Actors Joan and John Cusack have been in 10 movies together, but for the fans who packed the Q&A panel featuring the sister and brother Friday at Salt Lake Comic Con, 10 definitely isn’t enough.
So John offered up a tease:
“Would you guys want to see her play the Queen of England in 1840?” John asked, with screams of approval following. “I’m trying to get that one going.”
The love feast continued through the pair’s 35-minute appearance. Moderator Craig Price was particularly enthralled, opening his questions to both with “I first fell in love with you in ...” and confessing to John “When you were a teenager, I was a teenager, so watching you is like watching my older brother. ... I would put you on the Mount Rushmore of teen comedies.”
Talk eventually turned to fan questions, with many asking about favorite roles and on-set memories.
John said his early roles were “strange, but it was better than going to my junior year of high school. I kept thinking someone would throw a net over me and take me back.”
He also fondly remembered being on the set of the 1983 teen sex comedy “Class” and “just staring at Jacqueline Bisset.”
One fan told John her favorite movie was “Better Off Dead,” which incited scattered crowd outbursts of the film’s iconic “You owe me two dollars!” line.
John also talked up his love for Utah and shooting the skiing scenes from “Better Off Dead” at Snowbird.
Another fan asked what John’s go-to drink was when he’s out, and he responded with “Utah is still near-beer here, right?”
Joan reminisced about her first film, 1980’s “My Bodyguard,” in which she was only supposed to be an extra but eventually got a speaking part.
“They told me I got a line, and I couldn’t believe it!” she said. “Then they said I should go get an outfit, so I got one with these purple Gloria Vanderbilt pants, and I was like ’Oh my god, this is really happening!’ I was playing the ugly girl, and in the movie, they threw ketchup and mustard on me, but it didn’t matter because I was wearing my Gloria Vanderbilt pants!”
Her superhero power, if she could pick one?
“I would have total self-awareness so I would have complete clarity at all times.”
And how great was it for John when the Cubs won the World Series last year?
“It was really, really, really, really, really great,” the Chicago native said.
