The Freebie List

For some of you, it may be Brad Pitt, for others, George Clooney, for my mom, it’s Robert Redford, Paul Newman or Clint Eastwood. For you youngsters it may be Justin Timberlake or Josh Hartnett. I have two. Two that I would put on my freebie list, (Remember that Friends epsiode where Monica and Chandler each had a freebie five list? It was a list of five celebrities each that they could sleep with, without getting into trouble) if Mr. Husband and I even had a lists. Frankly if there were five things I could do without getting into trouble, sleeping with someone other than my husband may not even rank.

But there are still two famous type guys that I would certainly like to hang out with. They are tied in likability, hotness and sex appeal but #1 wins by a hair simply by proximity and familiarity.

The unattainable star that holds a strong second in my celebrity list is John Cusack.  He has so been my Mr. Darcy for so long, that in my twenties, he became both an adjective and a touchstone. No man was good enough unless he was a "John Cusack."  And when I met Mr. Husband it was agreed on by anyone whose opinion I valued that he was in fact "a John" and therefore a keeper. Ironically, that also happens to be his name.

I’d like to be able to say that it was love at first sight for the real John Cusack and me, but that would mean that I was such a discerning 16 year old that I saw through his geeky, UFO loving exterior in Sixteen Candles and knew of the charms that lay ahead; but really, who saw anyone other than dark, sultry, sulky, porche-driving Jake Ryan in that movie. No, my crush began with The Sure Thing and then solidified when Lloyd Dobbler in Say Anything climbed on top of his Blue Chevy Malibu, held his boombox over his head with Peter Gabriel’s "In Your Eyes" blaring in the mist and hoped that the love of his life would come back to him. Aaaaaaah…. I am still waiting for the night that someone holds a boombox over his head for me.

After that there was no way not to love John Cusack. He’s tall, he’s skinny…a look I’ve fallen for all my life. He has a great self-deprecating sense of humour and good manners. Although I have never met him, he always seems to play himself,if that makes sense. From The Grifters, to Grosse Point Blank, Con Air, Being John Malcovitch and America’s Sweethearts his off-beat, slightly goofy underdog approach has held me enthrall in each and every film. I desperately wanted to find the five dollar bill on which he wrote his number in Serendipity so I could get him before Kate Beckinsale did.  I even found myself silently volunteering to be one of his old realtionships in High Fidelity; one of the top 5 break ups he revisits to figure out why all his relationships have gone wrong. I’d sit in the theatre and send telepathic messages, "it’s because you haven’t met me John."

He even has a great sister in the very funny comedic actress, Joan Cusack. I know she and I would be good friends if we ever met. The Cusacks are the kind of family who hang out on the back porch and have a beer. They eat fajitas, bowl, play cards and watch old movies. I just know it. They almost seem Canadian.

And then they go out and make new movies. Like Martian Child. Where John plays a single man who adopts a young boy who believes he is an alien. Sounds bizarre, but I saw the trailers the other night and now I am busy scheming in my real world life of car pool, swimming lessons, impending exams, birthdays and volunteer commitments, how I am going to get to see it.  I’ll work on that while you see if you can guess who my #1 is.  After all, he was supposed to be the topic of this blog, but somehow I got Cusacked away. Here are two hints: he’s a musician and he is Canadian.