Updated February 25, 2022 4.6k votes 1.1k voters 219.5k views
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Vote up all the quotes that really bring back memories of the Brat Pack.
The Brat Pack, a term used to collectively include Emilio Estevez, Rob Lowe, Andrew McCarthy, Demi Moore, Judd Nelson, Molly Ringwald, and Ally Sheedy, was meant to be insulting, but has become endearing. These actors (and others often named as part of the group as well) appeared in films together, dated each other, and proved that young actors could be taken seriously.
In the '80s and '90s, they were the cool kids of Hollywood. So what was it like to work with the Brats? Firsthand accounts from the actors, many provided long after they worked together, offer an idea of what it was like to be part of the pack.
At the beginning of the Brat Pack years, Demi Moore and Rob Lowe starred together in St. Elmo's Fire. Before filming began, however, the film's producers made Moore go to treatment for her coke habit.
She was the first person I ever knew who got sober. She was a huge inspiration to me. It was the '80s, we were all doing our thing. I just remember thinking, "Whoa, if that girl can get sober, anybody can."
In the early '90s, when it was Lowe's turn to get sober, he remembered Moore's success.
Judd Nelson Said He And Emilio Estevez Were Far From Adversaries Off Camera While Filming 'The Breakfast Club'
While filming The Breakfast Club, Emilio Estevez and Judd Nelson bonded, primarily because they were older than the other actors and closest in age (Molly Ringwald and Anthony Michael Hall were still in high school and had to attend classes during the day).
Emilio and I, every Saturday night, would go into Chicago because we were shooting outside of Chicago in Des Plaines. It’s so funny, because even though we might be adversaries in the film, we certainly weren’t off camera. He’s a very funny guy... We ended up at a jazz club, where you go downstairs and there’s a very cool place. And they stayed open late. They didn’t care what we wore. And we would go there every Saturday night.
St. Elmo's Fire is a classic coming-of-age story. In one of the most famous scenes in the movie, Leslie (Ally Sheedy) learns of Kevin's (Andrew McCarthy) love for her; passionate lovemaking ensues.
But when it came to filming that scene, according to Susannah Gora's book You Couldn't Ignore Me if You Tried: The Brat Pack, John Hughes, and Their Impact on a Generation, Sheedy said she was feeling sheer terror rather than passion:
I didn’t actually know that Andrew was going to have to be on top of me in a chair, looking as if we were actually having sex. I didn’t know I would have to take my clothes off. I didn’t know any of that until the day of. I had a little bodysuit, I was absolutely out of my mind, horrified. I was dead scared.
Although Sheedy was rattled during the filming, she said McCarthy was "extremely protective of me and I really, really needed it."
Judd Nelson might have rubbed some of the cast and crew of The Breakfast Club the wrong way when he embraced his role as Bender, but Ally Sheedy was not one of those people.
Sheedy told Den of Geek that filming the movie was "a dream of an experience," thanks in part to the funny moments:
Judd, especially, killed me. There were times I could n[o]t even look at him. A lot of his scenes have improvised lines added to [director John Hughes's] dialogue. When they worked he kept them in. They were on a similar wavelength and I think that really worked. We never got sick of each other. We spent three months in that library.
Age: 60
Birthplace: New York City, USA, New York
Nationality: United States of America
Characters: Bernice, Brea Epling, Jill Fields, NY Ticket Agent, Sara Reid
In Pretty in Pink, Jon Cryer plays Andie's best friend Duckie who secretly adores her. In real life, Cryer thought both Molly Ringwald (Andie) and actor Andrew McCarthy (Blane) didn't like him. Cryer told Access Live:
I came from New York City and I'm kinda a loud-mouthed New Yorker... and Molly and Andrew were both very kinda reserved people. I came from the theater, where everybody knows everybody and has these outsize personalities and you're all crammed together and have to work together, but a movie's not like that; you show up and you do your job and then you go home... I just assumed that because they were so remote they just didn't like me.
Apparently, he wasn't entirely wrong. "I later found out that Molly actually did like me," he said. "Andrew, however, didn't - but now we get along fine."
Age: 57
Birthplace: New York City, New York, United States of America
Nationality: United States of America
Characters: Alan Harper, Joel Stein, Sam Wagner, Freakshow, Zack Mango
Anthony Michael Hall and Molly Ringwald first met on the set of Sixteen Candles, then worked together again in The Breakfast Club.
Like some of the other Brat Packers, the two dated briefly after filming ended. Reminiscing about their short-lived romance, Hall told Page Six:
It was puppy love. She didn’t have the time of day for me when we made Sixteen Candles. We did Sixteen Candles and I was annoying to her! So it was really funny, it kind of hit me by surprise when we had our little thing there, but it was fun. She’s wonderful, a great lady. We’ve been friends since and I’ve seen her over the years.
