Hollywood icon Joan Cusack made a stunning return to the red carpet on Thursday, marking her first such appearance in 11 years, as she joined her Toy Story 5 castmates at the star-studded premiere in London.
The 63-year-old actress, who voices the beloved cowgirl Jessie in the animated Pixar film series, helped launch the latest sequel alongside Tom Hanks, Tim Allen, and Greta Lee.
Joan looked incredible on the night, opting for a crisp white shirt tucked into a high-waisted, floor-length black skirt. She took the opportunity to pose for pictures with her husband, Richard Burke, with whom she shares sons Dylan and Miles. The event marked her first red carpet appearance since 2015, when she attended Showtime’s Emmy Eve event.
Joan was a regular in many hit movies of the 1990s, including Addams Family Values (1993), where she played Debbie Jellinsky, a wealthy, manipulative serial killer who marries Uncle Fester. She was also a cast member on Saturday Night Live in the late 1980s and earned Oscar nominations for her roles in Working Girl (1988) and In & Out (1997). Despite keeping a low profile in recent years, she has remained busy with roles in Popstar: Never Stop Never Stopping, Let It Snow, Instant Family, and A Series of Unfortunate Events.
Joan joined the Toy Story franchise in Toy Story 2 and has been a firm favourite with fans ever since. The fifth movie, released on June 19, sees the gang battling technology. The official synopsis teases: "Buzz, Woody, Jessie and the rest of the gang’s jobs get exponentially harder when they go head to head with this all-new threat to playtime."
While Tom Hanks’ Woody has led the toys in previous adventures, Jessie will take the reins in this sequel. Director Andrew Stanton told MovieWeb: "We had gone to the well of Woody so much, I just felt like he needs a break. Let him be happy in a choice he's made for a little bit, and he’ll still have stuff, but it won’t have to be such high stakes. Jessie was just so prime, probably even a movie ago, to deal with the stuff that’s gone on with her, and she was so ready to be the next leader of the toys in the room, and so, it was always on my mind from the minute I got brought onto [Toy Story] 4. I made sure we passed the badge on so it was official, so that even if we didn’t go beyond, in your mind, she had graduated to that."
Toy Story 5 is released in cinemas on June 19.
