“The Breakfast Club” cast: See Emilio Estevez, Molly Ringwald, and their costars more than 40 years after detention ended
“The Breakfast Club” cast: See Emilio Estevez, Molly Ringwald, and their costars more than 40 years after detention ended
Andrew Walsh, Kevin JacobsenSat, April 18, 2026 at 1:00 PM UTC
0
Judd Nelson as John Bender, Emilio Estevez as Andrew Clark, Ally Sheedy as Allison Reynolds, Molly Ringwald as Claire Standish, and Anthony Michael Hall as Brian Johnson in 'The Breakfast Club'Credit: Universal Pictures/Courtesy Everett
A nerd, a jock, a loner, a preppy girl, and a juvenile delinquent spend a Saturday in detention. What happened next has influenced filmmakers ever since, as The Breakfast Club cemented itself as one of Hollywood's definitive coming-of-age teen movies.
Released in 1985, the film spoke to an entire generation of teenagers struggling to be understood. It also made stars of Emilio Estevez, Anthony Michael Hall, Judd Nelson, Molly Ringwald, and Ally Sheedy, who were soon nicknamed the Brat Pack alongside their young contemporaries in the '80s. Each has led a long and winding career in the more than 40 years since the film's release.
Ahead, we're taking a look at where the detention-bound cast of The Breakfast Club is now.
01 of 07
Emilio Estevez (Andrew Clark)
Emilio Estevez as Andrew Clark in 'The Breakfast Club'; Emilio Estevez attends WE Day Toronto 2019 held at Scotiabank Arena on Sept. 19, 2019, in TorontoCredit: Universal Pictures/Courtesy Everett Collection; Jeremy Chan/Getty
The son of actor Martin Sheen, Emilio Estevez starred in Tex (1982), The Outsiders (1983), and the cult classic Repo Man (1984) before getting cast as varsity jacket-wearing “athlete” Andrew Clark in The Breakfast Club.
“I think the [school] setting allowed for us to give those kinds of performances,” he told The Guardian in 2020. “John [Hughes] allowed the time for us to get under the skin of those characters.”
Estevez then starred in another Brat Pack classic, St. Elmo’s Fire (1985), alongside his Club cohorts Nelson and Sheedy as well as his then-fiancée, Demi Moore. The couple reteamed for the crime drama Wisdom (1986), Estevez’s directorial debut.
He headlined The Mighty Ducks (1992) and the Lethal Weapon parody Loaded Weapon 1 (1993) before teaming up with Tom Cruise for the franchise-launching Mission: Impossible (1996).
Over the past few decades, Estevez has focused on directing, helming features such as Bobby (2006) and The Public (2018). He still takes on acting jobs occasionally, even reprising his role of Coach Gordon Bombay in the first season of the Disney+ sequel series The Mighty Ducks: Game Changers.
After his relationship with Moore ended in 1986, Estevez married pop star Paula Abdul in 1992, but the couple split two years later. The actor has two children, Taylor and Paloma, from a prior relationship with model Carey Salley.
02 of 07
Molly Ringwald (Claire Standish)
Molly Ringwald as Claire Standish in 'The Breakfast Club'; Molly Ringwald at the Deadline Hollywood Portrait Studio at Sundance 2026 – Day 3 on Jan. 25, 2026, in Park City, UtahCredit: Universal Pictures/Courtesy Everett; Hannah Turner-Harts/Deadline via Getty
Molly Ringwald began her career on sitcoms like Diff’rent Strokes and The Facts of Life before breaking out in Sixteen Candles (1984), which also costarred Anthony Michael Hall. That, of course, led directly to her signature character, popular high school “princess” Claire Standish, in The Breakfast Club.
She wrestled with the complicated legacy of both John Hughes and The Breakfast Club in a 2018 essay for The New Yorker, writing, "John’s movies convey the anger and fear of isolation that adolescents feel, and seeing that others might feel the same way is a balm for the trauma that teenagers experience. Whether that’s enough to make up for the impropriety of the films is hard to say — even criticizing them makes me feel like I’m divesting a generation of some of its fondest memories, or being ungrateful since they helped to establish my career."
In more recent years, she's introduced herself to a new generation of teen viewers with roles as moms and teachers on The Secret Life of the American Teenager and Riverdale, as well as in Netflix's Kissing Booth film trilogy. She also joined the Ryan Murphy-verse for the first season of Monster and the second season of Feud.
