Old School. Biblically Independent.
By Andrew Sanford | News | June 11, 2026
Hollywood will chew you up and spit you out, man. Sometimes, you get lucky, and that gravy train keeps rolling along, going express as you rack up a filmography even non-fame-chasing types would be envious of. Other times, you get to do a few big movies, people stop calling you back, and you end up as some schmo who’s working in a box factory. It’s a hard truth, and it happens so often that you may not even realize someone you’ve enjoyed watching for years has, essentially, stopped working. That was the case with Joan Cusack.
Cusack was ever-present in my home growing up. Not just because she was in so many movies, working with all manner of stars and directors, but also because she was in Addams Family Values, a film my mother counted among her favorites. We watched that constantly as a family, and it gave Joan a special place in my heart. However, she’d occupy even more space with her turn as Jesse the Cowgirl in the Toy Story films, a character I love who I know is going to devastate me in the new sequel.
At the premiere of Toy Story 5, Joan Cusack walked the red carpet, and it was the first time she’d done so in 11 years. From what I can see, the last time she did was for 2015’s The End of the Tour. She also hasn’t been acting for six years. Luckily, this isn’t a situation where Hollywood decided it was done with Joan Cusack (I mean, the nerve, if that was the case). Instead, she’s been living her life, running a gift shop in Chicago, and raising her kids.
“I feel so honored to be able to work in this industry for a long time, but it’s also great to live your life and raise your kids and be in Chicago and be a normal person,” Cusack explained. “It’s kind of priceless.” She goes on to explain that she never thought she’d be playing Jesse for so long, but she enjoys the opportunity, and that she hopes that Taylor Swift writing a song for her character will get more people to see the movie, which is wild. You’d think Toy Story would be able to move the needle on its own, but she’s probably right!
What matters most of all is that she seems happy. If she can pop back into our lives every few years to get a (hopefully) big paycheck that helps support her life out of the spotlight, then more power to her. It’s not often that people get to bow out of this industry on their own terms, and the fact that someone as wonderful as Joan Cusack would be given that opportunity makes me deliriously happy.
