Yes, that sensation you’re feeling is deja vu. It was just last month when John Cusack called Hollywood a "whorehouse" that "eats young actors up and spits them out," and in a new interview with Straight, the "Maps To The Stars" actor once again isn’t mincing words about Tinseltown.
"…do you think L.A. gives a shit about people? This town has gotten so vicious. You really have to fend off those vampires,” Cusack stated, going on to add that the scariest thing about the characters in David Cronenberg‘s movie industry satire, is that they are not so removed from the kinds of folks you’re likely to run into in the industry.
“L.A. is a town full of so many desert crazies, snake-oil salesmen, carnival barkers, and fake spiritualists that it’s impossible to spot a real one,” Cusack continued. “The idea is that there’s this need that people have because it’s such a desperate town, so you have a lot of predators who come around. That kind of need, coupled with that kind of money, anywhere—in Silicon Valley, in the financial district, in D.C., but especially in L.A.—you’ll always have these kind of opportunists attacking the moat and trying to get inside by any means necessary.”
And additionally, Cusack believes the studio system in general — which cranks out movies that “got butchered and focus-tested for a committee of senior vice-presidents who didn’t read the script" — is in a creative free fall. “Now it’s just a corporate group idea of ‘Let’s put together an animated version of a face.’ There’s no sensitivity towards letting anything interesting happen. The culture has gotten so debased,” the actor said.
Strong words from Cusack, and we really hope someone asks him about Marvel‘s mega-movie announcement earlier this week….
