Joan Cusack Explains Stepping Away from Hollywood Before Returning for “Toy Story 5”: ‘Great to Live Your Life’

NEED TO KNOW

• Joan Cusack returned to Hollywood for Toy Story 5 after a six-year break from making movies and an 11-year break from red carpets

• She opened up about her decision to step away, which allowed her to focus on raising her sons and living a “normal” life in Chicago

• Although she chose to take a break, she emphasized how “honored” she is to have worked in Hollywood “for a long time”

Joan Cusack is looking back on her time away from Hollywood, calling it “priceless.”

The 63-year-old actress opened up about her decision to take a break from Hollywood. At the Los Angeles premiere of Toy Story 5 on Tuesday, June 9, the Working Girl actress told Variety that she chose to return to Hollywood for this particular story because she “worked for a long time.”

“I feel so honored to have worked in this industry for a long time,” she said.

“But it’s also great to live your life and raise your kids and be in Chicago and be a normal person,” she continued. “It’s kind of priceless, so there’s that.”

The actress shares sons Dylan John and Miles with her husband, Richard Burke.

Her Los Angeles appearance followed her and Burke’s attendance at the London premiere on May 28, which marked her first time on a red carpet since September 2015.

Joan Cusack in Los Angeles, California on June 9, 2026
Credit: Jesse Grant/Getty

Cusack’s return celebrates the famed franchise’s fifth installment, which centers on her character, Jessie.

“This time it’s Toy meets Tech,” reads an official synopsis. “Buzz, Woody, Jessie and the rest of the gang’s jobs are challenged when they’re introduced to what kids are obsessed with today….electronics!”

The first official trailer showed Jessie, Woody, Buzz, and the rest of the gang grappling with Bonnie’s newest obsession: a sleek, smart tablet called Lily Pad, gifted by her parents. In the trailer, Cusack is seen conversing with Woody about what’s to come.

Woody — still out in the world rescuing abandoned toys — checks in with Jessie over a walkie-talkie. “Toys are for play … but tech is for everything,” he says somberly. Jessie doesn’t sugarcoat the stakes: “I’m losing Bonnie to this device.”

The latest iteration also includes the return of Tom Hanks as Woody, Tim Allen as Buzz, Tony Hale as Forky, Blake Clark as Slinky Dog, Wallace Shawn as Rex, John Ratzenberger as Hamm.

New characters Lily Pad, Evil Bullseye and Pizza with Sunglasses are voiced by Greta Lee, Alan Cumming and Bad Bunny, respectively.

Cusack joined the Toy Story franchise with the second film, which hit theaters in 1999. The fifth film is her first since 2019, when she voiced characters in Klaus and Toy Story 4 and appeared onscreen in Netflix’s Let It Snow. The two-time Oscar nominee also starred in three episodes of Prime Video’s Homecoming in 2000.

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Toy Story 5 is in theaters June 19.

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