The Breakfast Club, the iconic 1985 coming-of-age film directed by John Hughes, remains a cultural touchstone for its portrayal of teenage angst and social dynamics. The movie’s enduring appeal is largely attributed to its talented cast, who brought to life a group of high school students from diverse backgrounds forced to spend a Saturday in detention, finding unexpected vulnerabilities in common with each other by The Breakfast Club’s ending.

The ‘80s classic recently saw its 40-year anniversary of The Breakfast Club, with the cast reuniting at the Chicago Comic & Entertainment Expo. It was the first time the cast had all been together since the movie’s release, although Molly Ringwald and Ally Sheedy previously united on a TV show. During those four decades, the cast who portrayed this group of lovable misfits have appeared in numerous other movies and TV projects, both playing to and departing from their archetypes.

Judd Nelson As John Bender

Date Of Birth: November 28, 1959

• Active since: 1983

Judd Nelson was born in Portland, Maine, and studied acting at Stella Adler, Manhattan. He started acting only shortly before his The Breakfast Club fame, with his breakout role in Making the Grade (1984). Like The Breakfast Club, it was a teen movie in which Nelson plays a rebellious character. Since The Breakfast Club, he has been in numerous TV shows and movies, most recently The Most Dangerous Game (2022).

Judd Nelson’s portrayal of John Bender in The Breakfast Club catapulted him to fame in 1985. Bender’s big reveal in the pivotal ad-libbed scene in The Breakfast Club is that he and his mother suffer physical abuse from his father, and that he is in detention for a false alarm. Since The Breakfast Club, Nelson has taken on a lot of voice acting in various Transformers TV shows, as well as having a reoccurring role in Empire.

Anthony Michael Hall As Brian Johnson

Date Of Birth: April 14, 1968

• Active since: 1979

Actor: Anthony Michael Hall was born in West Roxbury, Boston. Although he did not go to college for acting, he started acting very young – the age of seven – starting with commercials. His breakout TV movie role was the Emmy-winning The Gold Bug (1980) as a young Edgar Allan Poe. However, it was the movie Six Pack in 1982 that made him well-known. The Breakfast Club was not Hall’s first John Hughes movie – he had worked with him previously, firstly in Hughes’ directorial debut, Sixteen Candles (1984).

Anthony Michael Hall’s role as Brian in The Breakfast Club undoubtedly put him on the map, and was one of a few John Hughes films in which he played a “geek” character. Despite the archetypal nature of the geek, Hall’s skill came from his authentic approach to these characters, acknowledging them as normal high schoolers. Despite being lauded for his performances, he turned down big opportunities like Ferris Bueller’s Day Off to pursue different challenges. Recently, Anthony Michael Hall appeard in David Gordon Green’s Halloween reboot trilogy and as a villain in Reacher.

Molly Ringwald As Claire Standish

Date Of Birth: February 18, 1968

• Active since: 1979

Molly Ringwald was born in Roseville, California. Ringwald began acting very early, at the age of five, starting in theater. By age 10, she was on the small screen for the TV sitcom Diff’rent Strokes. However, her big break was her Golden Globe-nominated role in the movie Tempest (1982). She also starred alongside Anthony Michael Hall in Sixteen Candles.

Molly Ringwald plays Claire in The Breakfast Club, the popular girl of the misfits. In the group’s pivotal confessional scene, Claire reveals her stressful family life, the pressures of being popular, and her insecurity about virginity. Ringwald’s biggest project of late was her reoccurring role as Mary Andrews in Riverdale.

Ally Sheedy As Allison Reynolds

Date Of Birth: June 13, 1962

• Active since: 1981

Ally Sheedy was born in New York City. Her career as a performer began at the age of six when she danced with the American Ballet Theater, before studying acting with Hardold Guskin. She began acting in earnest at age 18, and her breakout role was her movie debut in Bad Boys (1983).

Sheedy plays Allison in The Breakfast Club, the “basket case” of the group in terms of Vice Principal Richard Vernon’s reductive ᴀssumptions about the students. She reveals that she lies compulsively and that her family ignores her. Another big reveal is that she actually volunteered for detention for something to do. Aside from having major roles in films like Short Circuit and High Art, Sheedy also recently had a reoccurring role in Single Drunk Female.

Emilio Estèvez As Andrew Clark

Date Of Birth: May 12, 1962

• Active since: 1973

Emilio Estèvez was born in Staten Island to Janet and Martin Sheen. Although his scenes were deleted, his first acting role was as an extra in Apocalypse Now. Not wishing to be known primarily in the acting business as Martin Sheen’s son, he used his birth name when he dove into acting after high school. Before The Breakfast Club, Estèvez’s breakout role was in The Outsiders, an early Brat Pack movie, alongside Rob Lowe.

Estèvez plays Andrew in The Breakfast Club, the “jock” of the group. Throughout the movie, he reveals pressure from his father and his wrestling teammates. He confides that the reason he is in detention is that this pressure influenced him to play a mean prank on a student to gain their approval. After having probably the most successful career of the cast, Estèvez reprised his iconic role of Gordon Bombay in the recent Disney+ series, The Mighty Ducks: Game Changers.

The Breakfast Club Supporting Cast & Characters

Paul Gleason, who plays the domineering Vice Principal Richard Vernon of Shermer High School, has played several other antagonistic characters in movies. His breakout role was as Dr. David Thornton in the TV show All My Children (1976—1978). After The Breakfast Club, he played similar characters to Vernon, notably in Johnny Be Good. He also played the Deputy Police Chief in Die Hard, continuing the theme of playing authority figures who are in the wrong ​​​​​​with his brilliant character acting.

John Kapelos, who played the janitor Carl Reed in The Breakfast Club, has a strong theatrical background. Other than The Breakfast Club, he appeared in other John Hughes movies Sixteen Candles and 39-year-old comedy Weird Science. He has also appeared in many TV shows, such as 1980s classic Miami Vice, ‘90s touchstone The X Files, and ER.