{"id":366078,"date":"2026-10-12T14:27:20","date_gmt":"2026-10-12T19:27:20","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.etrafficlane.com\/60dollarmiracle\/john-cusack-says-lloyd-dobler-might-be-called-a-stalker-if-say-anything-were-made-today"},"modified":"2026-10-12T14:27:25","modified_gmt":"2026-10-12T19:27:25","slug":"john-cusack-says-lloyd-dobler-might-be-called-a-stalker-if-say-anything-were-made-today","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.etrafficlane.com\/60dollarmiracle\/john-cusack-says-lloyd-dobler-might-be-called-a-stalker-if-say-anything-were-made-today","title":{"rendered":"John Cusack Says Lloyd Dobler May Be Known as a Stalker if \u2018Say Something\u2019 Had been Made Immediately"},"content":{"rendered":"<p><\/p>\n<div itemprop=\"text\">\n<p>John Cusack thinks one of his most famous romantic gestures could land differently if <em>Say Anything\u2026<\/em> were made today. Lloyd Dobler\u2019s attempt to win back Diane Court, he suggested, might get the character called a stalker.<\/p>\n<p>Speaking with Josh Horowitz on the Sept. 28 episode of <em>Happy Sad Confused<\/em>, Cusack imagined viewers objecting that Diane had already established boundaries. \u201cYou\u2019re stalking her,\u201d he said, describing that hypothetical reaction, according to <a href=\"https:\/\/ew.com\/john-cusack-says-say-anything-character-would-be-called-a-stalker-now-12148634\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">Entertainment Weekly<\/a>.<\/p>\n<p>In the 1989 film, Lloyd stands outside Diane\u2019s home after their breakup, holding a boombox above his head while Peter Gabriel\u2019s \u201cIn Your Eyes\u201d plays. Ione Skye\u2019s character listens from inside.<\/p>\n<p>Cusack brought up Lloyd during a broader discussion about moral ambiguity in movies and the freedom to follow characters whose behavior audiences do not always admire.<\/p>\n<h2>Cusack Questions the Demand for Likable Movie Characters<\/h2>\n<p><noscript><iframe loading=\"lazy\" title=\"John Cusack on SAY ANYTHING, CON AIR, HIGH FIDELITY, BEING JOHN MALKOVICH, MOMO, &amp; more!\" width=\"640\" height=\"360\" src=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/embed\/DwJIJiVAu1Y?feature=oembed\" frameborder=\"0\" allow=\"accelerometer; autoplay; clipboard-write; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture; web-share\" referrerpolicy=\"strict-origin-when-cross-origin\" allowfullscreen><\/iframe><\/noscript>\u00a0<\/p>\n<p>The discussion began with <em>Being John Malkovich<\/em>, as Horowitz and Cusack considered the appeal of an unlikable protagonist. Cusack described the interest in watching people who are stuck in unhealthy relationships and make uncomfortable choices.<\/p>\n<p>He also pointed to Rob Gordon, his character in <em>High Fidelity<\/em>. Rob\u2019s selfishness and mistakes are part of what the film explores, alongside his capacity for reflection and change.<\/p>\n<p>During the <a href=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/watch?v=DwJIJiVAu1Y\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">interview<\/a>, Cusack argued that a person can behave foolishly in one situation and thoughtfully in another. He said he finds it interesting when a performance leaves him feeling repelled by someone while still wanting to understand them.<\/p>\n<h2>Cusack Resisted the Boombox Pose During Filming<\/h2>\n<p><noscript><iframe loading=\"lazy\" title=\"Say Anything... (3\/5) Movie CLIP - Boombox Serenade (1989) HD\" width=\"640\" height=\"360\" src=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/embed\/S5Y8tFQ01OY?feature=oembed\" frameborder=\"0\" allow=\"accelerometer; autoplay; clipboard-write; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture; web-share\" referrerpolicy=\"strict-origin-when-cross-origin\" allowfullscreen><\/iframe><\/noscript><\/p>\n<p>Director Cameron Crowe recalled a different objection to the scene in a September 2025 interview with <a href=\"https:\/\/www.nytimes.com\/2025\/09\/13\/magazine\/cameron-crowe-interview.html\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">The New York Times<\/a>: Cusack thought the pose made Lloyd look too submissive.<\/p>\n<p>They tried a version with the stereo resting on a car hood, which Cusack felt suited the character better. Crowe recalled cinematographer L\u00e1szl\u00f3 Kov\u00e1cs quietly telling him that there was no film in the camera during that attempt.<\/p>\n<p>The familiar shot came on the final day of filming. With daylight fading, Kov\u00e1cs found a location across the street, and Cusack agreed to raise the stereo. Crowe said the actor\u2019s lingering irritation gave the moment exactly the emotion it needed.