In addition to her TV and Broadway work, Ringwald wrote the memoir Getting the Pretty Back and the novel When It Happens to You.
During the '80s, Ringwald dated musician Dweezil Zappa and Beastie Boys rapper Ad-Rock. She was married to writer Valery Lameignere from 1999 to 2002. She wed writer Panio Gianopoulos in 2007, and they have three children.
03 of 07
Judd Nelson (John Bender)
Judd Nelson as John Bender in 'The Breakfast Club'; Judd Nelson attends the Justice for Women International and Children Uniting Nations' 24th annual Academy Awards on March 10, 2024Credit: MCA/Everett Collection; Paul Archuleta/Getty
Judd Nelson landed in detention as “criminal” John Bender in The Breakfast Club, which was only the actor’s fourth film, following turns in Rock ‘n’ Roll Hotel (1983), Making the Grade (1984), and Fandango (1985).
He discussed The Breakfast Club's continued popularity with EW in 2012. “It’s very cool... it shows the strength of John Hughes’ script and what he was doing in his films,” Nelson said. “He was the first guy who saw someone who was young and that did not mean that they were less, it just means that they were young.”
Molly Ringwald revealed in a 2012 Reddit “Ask Me Anything” that Nelson was almost fired from the film for taking method acting too far. He managed to keep the role thanks to the intervention of his castmates and subsequently joined Emilio Estevez and Ally Sheedy in St. Elmo’s Fire.
He lent his voice to the Autobot Rodimus Prime in the animated Transformers: The Movie (1986), then appeared in the miniseries Billionaire Boys Club (1987) before costarring in the hit crime thriller New Jack City (1991).
Over the next several years, he appeared in films like Airheads (1994), the Anthony Michael Hall-directed Hail Caesar (1994), and the superhero movie Steel (1997). Toward the end of the '90s, Nelson took on his first series regular role on the sitcom Suddenly Susan. He has since worked steadily in movies like Jay and Silent Bob Strike Back (2001) and on shows such as CSI, Psych, and Empire.
04 of 07
Ally Sheedy (Allison Reynolds)
Ally Sheedy as Allison Reynolds in 'The Breakfast Club'; Ally Sheedy attends Freeform's 'Single Drunk Female' season 2 premiere on April 11, 2023Credit: Courtesy Everett Collection; Slaven Vlasic/Getty
Before Ally Sheedy sauntered into detention as “basket case” Allison Reynolds in The Breakfast Club, she became a best-selling author at age 12 when she penned the book She Was Nice to Mice. She made her big-screen debut with Sean Penn in Bad Boys (1983) and broke out in the high school hacker thriller WarGames (1983).
“It was the first time I felt like I really belonged,” she told PEOPLE in 2015 of The Breakfast Club while promoting the movie's 30th anniversary. “It was a very special family... I didn’t have a group like that when I was in high school at all. It was a really happy time in my life.”
Sheedy soon added hits like St. Elmo’s Fire and Short Circuit (1986) to her résumé. She reunited with Molly Ringwald in Betsy’s Wedding and worked on the John Hughes-produced Only the Lonely (1991), but fell off the radar until an award-winning performance in the indie drama High Art (1998).
Advertisement
She followed that resurgence with a brief Off-Broadway run in the title role of Hedwig and the Angry Inch.
Since the turn of the century, Sheedy has appeared on TV shows like Oz, The Dead Zone, and Kyle XY. She also delivered dynamite turns in Todd Solondz’s Life During Wartime (2009) and the indie Welcome to the Rileys (2010), and was part of the main cast of Freeform's Single Drunk Female.
Sheedy was married to David Lansbury from 1992 to 2008. They share a son, Beckett, who came out as trans during his teenage years.
Sheedy talked to PEOPLE in 2022 about Beckett’s transition journey, saying she’s “learned a lot” and has become “very comfortable talking to anyone whose kid is just beginning the process of transition.”
05 of 07
Anthony Michael Hall (Brian Johnson)
Anthony Michael Hall as Brian Johnson in 'The Breakfast Club'; Anthony Michael Hall arrives at Apple TV+'s 'Ted Lasso' season 3 FYC red carpet on June 10, 2023Credit: Courtesy: Everett Collection; Steve Granitz/FilmMagic
Anthony Michael Hall began his screen career in a handful of TV movies before moving to the big screen in the Kenny Rogers vehicle Six Pack (1982). He then starred as Rusty Griswold in the John Hughes-penned National Lampoon’s Vacation (1983), the first of four collaborations with the filmmaker.
