Joan Cusack is back reprising her role as cowboy Jessie in Toy Story 5, with the actor marking her return to Hollywood after 11 years. The actor opened up about what made her leave the star-studded city of Los Angeles early in her career.
The beloved two-time Oscar-nominated actor has kept a low profile since stepping away to raise her family in Chicago. In an interview with People, the Chicago native reveals that Los Angeles wasn’t meant for her and the lifestyle she wanted.
“I never lived anywhere else,” she says. “I think a couple times I tried to go out to L.A., and I’d be in a coffee shop and the waitress would be like, ‘Oh my God, I just got a part doing blah-blah-blah.’ Everyone’s so beautiful. It’s too sunny. I don’t even like the sun, so I couldn’t do it.”
The 63-year-old was born in New York before being raised in Evanston, Illinois, a suburb of Chicago. She began her career at the start of the 1980s with a role in My Bodyguard. She soon became known for hit films like Sixteen Candles, Working Girl, Addams Family Values, School of Rock, and voicing Jessie in the Toy Story franchise.
With her return to the spotlight, Cusack is revealing that her family was a main reason why she left Hollywood. She struggled between her actor career in Hollywood versus her down-to-earth life in Chicago.
“When [the boys] were younger, there was always that [struggle of] . . . ‘I should be home.’ And then I’d be home and I’d be like, ‘I should be at work,'” she says.
Related: Reese Witherspoon’s Son Bears an Uncanny Resemblance to Ryan Phillippe at ‘Elle’ Premiere
In the end, Cusack decided to stay in Chicago to raise her two sons, Dylan, 29, and Miles, 26, with her husband, Richard Burke, an attorney. Before returning for Toy Story 5, her last credited film role was Mrs. Tammy Krum in the 2019 movie Klaus and in the 2020 TV series Homecoming. She’s made it a point to stay away from the red carpet, with Cusack revealing why her return to the Toy Story franchise was different.
“In my life, I haven’t really done that many of those things,” Cusack revealed. “I think I turned the corner with my husband and was like, ‘Whoa. What’s going on here?’ And then those guns popped the confetti out and I was like, ‘Whoa. What’s happening?'”
Alongside acting, Cusack also owned a gift shop called Judy Maxwell Home, named after Barbara Streisand’s character in What’s Up Doc?
This story was originally published by Parade on Jun 25, 2026, where it first appeared in the News section. Add Parade as a Preferred Source by clicking here.