Joan Cusack says stepping away from Hollywood was worth it.
The 63-year-old actress made a rare red-carpet appearance at the premiere of Toy Story 5, revealing she spent much of the last decade away from acting because she valued living a normal life.
“It’s also great to live your life and raise your kids and be in Chicago and be a normal person,” Cusack told Variety.
“It’s kind of priceless.”
The appearance marked Cusack’s first major red carpet in 11 years and her first acting role in six years as she reprises fan-favorite cowgirl Jessie in the latest installment of the animated franchise.
While she has largely stayed out of the spotlight, Cusack has kept busy in her hometown, where she has owned and operated the gift shop Judy Maxwell Home since 2014.
The actress said she never imagined she would still be voicing Jessie more than 25 years after joining the Toy Story universe.
“I just thought they cast me because they thought it was gonna be funny to have a cowgirl with the Chicago accent,” she said.
“I’d have a couple of lines, be in a couple of scenes, and that would be it.”
Cusack first voiced Jessie in Toy Story 2 and has returned for every sequel since.
Beyond the beloved Pixar series, Cusack is best known for her performances in Working Girl and In & Out, both of which earned her Academy Award nominations for Best Supporting Actress.
Across a career spanning more than four decades, she has also appeared in Sixteen Candles, Addams Family Values, School of Rock, Runaway Bride, and the hit series Shameless.
