Oct. 23, 2007

While speaking with John Cusack this past weekend, he made it clear he's not trying to act out any latent paternal instincts in his upcoming pictures "Martian Child" and "Grace Is Gone." The former finds Cusack playing a popular writer who decides to adopt a child just a few years after the death of his wife. That the child has problems adjusting to being orphaned (he thinks he's an alien from Mars) makes Cusack's character even more determined to help him.

"There are so many stories of heroism of different sorts, but there are all these parents out there who are quietly heroic trying to do their thing. It was just the heroism of them every day, and I thought, 'That's a pretty nice story and the whole idea of what is normal and what isn't. How do you fit into the world?'" Cusack says.

With two decades of work behind him, it's surprising to look over Cusack's resume and realize this is the closest thing to a sci-fi flick he's done. The 41-year-old actor says he never gets offered genre films although he "loves all that stuff." There had been rumors he'd star as the Owl in Zack Snyder's adaptation of the classic graphic novel "Watchmen," but the role went to Patrick Wilson. Yet, the "1408" star reveals it wasn't because he turned it down.

"The director didn't want me," Cusack says. "It's hard to get offered the good stuff, and I think certain studios and directors don't think you're right for it. People try to put you in a box your whole life, so you just keep doing what you want and hopefully you'll eventually get offered all sorts of things. But, I look forward to doing one."

Higher on Cusack's agenda is his highly praised turn as Stanley Philips in "Grace." As a father coping with the death of his wife in Iraq, Cusack's performance has put him on this year's very competitive list of candidates for a Best Actor Oscar nomination.

In a highly unusual scenario, Max Richter's original score was replaced after the film's Sundance Film Festival premiere with a new composition by industry legend Clint Eastwood. It was a delicate subject to comment on and Cusack praises Richter's original work, but says, "I think there was a sense from the Weinstein Company and the producers and I think from [director James C. Strouse] that the music hadn't gotten the film to where it could be on some level, and I think it had to do with approaching it from a little bit of a different musical perspective." Cusack says that when Harvey Weinstein asked, "What if Clint would do it?" he knew it was an amazing opportunity.

"This is the guy who did the theme to 'Unforgiven.' I mean, the guy is a fantastic composer," Cusack, also a "Grace" producer, says. "It was kind of a situation where I felt that a couple different perspectives musically would help, but it had nothing to do with Max Richter; he was wonderful."

In hindsight, he thinks Eastwood's new score was the right way to go.

"Clint did a remarkable thing with it, I think," Cusack says. "This theme that he has at the beginning has so much longing and sadness. It kind of comes a bit from Stanley's point of view, whereas I think the other musical direction reflected the innocence of the children more. And I always thought we needed a balance of both."

Diplomatically and duly noted.

"Martian Child" opens nationwide Nov. 2. "Grace Is Gone" opens in limited release Dec. 7.

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