John Cusack Discusses Playing Romantic, Driven and Self-Destructive Edgar Allen Poe in The Raven

Posted on March 9, 2012

John Cusack talked to Sky News about playing the role of a lifetime: Edgar Allen Poe in the film The Raven. John says he read all of Poe's poetry, letters and several biographies to get inside Poe's head for the role. He lost weight and grew a goatee to more closely resemble Poe. The moody still above is from the upcoming film.

Cusack said he had to work hard to portray the complex Poe. Cusack says, "He was a great romantic and he had a great sense of humor, and he was one of the great self-destructive lunatic writers of all time. He was the first rock star writer, first professional writer - he was quite a character. He was witty, sarcastic and very combative with other writers, he was a literary critic and always itching for a fight...He was a really lunatic kind of person - he would insult other writers and challenge them to duels. He was way out there."

You can view a trailer for the film here.

Photo: Relativity Media