Detention is back in session.
The cast of “The Breakfast Club” — Molly Ringwald, Judd Nelson, Anthony Michael Hall, Emilio Estevez and Ally Sheedy — reunited Saturday during a panel at the C2E2 convention in Chicago.
The event marked the first time that the five actors were together publicly since the cult classic film came out in 1985.
“I feel really very emotional and moved to have us all together,” Ringwald, 57, told the crowd during the panel moderated by Josh Horowitz for a live taping of his “Happy Sad Confused” podcast.
Ringwald also noted that the pop culture convention was the first time Estevez, 62, was involved in a reunion with the cast. “We don’t have to use the cardboard cutout anymore because he’s here,” she joked, adding, “I feel really moved that we’re all together.”
“I skipped all my high school reunions, so this was something that finally felt like I needed to do, just for myself,” said Estevez. “But this one felt special because it’s here in Chicago where we made the film, it’s the 40th anniversary, and I just love all of them so it just made sense.”
Estevez also said that the film directed by the late John Huges “is one of those movies that stands the test of time.”
Nelson, 65, recalled that Hughes, who died of a heart attack in 2009, “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.”
Hall, 56, added that “no one matches that. No one’s come close” to their experience working with Hughes.
“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.’”
Sheedy, 62, told the crowd how close the cast got during shooting. “I don’t know if you can tell but we all really do love each other. It was a dream,” she said. “A joyful experience.”
The stars of the film also addressed if they think “The Breakfast Club” could be made today.
Estevez said, “Movies today are concept-driven, they’re not character-driven, and the beauty of John is that he focused on characters first. 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?”
“It’s also important to remember that we made this movie for $1 million, which at the time was still a lot of money but by Universal standards was not; it was not thought of as a big, giant tentpole film as they make today. So there was a lot of risk involved, but by today’s standards, this movie I don’t think would ever get made,” he added.
The group also agreed that they wouldn’t do a sequel out of respect for Hughes.
“I personally don’t believe in remaking that movie,” said Ringwald, “because I think this movie is very much of its time. 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.”
Ringwald added, “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.”
The 1985 teen comedy-drama follows five high school students who are forced to spend Saturday in detention together for different reasons. The film made over $50 million at the worldwide box office.
[Notigroup Newsroom in collaboration with other media outlets, with information from the following sources]
