Hollywood actor John Cusack recently opened up about the considerable effort he put into his iconic gesture of love in the film ‘Say Anything’. The moment, where Cusack’s Lloyd Dobler holds a boombox outside Diane Court’s window, played by Ione Skye, has become a defining pop culture reference, especially with Peter Gabriel’s “In Your Eyes” playing in the background.
More than 35 years after its release, Cusack, now 59, revealed in an interview that he initially struggled with the portrayal. During a screening of the film at New York City’s Kings Theatre, he admitted, “I didn’t know how to do it because I thought the character was, you know, he’s sitting outside whining, kind of saying, ‘Please come back to me’.” He humorously noted, “Guys have pride, right?”
Eventually, he found clarity in the character’s motivations. “He knew something fishy was up, maybe with the father, or that somebody was in her head,” Cusack elaborated. This realization shifted his approach, leading him to consider a more defiant portrayal. “At the end of the movie, I thought, ‘Oh, what if he’s really bad? And he’s more defiant.’ And that was what made it work,” he added.
In another revelation, Cusack mentioned that he only accepted the role on the condition that director Cameron Crowe, 68, would allow him to make some modifications to the script. He felt that many films tend to depict young characters through the eyes of “45 to 50-year-old professional writers”.
When discussing the changes he wanted to implement for Lloyd’s character, Cusack noted that while the character was optimistic, he lacked darker traits. He aimed to emphasize that Lloyd was “choosing to be optimistic,” which he felt gave him a heroic quality.
“It’s like a (John) Lennon and (Paul) McCartney song. Paul McCartney writes, ‘You gotta admit it’s getting better. It’s getting better all the time’. And then John Lennon says, ‘It can’t get no worse’. So that was the thing with that character,” he remarked, showcasing his thoughtful approach to the role.