Joan Cusack Disappeared From Hollywood for Years — Here's Why
"I didn’t really want to take acting work, because I always had to go away."
Published May 29 2026, 2:44 p.m. ET
Fans of Working Girl star and beloved actor Joan Cusack are wondering what happened to her after seeing her walk the red carpet at the premiere of Toy Story 5.
The premiere was in London on May 28, 2026, and Joan returns to the film in her role as Jessie.
Joan is a respected and admired actor who has been in the entertainment business since the 1980s.
She and her famous brother, 2012 star John Cusack, both starred in the 1984 classic Sixteen Candles. According to People, the Toy Story 5 event was the first time Joan had walked the red carpet in nearly 11 years, and folks want to know what she has been up to.
What happened to Joan Cusack? She took a break from acting to focus on being a mother.
The two-time Academy Award nominee attended the event with her husband Richard Burke and their two children, Dylan John and Miles. Joan told The New Yorker back in 2019 that she took a break from acting to concentrate on raising her children, and she also opened up a gift shop in Chicago, Judy Maxwell Home, in 2011.”
"My kids were young," she recalled. "And I didn’t really want to take acting work, because I always had to go away. I was trying to think of something to do, because I’m not really a big cooking person."
Her husband is the chairman of a nonprofit organization that gives free legal immigration services, The Rise Foundation by Envoy.
Joan made her comeback to acting in 2015 in the TV show 'Shameless.'
Joan also worked on the Showtime hit Shameless and won an Emmy for Outstanding Guest Actress in a Comedy Series back in 2015.
Now, she's back for the fifth installment of Toy Story, and she shared with Deadline how she had to adjust to play the role of Jessie with just her voice, which is very different than her other acting roles.
"I realize that there's a real craft to it. Like, it means you can't use your face, and your body, you just have to use your voice," she said. "It's kind of really hard, because you don't hear your voice that way, that potently. And what's cool is Andrew Stanton, who's the director of it, he can hear us, because that's what he does. Over the years, he pushes you to get it, and I feel like this time I felt like I had the craft for it, and I could do it better. And that was just kinda cool."
Joan also had roles in the films Mr. Wrong with Ellen DeGeneres, Runaway Bride with Julia Roberts, Married to the Mob with Michelle Pfeiffer, School of Rock with Jack Black, and Snatched with Goldie Hawn and Amy Schumer, just to name a few.
According to Entertainment Weekly, the plot of Toy Story 5 focuses on Joan's character, Jessie, and she told the outlet about her reaction when she read the script.
"I know every parent in the United States worries about their kids," she said. "When do you get them involved in tech? What does that do to their brains? And that's what this movie's about. It's about humanity and playing and loyalty, and it makes me cry."