John Cusack Says Working with Sister Joan on “Say Anything” Was a ‘Pretty Easy Gig’
- - John Cusack Says Working with Sister Joan on “Say Anything” Was a ‘Pretty Easy Gig’
Desiree AnelloDecember 27, 2025 at 8:00 PM
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John Cusack and Joan Cusack in ‘Say Anything’ (1989) -
John Cusack shared that working with his sister Joan Cusack on the 1989 film ‘Say Anything’ was a “pretty easy gig”
While the actor played the iconic protagonist Lloyd Dobler, Joan portrayed his on-screen older sister, Constance Dobler
“She runs me over like a Mack Truck and they say print it, and then it's everyone's favorite thing in the movie,” John quipped
John Cusack shared that working with his sister Joan Cusack on 1989’s Say Anything was an effortless experience.
While reminiscing on the days of filming the romantic comedy alongside costar Ione Skye and director Cameron Crowe, the 59-year-old actor opened up about what it was like having his real-life older sister portray his character Lloyd Dobler’s older sister, Constance Dobler.
“It's easy to work with your sister,” John said during a Nov. 30 screening of the film at New York City’s Kings Theatre. “What happens is she'll come in and then I'm in the scene with her. She runs me over like a Mack Truck and they say print it, and then it's everyone's favorite thing in the movie.”
“It's a pretty easy gig,” he added. “I just get flat like Wile E. Coyote and everyone thinks I'm a genius.”
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John and Joan Cusack in 2013
The 1408 star went on to explain that a lot of their sibling dynamic had the chance to shine through in the film.
“Joanie was actually more optimistic than I was,” John recalled. “She would always tell me to get in a good mood, but I think it was written that his sister went through a tough breakup and all that.”
Along with their joint appearance in Say Anything, Molly Ringwald revealed during an April Breakfast Club reunion at a C2E2 2025 panel in Chicago — alongside Anthony Michael Hall, Ally Sheedy, Emilio Estevez and Judd Nelson — that the famous siblings were actually in contention to play Bender and Allison in the 1985 iconic teen film.
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John Cusack, Joan Cusack Say Anything
Joan and John Cusack in 'Say Anything' (1989)
"From my understanding, John Cusack was gonna play Bender and Joan Cusack was going to play Allison," the 16 Candles star, 57, said of the roles that ultimately went to Nelson and Sheedy.
While the brother-sister duo didn’t end up joining the group of high school misfits, both have since gone on to major movie success.
John went on to star in High Fidelity, Identity and the Hot Tub Time Machine franchise, while Joan earned two Best Supporting Actress Oscar nominations for Working Girl and In & Out in addition to starring in Addams Family Values, School of Rock and the TV series Shameless.
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Source: “AOL Entertainment”
