One Degree of John Cusack Trivia Quiz

Answer: Cameron Diaz

Cameron Diaz provides her voice for Princess Fiona in the 2001 animated fantasy comedy "Shrek" opposite Mike Myers who voices Shrek with Eddie Murphy voicing Donkey. Princess Fiona succumbs to the charms of the ogre Shrek against her father's wishes. Myers also voices one of the Three Blind Mice.

In the 1999 surreal fantasy comedy drama "Being John Malkovich", Cusack and Diaz portray Craig and Lotte Schwartz, a husband and wife with matrimonial issues. The twist is that a key part of the action takes place in the mind of the actor John Malkovich. Malkovich is cast as himself as is Charlie Sheen.

Answer: Cate Blanchett

Married to John Cusack's Nick Falzone, Cate Blanchett has a supporting role to her air traffic controller husband in the 1999 drama "Pushing Tin". Nick is a bit of a hotshot in his high-pressure job and competitive with it. His life gets disrupted by the arrival of an experienced controller in the form of the mysterious Russell Bell (Billy Bob Thornton).

In the 1998 biographical historical drama "Elizabeth", Cate Blanchett steps up into the titular role as the 16th century Queen of England. Fiennes portrays the Queen's favourite Robert Dudley. Life revolves around producing an heir and the politics of religion.

Answer: Kate Beckinsale

In the 2001 rom-com "Serendipity" Sara Thomas (Kate Beckinsale) encounters Jonathan Trager (John Cusack) in New York City. Both in relationships, they are nevertheless attracted to each other and end up going to a restaurant called Serendipity 3 for dessert. Sara tends to live her life according to fate and sets up some tests. It seems they are not meant to be. Time passes, there are some near-misses and more serendipitous moments occur as the protagonists' paths cross again.

The 1999 drama "Brokedown Palace" takes its name from the Grateful Dead song of the same name, which appears on the band's 1970 album "American Beauty". Beckinsale co-stars with Claire Danes as American friends who find themselves imprisoned in Thailand after they become unwittingly drawn into the murky world of drug smuggling.

Answer: Jennifer Tilly

"Bullets Over Broadway" is a 1994 Woody Allen-directed comedy crime film with an ensemble cast. John Cusack portrays a newly-arrived playwright desperate to make his mark. He is persuaded to cast a talentless Olive (Jennifer Tilly). She happens to be girlfriend to a gangster and is accompanied to rehearsals by a henchman who turns out to be a natural playwright.

Jim Carrey is a lawyer whose habitual lying has led to the break-up of his marriage in the 1997 fantasy comedy "Liar Liar". His son's wish sees him compelled to tell the truth for a day. One of his clients on the day is Samantha (portrayed by Jennifer Tilly) who requires him to lie to support her claim. He still manages to win the case for her although not by lying. He becomes a changed man.

Answer: Billy Crystal

In the 2001 rom-com "America's Sweethearts" (co-written by Billy Crystal) John Cusack is one of the 'sweethearts', a successful husband-and-wife acting duo. Having just finished acting in their latest film, his wife's adultery causes a rift. Billy Crystal, portraying fired movie exec Lee Phillips, is persuaded to promote the film premiere on the basis that the 'sweethearts' have reconciled.

In another rom-com, Billy Crystal plays Harry opposite Meg Ryan's Sally, whose friend Marie is portrayed by Carrie Fisher. The 1989 film is "When Harry Met Sally ..." and looks at the question of whether men and women can just be friends. In the course of the film the audience follows Harry and Sally's encounters over roughly 12 years.

Answer: Tim Robbins

Based on the 1995 novel "High Fidelity" by Nick Hornby, the 2000 rom-com film of the same name stars John Cusack as a music enthusiast who has just broken up with his girlfriend Laura. He decides to revisit the women from his top five break-ups to find out why the relationships failed. Tim Robbins has a relatively brief appearance as the former pretentious neo-hippie neighbour who Laura turns to for her next boyfriend.

In the 1997 buddy action comedy "Nothing to Lose", Tim Robbins portrays advertising executive Nick who thinks his wife is having an affair. He survives a car-jacking attempt by Martin Lawrence's character T-Paul. Nick decides to team up with T-Paul so that he can seek revenge on his advertising boss who he has decided is behind the affair.

Answer: Gene Hackman

John Cusack portrays a juror in the 2003 legal thriller "Runaway Jury". The trial is a civil action against a gun manufacturer raised by the widow of one of the victims of a mass shooting. Gene Hackman portrays a jury consultant for the defence. The film records the behind-the-scenes activity to try and sway the verdict.

In the 2001 comedy-drama "The Royal Tenenbaums", Gene Hackman is Royal, the eccentric head of the Tenenbaum family. He left his wife Etheline (Anjelica Huston) and adolescent children to live in a hotel. After initial success, his three child prodigies become adult neurotics. This is when Royal tries to re-insert himself into the lives of his family and those of the satellite characters now attached.

Answer: Dan Aykroyd

John Cusack and Dan Aykroyd are professional assassins Martin and Grocer in the 1997 action comedy thriller "Grosse Pointe Blank". Martin decides to attend a high school reunion after a work commitment takes him nearby. His attempts to rekindle a relationship with ex-girlfriend Debi (Minnie Driver) are complicated when his work catches up with him. Grocer (Aykroyd) is mostly trying to recruit Martin to a nascent assassin's union and then ends up on the wrong side of him.

Dan Aykroyd portrays Darren "Mother" Roskow, part of a security penetration team headed up by Martin Bishop (Robert Redford) in the 1992 thriller "Sneakers". Martin's hacking past (when he was known as Martin Brice) is used by (supposedly) NSA agents to blackmail him into stealing what turns out to be a powerful codebreaking device. Bishop and his team try to do the right thing.

Answer: Kevin Spacey

John Berendt's 1994 non-fiction book "Midnight in the Garden of Good and Evil" is the inspiration for the 1997 Clint Eastwood-directed film of the same name. The book spent 216 weeks on the "New York Times' best seller list, a record at the time. The film version sees plenty of name changes to protect people's privacy, even where pseudonyms are used in the book. John Cusack portrays John Kelso (in effect Berendt's role) who records a menagerie of bizarre Savannah, Georgia-based characters. Kevin Spacey takes on the role of the murdering antiques dealer Jim Williams whose multiple trials in the book are reduced to one in the film.

Fitting after the 1978 and 1980 Superman films, but ignoring the three other 1980s Superman films, the 2006 superhero film "Superman Returns" sees Kevin Spacey take on the role of the sociopathic scientist Lex Luthor. Spacey provides a darker version of the character than Gene Hackman did in the 1987 "Superman IV: The Quest for Peace". Kate Boswell gets to be the reporter Lois Lane. In this film Luthor is released from prison and soon gets up to mischief, kidnapping Lois Lane and her son. After an absence of five years, Superman returns to Earth in time to deal with matters.

Answer: Steve Buscemi

John Cusack is US Marshal Vince Larkin in the 1997 action thriller "Con Air". Con Air is the nickname for the 'Jailbird' prisoner transport aircraft which is used in a prison break. Steve Buscemi has the role of one of the prisoners, serial killer Garland Greene. Larkin gets help from a paroled former Army Ranger (portrayed by Nicolas Cage) who is inadvertently caught up in the escape attempt.

In the 1996 crime film "Fargo" from the Coen brothers, Steve Buscemi portrays the dim-witted criminal Carl Showalter. He and his partner agree with a car salesman to kidnap his wife so that the salesman can extort money from her father. Things do not go to plan. The heavily-pregnant police chief Marge Gunderson (Frances McDormand) is the law chasing them down.