Joan Cusack reprises Jessie in “Toy Story 5” in theaters June 19, while balancing Hollywood with a Chicago “urban general store” called Judy Maxwell Home. She also shared that she learned only days before release about Taylor Swift’s “beautiful” song tied to t
For years, Joan Cusack has done two things at once: disappeared into characters on screen, then slipped back into real life with a kind of steady normalcy. This week, “Toy Story 5” brings her fully back to the red-carpet spotlight—without taking her away from the business she runs in Chicago.
Cusack. a two-time Oscar nominee known for “Working Girl” (1988) and “In & Out” (1997). reprises her role as Jessie in the latest “Toy Story” installment. The film opens in theaters June 19. with Jessie joining old friend Woody (Tom Hanks) and Buzz Lightyear (Tim Allen) to battle a tech takeover of their home from an antagonistic frog tablet named Lilypad (Greta Lee).
The return isn’t just a studio comeback. Cusack says Jessie’s pull even reached into the pop-music world—though she didn’t hear about it in the way fans might expect. She revealed she didn’t know about Taylor Swift’s “beautiful” “Toy Story 5” song until a few days before it dropped. Cusack called the track “such a good song. ” and said she loves the movie so much that she was glad it resonated with Swift and led to a song for it. adding that it “means so many more people come to see the movie.”.
The film also features a Taylor Swift connection through the single “I Knew It, I Knew You,” which Cusack says Jessie inspired. Cusack framed it as a creative exchange that somehow made the whole project travel farther than the screen.
She brought that same grounded sensibility to her biggest public moment in more than a decade. Cusack returned to the red carpet for the first time in 11 years, attending the recent “Toy Story 5” premiere with her husband Richard Burke and their two sons, Dylan, 28, and Miles, 25.
For her family, the event sounded like both excitement and adjustment. Cusack said for her kids it was “such a step into the Hollywood world.” She also described how her daily life shifted as she raised them. saying. “I live in Chicago and I’ve kind of done some things. but sort of focused on raising my kids.”.
In Chicago. Cusack runs her own shop: an “urban general store” in the Old Town neighborhood called Judy Maxwell Home. named after Barbra Streisand’s character in “What’s Up. Doc?” The store sells a mix of items designed for everyday joy and visitor souvenirs. including sassy greeting cards. colorful dog toys. and Windy City-inspired merchandise such as a Chicago pope tote.
The idea that customers might come for gifts and leave with a surprising pop-culture encounter is something Cusack says she notices. She described how. when she talks. people will look at her—recognizing her from somewhere—only to realize they can’t place it immediately because she doesn’t look like Jessie. and it doesn’t “immediately come to mind.”.
A useful thread runs through all of it: Jessie returns at the exact moment Cusack is still embedded in her other life. where a voice is known but a face doesn’t match the character. Her “Toy Story 5” momentum meets her Chicago routines on the same timetable—one week before the movie opens. and long after the camera stops rolling.
Joan Cusack Toy Story 5 Jessie Pixar Taylor Swift Chicago gift shop Judy Maxwell Home Old Town Chicago Richard Burke
So she owns a gift shop called Judy Maxwell Home? That’s random but kind of awesome.
I don’t get the Taylor Swift part. Did she write the song or is it just marketing? Also “frog tablet” sounds like a kids movie fever dream.
Wait, she only found out days before release about the Swift song? That seems like bad PR like who knew what when?? But I mean Toy Story 5 is Toy Story 5 so whatever.
Chicago “urban general store” sounds like something I’d visit, but also I swear I read somewhere that it was called something else. And Lilypad tablet?? I thought it was just Woody fighting some robot or whatever. Still, if the song makes people go see it then cool.