Judd
Nelson was nearly fired from the movie for bullying Molly Ringwald off
camera. His cast-mates defended him, saying that he was just trying to
stay in character.
Location
The
film was set in fictional Shermer, Illinois but filmed in Rosemont,
Illinois. The used a real high school to film it. They set up the
gymnasium for filming and turned it into the library.
The Missing Punchline
The
joke that Bender tells in the air shaft actually had no ending. Nelson
was making up his own joke and could not think of a punchline.
Ringwald As Allison
Molly
Ringwald was originally cast to play the role of Allison but she felt
that she would be better as Claire. We can’t help but agree with this
choice.
Hall’s Family
Brian
Johnson is dropped off at the beginning of the movie by his real mother
and sister. Mother: “You find a way to study mister,” Sister: “Yeah,”
felt like they were drawing on some real life interactions.
Hughes Appearance
At the end of the film Brian Johnson is picked up by his father, played by John Hughes, the movie’s director.
License Plates
Brian
Johnson’s car license plate reads EMC2, in keeping with his image as a
nerd. Andrew Clark’s license plate reads OHIOST, also in keeping with
his jock image.
Lockers
At
the beginning of the movie you can see Brian Johnson’s flame destroyed
locker. You can also see Bender’s locker with some explicit graffiti
written on it.
Janitor/Man Of The Year
You
also need sharp eyes to see this one, but the janitor was actually the
Man of the Year in 1969. His picture appears in the trophy case among
others who had won the award.
Going Undercover
The
actors went undercover at high schools to get into character for the
roles. Sheedy was over it very soon, in character for Allison just from
quitting the assignment. Nelson got sent to the principles office for
not being able to find his classroom, also a very in character thing to
do.
Billy Idol’s Big Mistake
Billy
Idol was asked to record Don’t You (Forget About Me), Breakfast Club’s
now iconic ending song. He declined and it became Simple Mind’s one hit
wonder.
Blue Streak
In some scenes in the movie Judd Nelson has a blue streak in his hair. In other scenes it is faded or completely disappeared.
Improvisation
The
actors were allowed to improvise a lot because Hughes wanted their
collaboration in the film. The pot smoking scene is largely improvised.
Estevez As Bender
Hughes
originally had Emilio Estevez playing the role of Bender but could not
find anybody to play Andrew Clark. Estevez said he would play Clark and
John Hughes found Nelson for the role of Bender.
Movie Shooting
Over
200,000 feet of film was shot because of all of the improvisation and
collaboration between the actors and Hughes. This is an incredible
amount for a teenage film at the time. The movie was also shot entirely
in sequence, allowing the actors to live out their characters.
The
Breakfast Club was such an amazing movie we could watch it over and
over again. Hopefully with these little known facts you can watch it
feeling like an insider.