“There was a soul connection there,” Hall told Page Six in 2020. “[John] was always like a big brother. He was such a big influence in my life.”
After portraying “the brain” Brian Johnson — who struggled under the pressures of academic achievement — in The Breakfast Club, Hall worked with Hughes once more in Weird Science (1985). He was offered roles in Ferris Bueller’s Day Off (1986) and Pretty in Pink (1986), but declined to avoid typecasting.
At age 17, he joined the cast of Saturday Night Live, becoming the youngest cast member in the show’s history. He played against type as a jock in Johnny Be Good (1988), then made a heel turn as the villain in Edward Scissorhands (1990). His directorial debut, Hail Caesar, followed four years later.
Hall eventually had a career renaissance thanks to his acclaimed lead role on The Dead Zone. He’s been a reliable character actor ever since, appearing in major films like The Dark Knight (2008), Foxcatcher (2014), and the Breakfast Club-inspired film The Class (2022). He also had an arc on The Goldbergs.
Hall and Molly Ringwald dated briefly following The Breakfast Club. He wed Lucia Oskerova in 2020, and the couple became parents to a son in 2023.
06 of 07
Paul Gleason (Richard Vernon)
Paul Gleason as Richard Vernon in 'The Breakfast Club' Paul Gleason during the 2005 MTV Movie AwardsCredit: MCA/Courtesy Everett Collection; SGranitz/WireImage
Paul Gleason, a former minor league baseball player-turned-actor, got his start with guest appearances on TV shows like The Green Hornet, Mission: Impossible, and All My Children. His film career took off after he played scheming villain Clarence Beeks in Trading Places (1983).
After spending his Saturday babysitting unruly teens and dishing out discipline as Vice Principal Vernon in The Breakfast Club, Gleason appeared in John Hughes’ She’s Having a Baby (1988) and Johnny Be Good (1988). He also showed up in another era-defining hit as stubborn Police Chief Dwayne Robinson in Die Hard (1988).
He was best known for playing hard cases and authority figures, notably doing so for Boy Meets World, National Lampoon’s Van Wilder (2002), and Dawson’s Creek. He even made a cameo as an FBI agent in Loaded Weapon 1 with Emilio Estevez.
He reprised the role of Richard Vernon in the 1999 video for the A*Teens song “Dancing Queen,” as well as in the parody Not Another Teen Movie (2001), which also featured a Ringwald cameo. In January 2006, he published a book of poetry titled Uleta Blues & Haikus.
Gleason was married to actress Candy Moore from 1971 to 1978. He wed Susan Kehl in 1995, and they remained together until he died in 2006 at age 67 from pleural mesothelioma. He had one daughter from each marriage.
07 of 07
John Kapelos (Carl Reed)
John Kapelos as Carl Reed in 'The Breakfast Club'; John Kapelos attends the Chiller Theatre Autograph Expo Spring 2024 on April 28, 2024Credit: Universal/courtesy Everett Collection; Bobby Bank/Getty
A veteran of Chicago’s Second City, John Kapelos made his film debut with a small role in Michael Mann’s Thief (1981) before working with John Hughes and Molly Ringwald in Sixteen Candles.
When Rick Moranis, who was originally cast as high school hotshot–turned–high school janitor Carl Reed, left the production, the director called up Kapelos.
He told The Chicago Tribune in 2019, “When I was doing Sixteen Candles, John had said, ‘I’ve got this great movie that I’m going to do next and you’re going to be in it.’ He was making all sorts of cool promises. And then I saw this story that Rick Moranis was in it and I thought, damn. And that afternoon I got a call from my agent and she said, ‘They want you to come and do The Breakfast Club tomorrow, can you do it?’ They had been filming I think for a month or so. And I was in shock."
After The Breakfast Club, he reunited with Hughes for Weird Science and then appeared in the comedy Roxanne (1987).
During the mid-’90s, he was a series regular and writer on the cult vampire detective series Forever Knight. Kapelos has more than 200 credits on his résumé, including roles on Seinfeld, Gilmore Girls, Suits, The Umbrella Academy, and Days of Our Lives.
He is married to salon owner Heidi Kapelos and has one son, Barry.
Get your daily dose of entertainment news, celebrity updates, and what to watch with our EW Dispatch newsletter.
on Entertainment Weekly
Source: “AOL Entertainment”
