As the film turns 40, Hasitha Fernando looks at the story behind John Hughes’ 80s classic The Breakfast Club…
John Hughes is a name that is synonymous with coming-of-age teen dramas and the 1980s era but one film has always stood out as one of the filmmaker’s best efforts and that is The Breakfast Club. As it celebrates its 40th anniversary we look back at what went on behind-the-scenes during the making of the masterful film and the legacy it left behind.
John Hughes wrote the screenplay in just two days
In a career spanning multiple decades John Hughes has directed, written and produced some of the most memorable live-action comedy films of all time. Some of his most famous efforts include Sixteen Candles, The Breakfast Club, Ferris Bueller’s Day Off and Planes, Trains and Automobiles which he helmed, and Home Alone, Mr. Mom and National Lampoon’s Vacation and Pretty in Pink which he wrote. Hughes penned the screenplay for The Breakfast Club around the same time period when he was crafting the script for Sixteen Candles and he accomplished it in just two days.
The title of the screenplay was originally called The Lunch Bunch, but a friend of Hughes suggested he change it to “The Breakfast Club” as that was what their detention class in school was called. Hughes ultimately went ahead with his friend’s suggestion. During an interview Hughes revealed that getting the project greenlit proved to be a troublesome affair since Universal executives complained that there were no party scenes, bare breasts or guys drinking in what was supposedly a teenage coming-of-age drama.
Judd Nelson’s method acting nearly got him fired from set
Beginning his acting career in the mid-80s with teen centric efforts such as Making the Grade and Fandango opposite Kevin Costner, Judd Nelson got his first big break in 1985 with John Hughes’ The Breakfast Club which he followed up with Joel Schumacher’s St. Elmo’s Fire that same year. For The Breakfast Club, Nelson took a method acting approach which nearly got him fired from the set because even between takes the young actor stayed in character as John Bender bullying actress Molly Ringwald as he does in the film. This behavior nearly got Nelson kicked off from set but Paul Gleason, who played Vice Principal Richard Vernon, defended the actor’s left field creative choices which eventually changed the director’s mind.
Nicolas Cage & John Cusack were in contention for the role of John Bender
To say Judd Nelson made John Bender’s character his own would be an understatement. But before he was cast as John Bender both Nicolas Cage and John Cusack were strongly considered for the role. The possibility of Cage becoming the character was dissuaded early on by the hefty salary he commanded. The studio next considered John Cusack, who had previously auditioned several times, even going to the extent of traversing between Chicago and Los Angeles to nab the role. However, John Hughes changed his mind prior to commencement of filming and cast Judd Nelson instead since he thought that Cusack lacked the intensity he desired from Bender’s character. Quite interestingly, Nelson’s outfit that we see in the film was the very same getup he wore when auditioning for the role.
Emilio Estevez was considered for a different role prior to filming
One of the notable actors associated with the “Brat Pack” along with Demi Moore, Ally Sheedy, Rob Lowe and Judd Nelson, Emilio Estevez made a name for himself starring in coming-of-age, teen centric dramas in the 1980s before branching off to other genres with efforts such as Judgement Night, Young Guns, Loaded Weapon 1 and Mission: Impossible. Prior to casting Estevez as the straight-shooter, high-school wrestler Andrew Clark, John Hughes had the actor eyed for a different role – John Bender. But these plans changes once Hughes met Judd Nelson so he cast Estevez in Andrew’s role since he couldn’t find someone else to play the character.
Ally Sheedy made some brilliant creative contributions for the movie
Starting out her career with local theater productions Ally Sheedy moved on to the small screen appearing in television series like Hill Street Blues before she made her feature film debut alongside Sean Penn on 1983’s Bad Boys. Afterwards the young actress found great success starring in efforts such as WarGames, Oxford Blues, St. Elmo’s Fire, Blue City and Maid to Order. During the making of The Breakfast Club, Sheedy made some brilliant contributions that certainly made the film that much more memorable. It was Sheedy who suggested to put the David Bowie quote at the beginning of the movie that was pulled from his song “Changes” which was found on his 1971 album “Hunky Dory”. Sheedy also suggested to John Hughes that the stories’ high-society bird Claire should eat sushi for lunch – a luxury food according to American standards of that era – instead of something more conventional. Sheedy also came up with the idea to include some Cap ‘n’ Crunch cereal in the sandwich to give it that extra scrunchy sound.
