The unlikely fivesome spent detention together on March 24, 1984.
If you don't love The Breakfast Club, I'm not sure you were ever really a teenager. Five archetypal high school students forge an unlikely bond in detention — there was Claire (Molly Ringwald), the princess. Brian (Anthony Michael Hall), the brain. Allison (Ally Sheedy), the basket case. Andrew (Emilio Estevez), the athlete. Bender (Judd Nelson), the criminal.
The events of the iconic 1985 Brat Pack movie took place over the course of one Saturday, exactly 30 years ago to the date — March 24, 1984. Here are 30 little-known Breakfast Club facts in honor of its anniversary.
1. Director John Hughes wrote the script in only two days, over July 4th weekend in 1982.
2. Hughes initially intended for the film to run two and a half hours, far longer than the 97-minute theatrical release.
3. Working titles for The Breakfast Club included The Lunch Bunch and Library Revolution.
4. Anthony Michael Hall's real-life mother and sister play Brian's on-screen mother and sister.
5. Though Hall and Molly Ringwald were both an age-appropriate 17 during filming, their castmates were much older than high school students. Emilio Estevez and Ally Sheedy were 23, and Judd Nelson was 26.
6. Sheedy suggested the film's epigram, a quote from David Bowie's "Changes."
7. Graffiti visible in the opening reads "I don't like Mondays." This is a reference to 16-year-old Brenda Spencer, who offered that line as the only explanation for the school shooting she committed in 1979.
8. Actor John Kapelos — who played the school janitor — made an off-hand joke to the cast about the heart attack Martin Sheen suffered while filming Apocalypse Now without realizing Estevez was Sheen's son.
9. The library in which the kids serve their detention was in reality a converted high school gym. Today, it's a police station.
10. During breaks from filming, Nelson passed the time by practicing with the school's football team.
11. The cast and crew ate their meals on location in the school cafeteria, at Hughes' behest.
12. Simple Minds' "Don't You (Forget About Me)," written specifically for the film, was the band's only number-one hit.
13. Allison's "dandruff" was actually Parmesan cheese.
14. Sheedy is silent for the first 33 minutes of the movie.
15. Nelson's ad-libbed dirty joke — "A naked blonde walks into a bar, carrying a poodle under one arm and a six-foot salami under the other…" — has no punchline, despite Reddit's best efforts to write one.
16. Much of the dialogue was improvised, including the famous scene where the kids sit in a circle and explain why they're in detention.
17. Alas, Ringwald never really applied lip gloss using only her cleavage.
18. Nelson's incessant off-screen bullying of Ringwald (in an attempt to stay in character) nearly got him fired by Hughes.
19. Ringwald was originally cast as Allison.
20. Estevez was originally cast as Bender.
21. Nicolas Cage and John Cusack were both in talks to play Bender.
22. Jodie Foster, Robin Wright, and Laura Dern all auditioned for the role of Claire.
23. Claire's outfit was purchased in its entirety from Chicago's only Ralph Lauren store.
24. Hughes makes a cameo appearance as Brian's father at the end of the film.
25. Claire's BMW was actually owned by Hughes.
26. Bender's switchblade was actually owned by Nelson.
27. Brian's license plate reads "EMC 2" and Andrew's reads "OHIOST."
28. The names of producers Richard Hashimoto and Michelle Manning found their way into the film — on the guidance counselor's nameplate and a prom poster, respectively.
29. For reasons that remain unclear, certain TV broadcasts of the movie redubbed Bender's "Eat my shorts!" line to "Eat my socks!"
30. At one time Hughes planned to film a Breakfast Club sequel every 10 years, in the style of the Up series. We wish he had.
[IMDb and Pajiba]
Images via IMDb and Examiner.
