Joan Cusack

Joan: Parents have a lot of anxiety letting go of their kids. They think that if they can get them into the best [college] they could possibly ever go, that will secure their life, and they wouldn't have to worry about anything, which is really not real. It's destructive to your children to have them feel like if they're not the very best, then they don't mean anything. An Ivy League school doesn't guarantee that you're going to have a meaningful life. It's sad.

Joan: I remember my dad, who was awesome, saying to me, "If you really want to act your whole life, you should go to college first." He said I should learn about all the other wonderful things in the world and have great professors. He was a great lover of 18th century poetry, for some reason. Who knows why. But he really appreciated college, and he wanted his kids to have that experience.

Joan: I was brought up with humor. It's an important skill as a way of looking at the world. I value humor, but I never feel like I'm funny or that I'm a jokester. I don't think about entertaining -- that's another skill. It doesn't come naturally to me.

Joan: Working with John is great. He and I know how to play off of each other, because we have been doing it all of our lives. We were the ones creating the Christmas plays for the family gatherings, and writing stories to act out for our friends.

Joan: My first job now is as a mother, evrything else is secondary. My kids understand that I am an actress, and they are always so surprised to hear my voice on a cartoon character, or see my face on a video box. If it ever gets to be too much though, the career and the kids, I will simply set the career aside.

Joan: My favorite role so far, is playing Tim Robbin's wife in the thriller Arlington Rd, it was quite a stretch from the usual roles that I had been taking. The seriousness of the role was intense, I like working under intense conditions.

Joan: It was a terrible blow that was dealt when I was fired from Saturday Night Live, but I have to say that a few doors opened right away. Movie roles started to roll in, and pretty soon, I was over it.

Joan: I can't imagine being a single parent, or a single parent that doesn't have a lot of money. That's a big, huge impact on your life and your dynamic. I am the kind of person that needs support, my heart goes out to those who are struggling to be mothers.

Joan: If you do television, and it's great, it's the best job there is. Every week it's another opportunity to really make that work & figure out how to make it work better. I love that it's like theater too, and the audience, and it's so short, like twenty minutes...It's like a Haiku or something.