Michael R. Cusack (born 25 October 1990)^[1][2] is an Australian animator, writer, director, producer, photographer, and voice actor. He is the co-creator and co-star, along with fellow animator Zach Hadel, of the Adult Swim animated series, Smiling Friends, and creator and star of YOLO and Koala Man.^[3]

Life and career

Cusack was born and raised in Dapto, a suburb of the Australian city of Wollongong, later moving to Melbourne where he now resides.^[4] He grew up watching South Park, The Simpsons and Futurama. He became interested in animation in his 20s and taught himself Adobe Flash using internet tutorials. Cusack uploaded his content to his YouTube channel and Newgrounds account. Cusack began to collaborate with Hadel, online at first then later in person, when Cusack traveled to meet him in Burbank, California.^[5] Cusack is also known for creating and portraying the fictional character Lucas the Magnificent, a parody of New Atheist "neckbeards", in live-action YouTube videos and on Twitter, beginning in 2014; Cusack would later state that the character led to him coming in contact with and later befriending Zach Hadel, as Lucas the Magnificent stated that he wanted Hadel to animate the intro of Lucas' inexistent prospective Let's Play show.^[6]

With Studio Yotta, Cusack animated a parody Rick and Morty episode, Bushworld Adventures, a special that aired on Adult Swim on April Fools' Day of 2018.^[7] The success of Bushworld Adventures led Cusack to create YOLO: Crystal Fantasy and Smiling Friends for the network. Cusack became a collaborator with Rick and Morty creator Justin Roiland, voicing characters for his video game High on Life, television film The Paloni Show Halloween Special, and Mammon in the online series Helluva Boss.

Filmography