Stars Of ‘The Breakfast Club’ Reunite For The First Time In 40 Years

The five main stars in the popular John Hughes film “The Breakfast Club” just reunited for the first time since the film debuted 40 years ago.

Emilio Estevez, Anthony Michael Hall, Judd Nelson, Molly Ringwald, and Ally Sheedy were all present during a panel conversation celebrating the 1985 coming-of-age drama at the Chicago Comic & Entertainment Expo on Saturday.

The actors discussed working with Hughes, the film’s legacy, and if they would be open to doing a sequel.

“I feel really, very emotional and moved to have us all together,” Ringwald said. She mentioned that while the other cast members have reunited before, “This is the first time that Emilio has joined us. We don’t have to use the cardboard cutout anymore because he’s here.”

Estevez responded, “I skipped all of my high school reunions, so this just was something that finally I felt I needed to do just for myself,” adding, “This one felt special. It’s here in Chicago, where we made the film, and obviously the 40th anniversary, and it just felt like it was time.”

The actor also said “The Breakfast Club” is “one of those movies that stands the test of time.”

Sheedy described their time filming as “a joyful experience.” 

“I don’t know if you can tell but we all really do love each other. It was a dream,” she said. 

The teen drama follows five high school students who have to spend a Saturday in detention together, which inspires them to forge an unlikely friendship. The film earned $51.5 million against a $1 million budget.

During the panel, the stars discussed how much they enjoyed working with the late Hughes, who died from a heart attack in 2009. 

Nelson noted how the director “meant it when he said to us to participate in the process of making this movie. He liked us, I didn’t know how rare it was going to be for a director to like actors.”

“His passing was profound for me, because it’s like the work will always be in a circle leaning one direction,” Nelson explained. “What we needed was the one to counterbalance it, because Hughes explained to us the differences between the young and old. So now is the time for him to show us where we meet in the end, because we’re all older now, but we’re not going to get that, which is sad. But in a way Hughes has been telling us, ‘Think for yourself.’” 

Hall agreed, saying, “No one matches that. No one’s come close,” when it comes to the experience of working with Hughes.

Besides “The Breakfast Club,” Hughes is best known for writing, producing, and directing films, including “Sixteen Candles,” “Weird Science,” “Ferris Bueller’s Day Off,” “Planes, Trains and Automobiles,” and “Uncle Buck,” and writing “Pretty in Pink” and “Home Alone.”

Estevez said the late director did things differently compared to modern filmmaking. 

“Movies today are concept-driven, they’re not character-driven, and the beauty of John is that he focused on characters first,” the actor noted during the panel. “And when you think about trying to pitch this movie today — it’s about five kids sitting in a library all day in detention — the studio executives would march you right out the door and say where are the monsters? Where’s the car chases? Where are the big effects?”

The cast agreed they wouldn’t be interested in a remake, mostly out of respect for Hughes. “I personally don’t believe in remaking that movie, because I think this movie is very much of its time,” Ringwald said. “It resonates with people today but I believe in making movies that are inspired by other movies, but build on it and represent what’s going on today.”

“You know it’s very white, this movie. You don’t see a lot of different ethnicities; we don’t talk about gender, none of that, and I feel like that really doesn’t represent our world today. So I would like to see movies that are inspired by ‘The Breakfast Club’ but take it in a different direction,” she added.