Toy Story 5’s Joan Cusack Shares Why She Stepped Away From Hollywood

Jun 10, 2026 - 16:08

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Toy Story 5’s Joan Cusack Shares Why She Stepped Away From Hollywood

Joan Cusack, who voices Jessie the Yodeling Cowgirl in Toy Story 5, detailed why she stepped away from Hollywood in an exclusive E! News interview at the Pixar film premiere.

By Olivia Evans Jun 10, 2026 12:52 PM

| Updated 7 minutes ago

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Toy Story 5’s Joan Cusack Shares Why She Stepped Away From Hollywood

Seeing Joan Cusack tonight, Toy Story fans remembered they knew her.

Although the voice actress for Jessie the Yodeling Cowgirl stepped away from Hollywood in the last few years, she is back in the spotlight for the upcoming Pixar film—and she’s sharing why she ever went away.

“Being on the carpet is just kind of one part of Hollywood,” Cusack explained in an exclusive E! News interview at the film’s Los Angeles premiere. “They don’t always have carpets for TV shows and all kinds of other things, so I just haven’t been in a movie this big in a long time."

However, the School of Rock actress—who shares sons Dylan, 28, and Miles, 25, with husband Richard Burke—admitted that it was somewhat intentional to maintain her privacy.

“I’ve got to say, I did at a certain point say wait a second, I really want to make a priority of being in Chicago where I live and raising my kids,” she explained. “This is what I’ve been doing for 10 years.”

And her oldest son was there to emphasize he was “so proud” his mom was getting her flowers in the upcoming Disney movie, which hits theaters June 19.

“It’s her night and it’s her story,” he said. “It sounds like an amazing story to tell.”

Meanwhile, Cusack was floored to have not only fellow voice actors Tom Hanks, Tim Allen and Conan O’Brien at the premiere—but also Taylor Swift, who penned an original song “I Knew It, I Knew You” for the film.

As she put it, “It means so many more people will come see the movie so yay.”

Kevin Mazur/Getty Images for for TAS Rights Management

Of course, the Shameless alum has made plenty of waves herself during press for the latest Toy Story film.

Last month, she made her first red carpet appearance in 11 years for the film’s U.K. premiere—and has teased that her character has the biggest arc in the upcoming film.

“It’s Jessie’s story,” Cusack said during an interview with Virgin Radio UK May 28. “It’s glorious.”

For more stars who stepped out at the Toy Story 5 premiere, keep reading…

—Reporting by Amanda Champagne-Meadows

Kevin Mazur/Getty Images for for TAS Rights Management

Taylor Swift

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Tom Hanks

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Tim Allen

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Joan Cusack

Emma McIntyre/Getty Images for Disney