Joan Cusack has received two Academy Award nominations, one for her comic portrayal of a Staten Island secretary in Working Girl with Harrison Ford and Melanie Griffith, the other for her role as Kevin Kline’s jilted bride in the critically acclaimed In & Out.

Cusack’s theatre work includes the premiere of "Brilliant Traces" at New York’s Cherry Lane Theatre, "The Road at La Mama" and "Imogen in Cymbeline" at the Public Theatre in New York. She was Helena in "A Midsummer Night’s Dream" at the Goodman Theatre in Chicago, and was directed by Joanne Akalitis in "‘Tis a Pity She’s a Whore".

On television, Cusack was a regular on "Saturday Night Live" during the show’s 1985-86 season. She also appeared with Anne Bancroft in the BBC production of Paddy Chayefsky’s "The Mother".

Cusack studied acting at the Piven Theatre Workshop in Evanston, Illinois, where she grew up. While at the University of Wisconsin in Madison, she appeared with "The Ark", an improv group. She graduated with a degree in English.