Advertisement

Cusack family values

By KAREN BUTLER

LOS ANGELES, March 26 (UPI) -- Actress Joan Cusack says she is taking fewer jobs these days because she would rather be a normal mom living in her hometown of Chicago than a superstar in Los Angeles.

"I like the trade-off," said the 42-year-old mother of two. "I love Chicago. It's a really normal, great city. It's not all about the film business. ... I wouldn't want to do a movie where you were away for three months or even a film where you're gone 15 hours a day even if you live in LA. It's just that the lifestyle of making a movie isn't family-oriented at all."

Advertisement

The actress did manage to find time in her hectic schedule to make "Ice Princess," the family film that claimed the No. 4 spot at the box office when it opened last weekend. Cusack plays the single mother of Casey Carlyle (Michelle Trachtenberg), a studious teen whose plans to attend Harvard University melt away as she pursues her dream of being a championship figure skater. Kim Cattrall co-stars in the film as Casey's tough, ambitious trainer.

Advertisement

"That was so fun," Cusack told United Press International when asked what it was like to work with Cattrall, the sassy former star of HBO's "Sex and the City." "The moms back in Chicago were like: 'I love her! She's so great!'"

Aside from giving her the chance to work with talented female co-stars like Cattrall and Trachtenberg, "Ice Princess" also offered Cusack the opportunity to explore on-screen one of her favorite themes: being a mom.

"It was a parenting thing and I love that," she said, explaining that roles have to be meaningful for her to consider them now. "I love those issues because they're so important and so easy to relate to and powerful."

Even though she is quite content with life at home in Chicago, Cusack admitted playing small roles in big movies allows her the best of two worlds.

"I love working," she emphasized. "Oh, my God! It's great. I get to come and be a movie star for a day and do my hair and makeup and it's great. Working -- there are complicated decisions. Where is it? How long? For me, I don't feel like I can take my kids out of their lives to be with me and I don't want to be away from them too long because they need you. It has to be the right timing and right fit."

Advertisement

Acknowledging that she has been playing a lot of moms lately, she insisted she doesn't fear typecasting and harbors no desire to play something completely different -- like a serial killer or femme fatale -- from the woman she is in real life.

"In fact, I wish there were more things that were close to home," she said, referring to the types of parts she has played in "Ice Princess," "Raising Helen" and "Nine Months." "I wish there were more stories about family life and the complexities and the funny things and the joyous things and the wonderful things about that. I think there are far more (movies about) the extreme things than there are of the real-life scenarios."

Although the "Working Girl," "Grosse Pointe Plank," "Addams Family Values" and "In & Out" comedienne admitted she still loves acting after nearly 25 years in the business, Cusack stressed being mother to her sons, who are 5 and 8, has been the most satisfying role she has ever played.

"It's just such a great part of life," she noted. "It's such a meaningful part of life. ... It's like you get a second chance at all your bad qualities. You can fix them so you don't pass them on. It's motivating. ... It's the best."

Advertisement

Cusack credits her father, Dick, an actor/director, and her mother, Nancy, a former math teacher, for showing her and her four siblings the importance of family, as well as instilling in her an appreciation for humor and the arts. Cusack confessed, however, that her success, coupled with that of her younger brother, "Say Anything" and "Serendipity" star John Cusack, did take her mom somewhat by surprise.

"It's such a big, weird thing," confessed the two-time Oscar nominee. "My mother was a math teacher and she was just totally thrown by the whole acting thing to start with. It's disruptive. It's like having an astronaut in the family. It's like: 'What? They do what? What's happening?' It's just not normal that way. It was a lot for everybody to figure out. But it's fun. She's proud. They're so proud. It's so cute."

Cusack said she doesn't think she would encourage her own kids to join the family business, unless acting was a career they discovered on their own and really wanted to pursue.

"I don't think it's a very good life. I wouldn't recommend it," she said. "I mean, if they really love it and it's their passion, what can I do? I feel like I can give them good advice about it and try to help them, but it's not very family-oriented and there's no stability. It's such a crazy business and there's a lot of distraction."

Advertisement

Although her Chicago-based sit-com "What About Joan?" was canceled quickly after it debuted in 2001, Cusack said she would like to give television another chance some day, especially if it was shot in the Windy City.

"I'd love that," she said of returning to TV. "I tried to do that and that was pretty good, but the sit-com world is in such an identity crisis. It's so hard to figure that out. I'd love to try that again because I think that could be a great lifestyle because once you get that down, you can have a real life."

The actress also said she would love to develop and host some kind of informative series that focuses on parenting issues.

"I just think there is nothing out there that is easily accessible about it," she said. "There are a million gardening/home decorating shows and a million sports programs, but there is nothing you don't have to read a book for because nobody has time to read a book. Something with easy-access information about when your son is washing hands too many times, you have to nip it in the bud, so he is not obsessive compulsive. How do you say no or what's too much? There are a million issues that it would be nice to have some helpful information. ... I don't need to be an expert. I can just be a mom who cares."

Advertisement

--

(Please send comments to [email protected].)

Latest Headlines