the same as the people in Britain. The Brits were more interested in American R&B and soul, and we were more interested in punk and new wave. Besides that, it was the same men, the same story about the same guys. I thought, well, it actually makes the themes even more universal when you get it out of the colloquial British stuff.
And we asked the writer of the book (Nick Hornby) if he would be happy with that because I didn’t want to do it if he didn’t like the idea, and he was like “Yeah, sure.” The movie is about more than just England. So, with his blessing, we did it.
Q: Your sister, Joan, is in the movie as well — one of nine movies that you've made together. Given that some families can’t hang wallpaper together, how is working on a movie with your sister?
A: It’s pretty easy. I’m close with my sister, so we get along great. So, kind of like the easiest thing in the world. We’ve gotten away with it nine times. If we’re lucky, we’ll do another one.
Q: You’re coming to Columbus for a screening of the movie and a questionand-answer session with the audience. You've done similar events with "High Fidelity" and with (the 1989 Cusack movie) “Say Anything.” Has meeting your fans in such a setting been interesting? Have you learned anything from these sessions?
A: I don’t usually look back too much, but it’s very flattering and gratifying that people still get so much pleasure from (the films), to hear people laughing and hear the soundtracks rocking and hear people interacting with the screen and having fun. And afterward, people are really into it; they have questions about the creative process or how the scenes were made or how some performance happened. So they seem to be very into it.
Enthusiasm is contagious. If people are having fun, I’m happy to do it.