<\/p>\n<p>Cusack offered his own explanation at a Nov. 30, 2025, screening at New York\u2019s Kings Theatre. As <a href=\"https:\/\/people.com\/john-cusack-says-he-did-not-know-how-to-approach-boombox-scene-in-say-anything-11868995\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">People<\/a> reported, he had struggled to approach the scene without making Lloyd seem as though he was pleading. He eventually played it with defiance, drawing on Lloyd\u2019s suspicion that something else was behind Diane\u2019s decision.<\/p>\n<h2>He Worked With Crowe to Give Lloyd His Own Voice<\/h2>\n<p>Cusack told Horowitz that his concerns about Lloyd extended to the dialogue. He wanted the character to sound like a young person with his own opinions, including ideas about work, money and what kind of life he wanted.<\/p>\n<p>He said he accepted the role on the condition that he could work through the material with Crowe. His vision included a teenager who might wear a Clash T-shirt and question the expectations placed on him.<\/p>\n<p>That collaboration helped shape Lloyd\u2019s dinner-table speech about refusing a career built around selling, buying or processing things. Cusack said he developed the opening portion, while Crowe supplied the turn toward Lloyd simply wanting to spend time with Diane.<\/p>\n<p>Cusack also credited Skye and John Mahoney, who played Diane\u2019s father, with bringing weight to the family story. Mahoney had worked with him on <em>Eight Men Out<\/em> and encouraged him to take the role when he was reluctant to make another film about teenagers.<\/p>\n<h2>Skye Had Her Own Answer to the Stalking Question<\/h2>\n<p>Skye addressed similar questions in a 2019 interview with <a href=\"https:\/\/www.cheatsheet.com\/news\/say-anything-ione-skye-theory-on-what-happened-between-lloyd-and-diane-after-the-movie-ended.html\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">Showbiz Cheat Sheet<\/a> at the film\u2019s 30th-anniversary Tribeca celebration.<\/p>\n<p>She acknowledged that some of the tension comes from wondering whether Lloyd is being protective or taking his pursuit too far. For her, the relationship he and Diane had already developed mattered to how those moments played.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cI mean I think they\u2019d already had enough between them so it wasn\u2019t too stalkery,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<p> <br \/><a href=\"https:\/\/wealthofgeeks.com\/john-cusack-says-lloyd-dobler-might-be-called-a-stalker-if-say-anything-were-made-today\/\">Source link <\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>John Cusack thinks one of his most famous romantic gestures could land differently if Say Anything\u2026 were made today. Lloyd Dobler\u2019s attempt to win back [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":366081,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[4557],"tags":[161,40613,32511,19491,40614,40611,40610,31315,40612,7101],"class_list":["post-366078","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-marketing","tag-actor","tag-cameron-crowe","tag-diane","tag-entertainment-weekly","tag-john-cusack","tag-john-mahoney","tag-john-malkovich","tag-josh-horowitz","tag-lloyd-dobler","tag-the-new-york-times"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.etrafficlane.com\/60dollarmiracle\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/366078","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.etrafficlane.com\/60dollarmiracle\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.etrafficlane.com\/60dollarmiracle\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.etrafficlane.com\/60dollarmiracle\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.etrafficlane.com\/60dollarmiracle\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=366078"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"https:\/\/www.etrafficlane.com\/60dollarmiracle\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/366078\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":366080,"href":"https:\/\/www.etrafficlane.com\/60dollarmiracle\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/366078\/revisions\/366080"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.etrafficlane.com\/60dollarmiracle\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/366081"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.etrafficlane.com\/60dollarmiracle\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=366078"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.etrafficlane.com\/60dollarmiracle\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=366078"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.etrafficlane.com\/60dollarmiracle\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=366078"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}