Then and Now: The Breakfast Club

The Breakfast Club: Then and Now

In the latest installment of our ‘Then and Now’ series we take a look back at John Hughes’ classic coming-of-age comedy drama The Breakfast Club.

Originally released nearly 30 years ago in 1985, The Breakfast Club follows five ‘stereotypical’ teenagers who, after spending a Saturday in detention together, realise there is more to their personalities aside from their respective cliques.  We take a look at where the original cast of The Breakfast Club are now.

Emilio Estevez as Andrew “Andy” Clark

Choosing to keep his birth name, Emilio Estevez, the brother of Two and a Half Men’s Charlie Sheen and son of The West Wing’s Martin Sheen, played “the athlete” Andy Clark in The Breakfast Club.  Also seen in St Elmo’s Fire (another John Hughes film) and The Mighty Ducks, his directorial debut Bobby took six years to write and, despite critical acclaim, couldn’t cover the production costs from the box office.

More recently, his behind the camera work has featured on the small screen with Numb3rs, Close to Home, CSI: New York and Cold Case.

Anthony Michael Hall as Brain Ralph Johnson

After two big on-screen roles in National Lampoon’s Vacation and Sixteen Candles (both involving John Hughes) Anthony Michael Hall played the role of Brian “the brain” in The Breakfast Club. After overcoming his drinking problems in the late 80s, Hall appeared in Edward Scissorhands and the TV movie Pirates of Silicon Valley as Bill Gates, opposite Noah Wyle as Steve Jobs.

In 2008 he played news reporter Mike Engel in Christopher Nolan’s brilliant Batman film The Dark Knight and has had two appearances in Community.

Judd Nelson as John Bender

Hey, smoke up, Johnny! After playing “the criminal” in The Breakfast Club, Nelson featured in the role of Alec Newbary in St Elmo’s Fire, and provided the voice for Hot Rod in 1986’s The Transformers: The Movie. His first film of the 90s was Hiroshima: Out of the Ashes, alongside Max Von Sydow, who is due to appear in Star Wars Episode VII.

In 2010 he had a cameo in Two and a Half Men, with Emilio Estevez’s brother Charlie Sheen and has recently authored four Kindle books.

Molly Ringwald as Claire Standish

Ringwald played the role of Claire Standish “the princess” in The Breakfast Club and after also featuring in two other John Hughes movies in the 80s (Pretty in Pink and Sixteen Candles) she became arguably one of the most famous teen stars of the era. In the mid-90s she moved to Paris and starred in several French-speaking films in an attempt to shake off being typecast.

After spending most of the 2000s on Broadway Ringwald, the son of a jazz singer, released her debut album ‘Except Sometimes’ in 2013 to positive reviews, which included a version of the classic closing track from The Breakfast Club ‘Don’t You (Forget About Me)’. Upcoming roles include Wishin’ and Hopin’ and Jem and the Holograms in 2014 and 2015 respectively.

Ally Sheedy as Allison Reynolds

In The Breakfast Club, Sheedy played Allison Reynolds who was considered “the basket case” of the group. She also appeared in St Elmo’s Fire with Estevez and Nelson, as well as Short Circuit and its 1988 sequel. In 1998 Sheedy received several award nominations for her role of Lucy Berliner in the independent film High Art.

Since then she’s been seen on screen in CSI: Crime Scene Investigation, Kyle XY and Psych.

Paul Gleason as Richard “Dick” Vernon

Between 1976 and 1978, Gleason appeared in US soap All My Children as Dr David Thornton and had later roles in Ewoks: The Battle for Endor, Trading Places and Die Hard as well as playing the role of the assistant principal in The Breakfast Club.

In 1988 he starred with fellow Breakfast Club cast member Anthony Michael Hall, alongside a young Iron Man himself, Robert Downey Jr. in Johnny Be Good. His TV appearances included Dawson’s Creek, Drake and Josh and George Lopez before he sadly died in 2006 from a form of lung cancer.

Check out previous ‘Then and Now’ posts on the 8Ball Blog:

Back to the Future
Star Wars Episode 1: The Phantom Menace
The Goonies

Share and Enjoy

The post The Breakfast Club: Then and Now appeared first on 8Ball.co.uk.