Simple Minds weren’t impressed with the film’s prospects
Scottish rock band Simple Minds weren’t all that impressed with the prospects they had with their song “Don’t You (Forget About Me)” thinking that The Breakfast Club would be just another coming-of-age teen drama that would be forgotten a few weeks after its release. The band had achieved great success in the UK and Europe and were looking to break into the US market but the band members were unsure if this film would be the one to do it. Because of their lack of faith in the production the lead singer of Simple Minds even didn’t bother writing the lyrics for the out-bridge chorus of the song – instead just singing “La la la la” in the initial recording session. But the rest of the band loved what he did and convinced him to keep it and it ended up being an iconic aspect of the flick’s opening song.
Molly Ringwald originally wanted to play Claire’s character
Molly Ringwald rose to prominence with her breakout performance in John Hughes’ directorial debut Sixteen Candles. However, when she was cast in The Breakfast Club there was some dissension as to who she was originally cast as. There were rumors that the young actress was asked to play the role that eventually went to Ally Sheedy but Ringwald revealed during a later interview that she her sights on playing Claire from the get-go and didn’t convince Hughes or the studio to let her play Allison.
The iconic scene at the closing on the film was completely improvised
The iconic scene that closes The Breakfast Club was completely improvised by Judd Nelson. John Hughes asked the actor to play around with a few actions as he walked out into the sunset. Taking Hughes’ instructions to heart Nelson threw his fist up in the air whilst filming, without initially running it by any of the crew or director. Hughes and everyone else loved the gesture so much they kept it in the movie and it went on to become one of the most iconic scenes in cinema as well as 80s era filmmaking.
Box-office success, positive reviews & an enduring legacy
Made on a production budget of $1 million, The Breakfast Club went on to become a smashing success by raking in $51.5 million at the worldwide box-office. The film debuted at number 3 at the box-office in February 1985, behind Eddie Murphy’s buddy cop comedy Beverly Hills Cop and the Harrison Ford headlined crime thriller Witness. From the get-go the effort received much praise by film critics who include the likes of Roger Ebert and Gene Siskel. Ebert gave The Breakfast Club three stars out of four calling the performances “wonderful” and adding that the film was “more or less predictable” but “doesn’t need earth shaking revelations”. Siskel awarded the movie three-and-a-half stars out of four writing, “This confessional formula has worked in films as different as Who’s Afraid of Virginia Woolf?, The Big Chill, and My Dinner with Andre and it works here too.”
Retrospective reviews in particular have found much to love about the flick and how John Hughes as both writer and director tackled themes like stereotyping and the misunderstood nature of the American teenager. Since its release The Breakfast Club has been embraced as one of John Hughes’ best efforts as well as being recognized as one of the quintessential 80s films. Numerous media outlets including Empire Magazine, Entertainment Weekly and The New Times have placed the movie in their “Greatest films of all time” lists time and time again.
The success of the film no doubt encouraged the studio to capitalize on the IP and churn out sequels but this did not come to pass due to the volatile relationship John Hughes had with Judd Nelson. Once production ended Nelson and Hughes never worked together on another production again. Even Molly Ringwald – one of Hughes’ frequent collaborators – parted ways with the filmmaker since she decided to move on from teen dramas to more serious adult centric affairs, and this too impeded the development of sequels later on. As a result, for better or worse there is only one The Breakfast Club… and in my humble opinion one masterpiece more than suffices.
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Hasitha Fernando is a part-time medical practitioner and full-time cinephile. Follow him on Twitter via @DoctorCinephile for regular updates on the world of entertainment.
