John Cusack blasts Hollywood as a ‘whorehouse’ that is so obsessed with young female actors ‘it’s almost like kiddie porn’
- The 48-year-old actor has enjoyed a 25-year career in Hollywood
- But he claims the industry is ‘ripe with all these frontier crazies’
- Condemns misogynistic culture and ageism
- Speaks out in defense of the treatment of women
- Words come as he promotes film Maps To The Stars, a savage look at LA’s celebrity world
By MIA DE GRAAF FOR MAILONLINE
PUBLISHED: 23:33, 26 September 2024 | UPDATED: 22:37, 27 September 2024
John Cusack has unleashed an attack on the ageism and misogyny that surrounds today’s Hollywood film industry, speaking out in defense of the treatment of women and a system that ‘eats young actors and spits them out’.
The 48-year-old actor candidly admitted that, as a man, he has ’15, 20 years before they say I’m old’.
But while promoting his latest film Maps To The Stars – a damning account of celebrity culture in LA – Cusack said actresses are considered ‘menopausal at 26’, and that the industry is constantly looking to ‘open up another can of hot 22’ for the sake of cinema capital.
‘It’s becoming almost like kiddie porn. It’s f—ing weird,’ he told The Guardian.
‘It’s a whorehouse and people go mad.
+6
Scathing: John Cusack, 48, said Hollywood is a ‘whorehouse’ full of ‘crazies’ and ‘you couldn’t make it up’
‘I have actress friends who are being put out to pasture at 29. They just want to open up another can of hot 22.’
When he was starting out at 16 in 1982, Cusack said he was mentored and protected by industry heavyweights such as Al Pacino as he went on to star in films such as High Fidelity and Grosse Point Blank.
‘People would look after you when I was a kid,’ he said.
‘There were good people in the business.
‘Now it’s different.
‘The culture just eats young actors up and spits them out.’
His words come days before Maps To The Stars hits US cinemas.
The satirical drama, directed by David Cronenberg, gives a dark and scathing account of celebrity culture as it follows an archetypal Hollywood dynasty – two former child stars, a psychotherapist father and a pushy momager.
+6
‘Close to the truth’: He stars as a fad therapist in soon-to-be-released Maps To The Stars (pictured) alongside Julianne Moore who plays a fading actress. Cusack claims the satirical drama is very close to the truth
+6
Damning: Cusack (pictured in a shot from the movie) said he was mentored and protected by people like Al Pacino but warns young actors today to ****ter from the movie capital which ‘eats you up and spits you out’
Cusack plays a ‘life-coach’ who invented a fad therapy that has become a hit with A-listers, alongside an all-star cast.
Julianne Moore plays his client, an ageing and disturbed forty-something actress desperately vying for a new part, in a performance critics are hailing as a career-best.
Robert Pattinson portrays a limousine driver and aspiring actor, and Mia Wazikowska plays a badly burned pyromaniac.
The characters are a mess of psychological issues.
A 26-year-old woman is described as ‘menopausal’ in the film.
And Cusack claims it is not far from the true demographic of Hollywood inhabitants.
He says the mega-corporation-dominated industry has turned it into an ideal rather than a place, leaving actors lost and confused.
Defending his own role in the movie world, he says he make some commercial films to fund projects he cares about.
+6
Blockbuster star: Cusack is best known for his role as record shop owner Rob in the 2000 film High Fidelity
+6
Action movie hit: Grosse Point Blank is a dark and eccentric 1997 comedy about a hit man and his love life
+6
Star siblings: John’s sister Joan Cusack (right), also an actor, has been just as vocal about her feelings of Hollywood in the past, calling it a ‘terrible world’
‘For women it’s brutal,’ he told The Guardian.
‘Bruce’s thing about if you’re 26, you’re menopausal?
‘It’s only absurd because it’s a little bit further than the truth.’
John’s sister, two-time Oscar-nominee Joan Cusack, has spoken in similar terms in the past on her own take on Hollywood.
The Working Girl star said she would never want her two sons to become actors.
‘If you weren’t manic depressive when you started out as an actor, there’s a strong chance you’d end up that way being surrounded by all the wrong values,’ she told creators.com.
‘The fantasy and illusion of wanting to be a movie star is gruesome.
‘It’s a terrible world, a terrible business, and it takes its toll.’
I know he’s promoting his new movie but still.
