Things you Didn’t Know about the Breakfast Club

If you are an 80’s film buff, chances are you can name every character in the Breakfast Club, where the actors are now and the name of their children.

Some people can even quote whole scenes from the iconic film that brought the Brat Pack together in a high school library that changed the course of their lives.

However, very few people know the details of what went on behind the scenes and how the film could have been very different. We take a look at a few things you didn’t know about the Breakfast Club.

The Peephole Scene
The original script for the Breakfast Club included a racy scene where the boys found a peephole into the women’s locker room. As per 80’s custom, the public were to be given a view of the P.E teacher topless in the locker room.
Upon reading the script, both Molly Ringwald and Ally Sheedy felt the scene was too gratuitous and didn’t think it worked with the rest of the script. John Hughes agreed and the scene was pulled.

Molly Was Meant to Play Allison
After doing Sixteen Candles with Molly Ringwald, John Hughes was keen to get her into the Breakfast Club. Initially he wanted her to play the role of the awkward outsider Allison.
Ringwald was not keen on her role and instead saw herself as the snobby girl with a heart of gold who dominates the film. She convinced Hughes that she would be perfect for Clair and he eventually agreed.

The Script Only Took Two Days to Write
We have heard of scripts written in a matter of hours, but these are few and far between. With the Breakfast Club, Hughes was in such a good space that he was able to complete the entire script in just two days.
He admitted that it was much easier to do this by keeping the action mostly in the library, which ultimately what made the film so special, and as memorable as the online pokies we play today.

The Unintentional Goth
Most people don’t know this, but Ally Sheedy also auditioned for the role of Samantha in Sixteen Candles.
The role obviously went to Molly but when Sheedy auditioned, she pitched up with two black eyes from a set building accident.
When it came time to cast The Breakfast Club, Hughes remembered Sheedy and her “gothic look” and brought her in for the role of Allison.

The Dandruff Scene
One of the most memorable scenes from the film was the one where Allison provides snow to her dawning from the dandruff in her hair. While some of the actors did go deep into their character, the dandruff was not real. Instead the crew used a bottle of Parmesan cheese that they sprinkled into Sheedy’s hair.

The Title
The Breakfast Club worked as a title because it was unique required a bit of thought on the subject. Before the name came into being there are two other working titles the producers were toying with. The first was Library Revolution, which sounds more like depressive drama. The second was the Lunch Bunch and this would certainly not have worked, given their target audience as it sounded more like something retirees would enjoy.