John Cusack

"There is definitely a lot in the collective consciousness right now about the end of the world," Cusack's 2012 co-star Chiwetel Ejiofor says. "The fragility of the planet, the nature of global warming, the free access to nuclear weapons, financial and scientific responsibility -- these are all part of our consciousness. So a movie like 2012, though entertaining and extraordinary in scope, allows us to discuss these things."

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"2012" has an ensemble cast that includes John Cusack, Amanda Peet, Danny Glover, Thandie Newton, Oliver Platt, Chiwetel Ejiofor and Woody Harrelson. Explaining his role, Jimi said: "I play an astrophysicist of Indian origin, Satnam Tsurutani, who prophecies through research that the world is actually going to end. It was quite different playing a doomsday prophet for a change."

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"2012. " BELOW: "That movie has a life of its own," Cusack says about "Say Anything," co-starring Ione Skye and John Mahoney. "It taps into the paranoia many people have about the world,"

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"I wanted to let you know that John prefers to concentrate on the later part of his career," she warns me. "I'll be sitting in with you, and if I sense his energy levels are dropping - like, if he starts giving short answers - I'll wind things up."

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"Cameron was trying to convince John to say 'I love you,' and John's like, 'I don't want to say it in the movie,'" says Skye.

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"I'm not some fascinating movie-star character," says Cusack.

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"Say Anything," "Grosse Pointe Blank," "Being John Malkovich," and "Grace is Gone." And now, he's back in the doomsday film, "2012," where his character takes risks as the world collapses around him. Cusack said, "There's disaster movies, and then there are end of days, and that means that there's no place you can escape. It's the big one."

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"2012," the pope is buried under debris when St. Peter's dome comes tumbling down, and peace-loving Tibetan monks are not spared by the great floods. No Islamic site is seen perishing, though. "I really think Roland manages to give these giant blockbusters a personal touch," says star Cusack. "There's a dark side to his films. "

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"There's a line you have to walk," says John Cusack, who plays an everyman who tries to save his two kids and estranged wife (Amanda Peet) as the ground crumbles beneath their feet. "I think there's a catharsis, the same as a roller-coaster ride. You want the thrill of destruction without actually being in it."

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"When you go to see a movie like this, it's giving voice to your worst fears. It's like running around on Halloween and celebrating ghouls and mayhem," Cusack says. "I don't know what it is in us, but we definitely want to come close to that edge. But if it were reality, we'd all be weeping all day."

Read more: '2012': 'The thrill of destruction' without any of the real-life fear | In this article: Roland Emmerich, The Day After Tomorrow, Harald Kloser, USA Today, Amanda Peet, Climate change, Halloween, and Morgan Lily