John Cusack Thinks People Would Describe His Iconic “Say Anything” Boombox Scene as ‘Stalking’ If the Rom-Com Came Out Today
John Cusack Thinks People Would Describe His Iconic “Say Anything” Boombox Scene as ‘Stalking’ If the Rom-Com Came Out Today
Victoria EdelMon, October 12, 2026 at 7:24 PM UTC
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John Cusack in ‘Say Anything’Credit: Gracie/Kobal/ShutterstockCusack’s Lloyd Dobler makes a dramatic declaration of love in the 1989 movie, but he’s not sure the scene would be viewed the same way in 2026 -
John Cusack is reflecting on his big romantic gesture in 1989’s Say Anything
He said he thinks modern audiences would think his character was “stalking” Ione Skye’s by showing up outside her home with a boombox
Say Anything was a critical success at the time and is still considered an excellent romance and high school film
John Cusack is reflecting on how his Say Anything character’s defining declaration of love might come across to a modern audience.
Cusack, 60, opened up on the Sept. 28 episode of the Happy Sad Confused podcast, hosted by Josh Horowitz, about movie audiences, saying that they are less accepting of characters who make bad choices today. He was reflecting on his role in 1999’s Being John Malkovich, where he plays an unemployed puppeteer who commandeers Malkovich.
Horowitz pointed out that the movie felt like a departure from other roles Cusack has played, but the actor said he thinks audiences are harsher towards all movie characters now.
“There’s a good chance if Say Anything was made today, they’d be like, ‘You can’t do that. You’re stalking her. You’re stalking her. She gave you her emotional boundaries, and you’re putting a boombox outside of her [window],’ ” he said of the 1989 film.
Ione Skye and John Cusack in ‘Say Anything’Credit: Gracie/Kobal/Shutterstock
In Say Anything, Cusack plays Lloyd Dobler, who falls for Ione Skye’s Diane Court after they graduate from high school. Lloyd is an underachiever, while Diane is valedictorian. After Diane, on the advice of her dad, breaks up with him, Lloyd stands under her bedroom window, holding a boombox over his head that plays “In Your Eyes” by Peter Gabriel.
Though Diane doesn’t leave her room to meet him, it’s become an iconic moment, as Lloyd lets her know he still hasn’t given up on her, even if it takes her a little longer to catch up. The scene has also been parodied many times (including in the finale of 2010’s Easy A).
Cusack said on the podcast that he also thinks his character in 2000’s High Fidelity, Rob, isn’t great. “One of the things that people like about the movie is that he is an a--hole,” he said. “And we are all a--holes, and you’re allowed to be an asshole, to f--- up and still be a decent person.” He added, “Movies have to be able to admit that we’re all human beings, and you have to be able to laugh at the fool. Like the fool is us, right?”
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At the time of its release, Say Anything received strong reviews from critics, and it is still considered both a great romance and a great high school film.
Back in 2025, at a screening of the film at New York City’s Kings Theatre, Cusack reflected on the boombox scene, saying he actually struggled with it at the time.
“I didn’t know how to do it because I thought the character was, you know, he’s sitting outside whining, kind of saying, ‘Please come back to me,’ ” Cusack said. “Guys have pride, right?”
John Cusack and Ione Skye in ‘Say Anything’Credit: Gracie/Kobal/Shutterstock
But ultimately, he figured out how to play it. “He knew something fishy was up, maybe with the father, or that somebody was in her head,” Cusack said. “So I thought, I don’t really know how to do it. And then finally at the end of the movie, I thought, ‘Oh, what if he’s really bad? And he’s more defiant.’ And that was what made it work.”
Cusack also shared that he only agreed to do the movie after director and writer Cameron Crowe agreed to rewrite the script with him. He said that a lot of movies about young people are actually a “45 to 50-year-old professional writer in the mouth of all these people.”
He believed “people don’t talk like that,” and Crowe, 69, agreed to rewrite the script with him.
Cusack said that originally Lloyd “was more optimistic, but didn’t have any darker sides to it.” He wanted it to be clear that Lloyd was “choosing to be optimistic,” which made him “sort of heroic.”
on People
Source: “AOL Entertainment”
