Cusack posed at the Thursday premiere alongside costars Tom Hanks, Tim Allen, Greta Lee, and more.

Joan Cusack makes her first red carpet appearance in more than a decade at Toy Story 5 premiere

Cusack posed at the Thursday premiere alongside costars Tom Hanks, Tim Allen, Greta Lee, and more.

By Mekishana Pierre

Mekishana Pierre

Mekishana Pierre is a news writer at **. She has been working at EW since 2025. Her work has previously appeared on Entertainment Tonight and Popsugar.

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May 29, 2026 10:30 a.m. ET

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Joan Cusack attends the 'Toy Story 5' UK premiere on May 28, 2026. Credit:

Neil Mockford/WireImage

- Joan Cusack stepped out for the premiere of *Toy Story 5 *in the UK.

- The actress has been MIA from red carpets since 2015.

- She posed with costars Tom Hanks, Tim Allen and more.

Joan Cusack made her long-awaited return to the red carpet in more than a decade at the UK premiere of *Toy Story 5*.

On Thursday, the 63-year-old actress joined her costars Tom Hanks, Tim Allen, Greta Lee, as well as writer-director Andrew Stanton and producer Lindsey Collins for her first appearance on a carpet since an event in September 2015.

A smiling Cusack, who reprises her voice acting role as cowgirl toy Jessie in the animated film, wore a chic white dress shirt tucked into a long black skirt for the occasion. In addition to posing with her costars, Cusack also posed with her husband, Richard Burke, with whom she shares two sons, Miles and Dylan John.

Joan Cusack at the 'Toy Story 5' UK premiere on May 28, 2026.

Neil Mockford/WireImage

Cusack's return to the red carpet is in-line with the return of everyone's favorite animated toys in the upcoming fifth feature installment of the *Toy Story* franchise.

*Toy Story 5* (in theaters June 19) brings back the star-studded voice cast for a toys-versus-tech concept more than 30 years after this family film saga began. As Stanton explained to ** for our April cover story, the crux of the film is about the impact of tech on a child's development, mingled with that moment in all our lives when we're told it's no longer cool to play with toys. Stanton credited his co-director, Kenna Harris, for finding that story "driver."

Harris "brought to light the idea of friendship and the socialization aspect that connects both the modern devices and what toys are trying to do," Stanton added.

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The director revealed that the film operates mainly as a Jessie movie, with Cusack returning to voice the cowgirl for a 16th time (counting shorts and video games).

"I know every parent in the United States worries about their kids. When do you get them involved in tech? What does that do to their brains?" Cusack told EW when thinking back to her first reaction reading the script. "And that's what this movie's about. It's about humanity and playing and loyalty — and it makes me cry."

As the story goes, Bonnie is the last kid on her block still playing with toys, and she's struggling to make friends. Her parents think they found the solution: Lilypad (Lee), a smart device introduced to help her connect with other kids her age in a virtual playground instead of a physical one. Jessie and the gang naturally fear the worst, having seen just about every other kid in the neighborhood become consumed by screens and no longer make time for toys.

Bullseye, Jessie, and Lilypad in Disney and Pixar's 'Toy Story 5'.

So the cowgirl radios Woody, who's still liberating forgotten toys off in the distance with Bo Peep (Annie Potts) and Canadian daredevil Duke Caboom (Keanu Reeves). Ironically, as Woody makes his way back home, Jessie inadvertently makes her way out. With Bullseye in tow, she embarks on a plan to help Bonnie make friends away from screens. But it all goes awry when she finds herself sent back to the house where Emily — Jessie's first child, who abandoned her years ago — once lived.

There, she meets Blaze, described as "a spunky, funky, equestrian horse girl," by Mykal-Michelle Harris, who voices the new character. "She was raised on a ranch with her family, and she's never afraid to be herself. She's an older kid, but she's not afraid to play with toys or to have a whole bunch of horse figurines. That's kind of her thing."

"Blaze finds Jessie and Bullseye after a series of unfortunate events, and she immediately takes a liking to them," Harris added. "She obviously loves Bullseye because he's a horse, and she loves Jessie as a cowboy. She immediately uses her in her playtime, and they have an instant connection, an instant bond. It takes a little bit of time for Jessie to like Blaze, but they do end up forming a connection."

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Of course, there are a ton of other toys getting introduced in the upcoming film, as well as the return of many franchise favorite, including the likes of John Ratzenberg as piggybank Hamm; Wallace Shawn as dino Rex; Blake Clark as Slinky Dog; Annie Potts as Bo Peep; Bonnie Hunt as rag doll Dolly; John Hopkins as hedgehog plushie Mr. Pricklepants; Kristen Schaal as Trixie the Triceratops; Ernie Hudson as Combat Carl; Keanu Reeves as Canadian daredevil Duke Caboom; Tony Hale as Forky; and Melissa Villaseñor as Forky's plastic-knife girlfriend, Karen Beverly.

Fans can meet the union of the old and new when *Toy Story 5* premieres in theaters June 19.

- Animated Movies

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Source: “EW Animated”