The “Toy Story” actress raised her two sons in her hometown of Chicago.

Joan Cusack says people in Hollywood are ‘so beautiful’ and it’s ‘too sunny’

The "Toy Story" actress raised her two sons in her hometown of Chicago.

By Marina Watts

Marina Watts

Marina Watts is a news writer for with seven years experience covering entertainment, pop culture and celebrity news. Her previous work appears in PEOPLE, Bustle and Newsweek.

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June 25, 2026 12:30 p.m. ET

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Joan Cusack at the Los Angeles premiere of 'Toy Story 5' on June 9, 2026. Credit:

- Joan Cusack called the people in Hollywood "too beautiful" and "too sunny" when talking about her hometown, Chicago.

- The Oscar-nominated star raised her sons in the Windy City and made her first red carpet appearance in over a decade last month.

- *Toy Story 5 *is now in theaters.

Joan Cusack is more interested in the Windy City than La La Land.

The *Toy Story 5** *star* *got candid about life in Hollywood, comparing it to Chicago, where she was raised and where she later brought up her own family. “I never lived anywhere else,” Cusack told PEOPLE of Chicago.

“I think a couple times I tried to go out to L.A., and I'd be in a coffee shop, and the waitress would be like, ‘Oh my God, I just got a part doing blah-blah-blah.'"

"Everyone's so beautiful. It's too sunny. I don't even like the sun, so I couldn't do it," added Cusack.

Joan Cusack at the London 'Toy Story 5' premiere in May 2026.

Neil Mockford/WireImage

"I've been in Chicago raising my kids, which there's nothing more important to me than that," Cusack said. She and husband Richard Burke, an attorney, share sons Dylan and Miles.

"And it's been kind of crazy to be part of it, a red carpet thing. It's just not what I do. I don't even dress up that much."

Joan Cusack makes her first red carpet appearance in more than a decade

'Toy Story 5' reviews: Critics praise 'moments that hit you like a gut punch'

As she raised her sons, who are now in their 20s, the Oscar-nominated actress felt conflicted over where she should be focusing her energy.

“When [the boys] were younger, there was always that [struggle of] . . . ‘I should be home.' And then I'd be home and I'd be like, ‘I should be at work,'" Cusack said.

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Cusack made her first red carpet appearance in over a decade at the London premiere of *Toy Story 5*, where she reprised her role as Jessie the cowgirl for the fourth time in the film series after making her first appearance in *Toy Story 2 *over 25 years earlier.

Before the London event, Cusack's most recent red carpet appearance was during the Emmy Awards season in September 2015, when she stepped out for the Emmy Eve 2015 celebration at Sunset Tower Hotel in Los Angeles. The following day, she made an appearance at the awards show alongside Bradley Whitford.

Joan Cusack at the London 'Toy Story 5' premiere in May 2026.

Neil Mockford/WireImage

At the London premiere, Cusack told *Variety** *about why she is making fewer appearances at premieres and other red carpet events.

"I think because I’ve worked for a long time and I’m so honored to be able to work in this industry for a long time," she admitted, "but it’s also great to live your life and raise your kids and be in Chicago and be a normal person."

Cusack added that the freedom she has away from Hollywood is "kind of priceless."

*Toy Story 5 *is now in theaters.

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