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Michael Cusack
Cusack in March 2024
Born	Dapto, New South Wales, Australia
Occupations	Animator writer director producer voice actor musician internet personality
Years active	2012–present

Michael R. Cusack is an Australian animator, writer, director, producer, musician, voice actor, and internet personality. He is known as the co-creator of the Adult Swim animated series Smiling Friends (2022–present), in which he voiced the characters Pim, Allan, and various others. He is also the creator of the Adult Swim animated series YOLO (2020–present) and the Hulu animated sitcom Koala Man (2023–present).

Early life

Cusack was born and raised in Dapto, New South Wales, and later moved to Melbourne. He grew up watching South Park, The Simpsons, and Futurama.

Career

Cusack became interested in animation in his 20s and taught himself Adobe Flash using online tutorials. He uploaded his content to his YouTube channel and Newgrounds account. He created and portrayed Lucas the Magnificent, a parody of New Atheist "neckbeards", in live-action YouTube videos and on Twitter, beginning in 2014; he later stated that the character led to him meeting and befriending American animator Zach Hadel, as Lucas the Magnificent stated that he wanted Hadel to animate the intro of Lucas' potential Let's Play show. They began to collaborate online, then later in person when Cusack traveled to meet Hadel in Burbank, California.

Cusack wrote, directed, animated, produced, and starred in the Rick and Morty special episode Bushworld Adventures, a parody of the series that aired on Adult Swim in 2018 as part of the network's April Fools' Day tradition. The success of Bushworld Adventures led him to create YOLO and Smiling Friends for the network, the latter alongside Hadel. He also voiced Knifey in the video game High on Life, Nugget in the television film The Paloni Show Halloween Special, and Mammon in the online series Helluva Boss.

Personal life

Cusack continues to reside in Melbourne although he regularly divides his time between Melbourne and Los Angeles, California, U.S.

Filmography

Television

Video games

Web

References

1. ^ Mathiesen, Craig (9 January 2023). "'Why not Wollongong?' Disney backs irreverent Aussie superhero spoof". Sydney Morning Herald. Retrieved 9 January 2023.
2. "The Smiling Friends Troll: How This Atheist Gamer Got an Adult Swim Cameo". YouTube. 19 January 2022.
3. Zahed, Ramin (4 January 2022). "Michael Cusack and Zach Hadel Discuss Making 'Smiling Friends,' Their New Adult Swim Show". Animation Magazine. Retrieved 26 January 2022.
4. Whalen, Andrew (2 April 2018). "'Rick And Morty' April Fools' Day Episode, 'Bushworld Adventures,' Premieres Instead of Season 4". Newsweek. Retrieved 26 January 2022.
5. "Adult Swim's 'Smiling Friends' Turns Frowns Upside Down". Animation World Network. Retrieved 13 January 2022.
6. @MichaelRCusack (13 June 2022). "Yayy I voiced that knife :) @SquanchGames #HighOnLife" (Tweet) – via Twitter.
7. "Michael Cusack's animated series Koala Man is now streaming on Disney+".

External links

• Michael Cusack at IMDb

• Australian animators
• Australian male voice actors
• Australian surrealist artists
• Australian YouTubers
• Australian expatriate male actors in the United States
• People from Wollongong
• Comedy YouTubers
• Living people
• Web series producers
• YouTube animators
• 1990 births
• 21st-century Australian male actors